Comics to promote Chinese culture

If comic books can get kids excited about Batman and Superman, maybe they can get them interested in some of China's greatest thinkers, like Confucius and Sun-Tzu. That's the thinking behind a government-sponsored comics series that will be published next year in English and Chinese. The creators of the comics held a meeting to review their work so far.

Hu Zhouxing studies mechanical engineering at university, but during his free time he enjoys reading the works of great Chinese writers and thinkers. He says they help him think clearly and express himself better. But he says the ancient language used in the books turns off many of his friends.

Hu said, "To be honest, it takes effort to understand them. But if it's in drawings, I think more young people will be interested, since they are easier to read and we can have more fun."

Qian Dinghua heads up the creative team behind the comic series, and says high school and college students like Hu, are their target audience.

Qian said, "Our pictures are just like movie shots, so they have focus and look more real. And we organize the pictures the same way a movie director organizes his shots, so even foreigners can understand the stories they are telling."

Qian says the comics won't be direct translations of classic works, like the Art of War, but instead will tell the stories of the authors behind them, and look at their key ideas.

Hu said, "I like it real, not only the style of pictures, but also its consistency with historical records."

Reader Wu Lingtian said, "Since it's comics for young people, I think it should be simple. Don't bother too much about the meaning of one or two specific words."

The publisher of the series says top translators will be brought in to make sure the English translations are the highest quality possible. It says the comics will go on sale next June, and it plans to sell the English versions overseas.

Reporter: "Participants say beyond the technical issues, it is vital to portray figures like Confucius as a human, not a god, so ordinary people can feel for them and accept the books about them."