Chinese writer Feng Zikai, known among other things for his translation of The Tale of Genji, began cartooning in 1925. In this paper, I will focus on his cartoons, exploring the influence of Japanese artist Takehisa Yumeji on this aspect of his work.

　Feng first came to Japan in 1921 to study Western art, working primarily in the Kawabata painting circle. Although his stay was too short to master European technique, he was able to make a wide exploration of the art world of Tokyo. During this period, he came across the “spring” volume of the Selected Works of Takehisa Yumeji in a secondhand bookstore, and was much impressed. He later wrote in his essay “Painting and Literature” of the excitement he felt when he first discovered Takehisa’s work.

　Strongly affected by Yumeji, Feng returned to China where he quickly became a popular cartoonist. The character of his drawings is neither ironic, nor humorous, but lyric, earning Feng the title of originator of “the

　A comparison of their drawings reveals the profound influence of Yumeji’s style on the Chinese artist. At the same time, however, the similarities between the two artists’ works also reflect deep similarities between their individual cultural backgrounds. In this sense, the cartoons of Feng Zikai and Takehisa Yumeji present an invaluable resource for understanding the cultural climate of New Culture Era China and Taisho Japan respectively.