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Manhua
aka: Chinese Comics

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Manhua (Traditional: 漫畫 Simplified: 漫画; pinyin: mànhuà) is the general term for Chinese-language comics and print cartoons, and is applied both to works originally written in Chinese, and translated comics. The Chinese characters for manhua are identical to those used for Japanese manga and Korean manhwa. On the same note, the term for the creator of comics in Chinese is 漫画家/漫畫家 (màn huà jiā), its characters the same as the ones in Japanese mangaka (漫画家) and Korean manhwaga (만화가, hanja form 漫畵家).

Manhua was born in the late 19th- early 20th century. Manhua works were widely published and read in China from the 1920s, often with political or satirical content. However, after WWII, the Chinese Civil War placed creative development on hold for another few years, and creative oppression on both sides further strained production, long enough for manga to become a serious powerhouse on the international scene, though Hong Kong remained somewhat independent and developed on its own.

Even after things got better in the 80s, development was slow and manga influences were visible. Modern works have mainly been published in Hong Kong and Taiwan, though Mainland China also has a growing scene post-2000. Today, manhua can be found on sale anywhere with a large Chinese-speaking population.

Singapore also has Mandarin Chinese as one of its official languages, so some of its comic books can also be considered manhua.

The art style in manhua can range anywhere from cartoony (especially if it's an older series or one aimed at young children), animesque (very apparent in modern works), or more realistic than is typical of Japanese manga . They can either be done in black-and-white or full color note . The order Chinese manhua are read in depends on the situation and region: Older mainland Chinese series and manhua from Taiwan and Hong Kong tend to be read from right to left, while more modern mainland manhua (especially the ones published on the web) tend to be read from left to right.

See also Manga (Japanese), Manhwa (Korean), OEL Manga (English), and Webcomics (digital publishing). For the ease of categorizing, Chinese webcomics will also be listed on this page.


Manhua:

Chinese Webcomic:

Video Games:


Alternative Title(s): Chinese Comics

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