Beyond triviality barriers: the transcendent poetics of play in Feng Zikai’s manhua legacy

AbstractDespite the socio-political upheavals that marked twentieth-century China, Feng Zikai (豐子愷,1898–1975), a Chinese artist and writer, invariably figures his art forms with child subjects in ways that encapsulate a childhood idyll reminiscent of the ancient genre of painting children at play. Drawing from Feng’s manhua anthology, this study delves into the multimodal representations of children’s play to uncover the intertwined social, aesthetic, and ethical discourses within the context of modern China. It posits that Feng’s manhua legacy embodies a transcendent poetics of play by integrating the elemental functions and indigenous aesthetics of play. Three aspects of transcendence arise from the paradoxical nature of play, Feng’s compassionate outlook, and the imaginative materialisation of cultural heritage along with its contemporary relevance, illuminating the interplay between Feng’s artistic journey and the constantly evolving socio-political context in which it unfolds.