In China with Tintin

« The meeting with Chang Chong-chen, in Brussels in 1934, was, we know, a major event in Hergé’s life. He realised at that moment that “others” were not to be simple characters for Tintin. The foreigner becomes a friend. Chang did not represent any old change. He introduced into Hergé’s art the flow of the Chinese paintbrush. Without Chang and his fluid line, the clear line could have become too hard a line. »

In 1934, Hergé met Chang Chong-chen, a young Chinese student at the Beaux-Arts in Brussels. For both artists, this cultural encounter between East and West was a tremendous opening to the world, but also, and above all, the start of a beautiful friendship. Their complicity is such that it extended onto paper, giving birth to a new Tintin adventure, one that was more sensitive and human than the previous stories, as it symbolized the brotherhood forged between Tintin and Chang.

The original French black-and-white book was published in 1936, the year in which Charles Lesne (editorial director at Casterman) invited Hergé to “embark on a new path: that of colour”. However Hergé hesitated as “the line was the real backbone” of his style. After much thought – and many discussions –, Hergé was convinced and took the plunge in 1942 with the French edition of The Shooting Star. The four preceding adventures (except Tintin in the Land of the Soviets) were subsequently adapted. Due to wartime paper shortages, the Tournaibased publisher was forced to significantly reduce the number of pages per book. From then on, the books consisted of 64 pages.

From 1945 onwards, Hergé, with the help of Jacobs, prepared the reformatting of The Blue Lotus, which underwent changes to its layout and composition. This was a meticulous task, ensuring the narrative’s rhythm and flow remained intact. For the colour scheme, Hergé opted for “solid colours, which (in his view) had the advantage of simplicity and legibility”, so as not to compromise the clarity of his work. Thus, except for a few rare exceptions, colours were applied in flat tones, without shadows or gradients.