In November 2011 Danwei published a brief excerpt and short Q&A with Liu Jing, a Beijing-based entrepreneur and comic book artist. Our post showcased Liu’s Understanding China through Comics, Volume One, a comic book on Chinese history for iPad and Kindle (Amazon and iTunes). The first volume in the series focused on the Yellow Emperor through the Han Dynasty (ca. 2697 BC – 220 AD).
In 2012 Liu released Understanding China through Comics, Volume 2 (Amazon and iTunes), focusing on the Three Kingdoms through the Tang Dynasty (220 – 907). As Liu himself put it, “To the Chinese, China’s rise to world power in the 21st century is called ‘the great restoration.’ But we learn from history that this rise is the result of embracing other cultures, not isolation or prejudice.” In Volume 2 Liu illustrates a key driving force in Chinese history, namely the evolution of Chinese philosophy. Thus he notes that without adopting Buddhism, which originated in India, the Tang Dynasty China would not have reached the heights it did.
There are still two forthcoming volumes in the series, namely Volume Three: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms through the Yuan Dynasty (907 – 1368), and Volume Four: The Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911).
See below a few sample pages from Volume Two.
