Lianhuanhua: A Classic Cultural Icon in Chinese Memories
Lianhuanhua, a kind of palm-sized booklet with picture stories and accompanying text, has been a cultural icon in the history of China. Soon after it emerged in the early 20th century, lianhuanhua became quite the draw for various bookstores, libraries, and book-renting stalls before foreign comic books entered the Chinese market. With a wide variety of subjects, attractive illustrations and interesting stories, as many as 100 million copies of lianhuanhua circulated annually at their peak, and they remain central figures in the memories of generations of Chinese people.