Chang Chong-Chen - Character History

Character History

In 1934, Hergé was about to start work on a story which would take Tintin to China. So far, he had taken a very stereotypical and clichéd view of the countries that Tintin visited: a Russia of starving peasants and brutal commissars; a Congo of simple-minded, uneducated villagers; an America of gangsters, cowboys and Indians; and an India of fakirs and maharajas.

In the process of planning his story, Hergé was contacted by a Father Gosset, chaplain to the Chinese students at Louvain University, who suggested that he do some actual research into life in China as it really was. Hergé agreed and Gosset introduced him to Zhang Chongren, a student at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

The two men, both aged 27, got on well and Hergé decided to include his new friend in the story. Zhang supplied much of the Chinese writing that was to feature and told Hergé a lot about Chinese culture, history and drawing techniques. He also gave a detailed description of life in 1930s China, which included the occupation of eastern territories by the Japanese, British and Americans and other Western powers.

The result of their meetings was The Blue Lotus, a major landmark in the development of The Adventures of Tintin. From now on Hergé would research his subjects thoroughly. He also changed his attitude towards the relationship between native peoples and foreigners. He had previously taken a positive view of imperialism in Tintin in the Congo (published in 1930). Now, in The Blue Lotus (1934), he criticised the Japanese occupation of China and featured an event inspired by the Mukden incident. The Shanghai International Settlement, with its racist Western businessmen and corrupt police (which includes white and Sikh officers), was also shown in a bad light.