Year Hare Affair

Year Hare Affair
那年那兔那些事
Genre Historical, comedy
Author Lin Chao
Publisher Sina Weibo (China)
Original run June 13, 2011 – present

Year Hare Affair (Chinese: 那年那兔那些事/那年那兔那些事儿 literally: The story of that rabbit happened at that year) is a Chinese webcomic by Lin Chao (Chinese: 林超).[1] The comic uses animals as an allegory of nations and sovereign states to represent political and historical military events. It mostly provides readers a novel view of the development of the modern Peoples Republic of China completely different from the official version from the government of the People's Republic of China. Instead of describing the People's Republic of China always as a victim of conspiracy, military threatening, economic coercion and other malice of the Western World,[2] this webcomic tries to make the readers believe that the Peoples Republic of China has always been one of the most resourceful and wise governments ever since its creation, and has always been prevailing over foreign entities. This is the first series of manhua which integrated the Japanese anime culture[3] and the political propaganda in China.

An animated adaptation of the series started airing on the Internet in March 2015 [4] and a free-to-play video game based on it was released on iOS and Android in July 2015.[5]

Characters

Nations and sovereign states

Nations / Sovereign states Appearance Reasons and source of the appearance
China (or Communist Party of China Hare Hares are herbivorous animals that are usually considered cute, docile and populous, but can still inflict nasty bites and kicks when irritated. It represents the author's view that the People's Republic of China is traditionally not so aggressive in foreign policies, but can still pack a punch when required.[6]
Taiwan (or Kuomintang) Baldhead Based on the hair style of Chiang Kai-shek. Besides, in Standard Chinese "baldhead" (秃子 tūzi) and "rabbit" (兔子 tùzi) have similar pronunciations, which represent the complexity of Cross-Strait relations.
Soviet Union Russian Bear Bear is a common national personification for Russia and the USSR starting from the Russian Empire. The Soviet bear has a symbol — the hammer and sickle of Communism — on his stomach, which later becomes more like a character, "父", meaning "father" in Chinese.
Russia Russian Bear with a single separated hair To differentiate with the Soviet Union. This bear has a character "大" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "eldest son" of the USSR. The hair stands for the common Northern Chinese nickname for Russians "毛子" ("hairy ones", referring to the comparatively higher body hair count in Caucasians).
United States Bald eagle Bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America.[7]
Japan Crane / Chicken The crane is an important part of the Japanese culture.[8] The chicken is used as an insult based on the similar appearance of crane and chicken and the traditional Chinese slang term xiao riben.
South Korea Gaoli bangzi with helmet Bangzi is an ethnic slur used in Northeast China as a reference of Koreans.[9] To differentiate with North Korea, a US-style combat helmet is added to the appearance of South Korea.
North Korea Gaoli bangzi with red star hat Bangzi is an ethnic slur used in Northeast China as a reference of Koreans.[9] To differentiate with South Korea, a Communist-style red star ski cap is added to the appearance of North Korea.
Multiple countries in Southeast Asia
Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines 		Monkey Monkey is commonly seen in the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia. It is also used as an ethnic slur in China for areas without modern development.[10]
Pakistan Markhor Markhor is commonly seen in Pakistan and the national animal of this country. In the animation the Markhor is called Ba Ba Yang ("Paki Goat") and sometimes nicknamed "Little Ba" by the Hare.[11]
India White elephant White elephant is commonly seen in India as an important part of Hindu mythology. In the animation the author chooses it rather than the bull which is sacred in Hindu to represent India because bull has already been used to represent the UK.
United Kingdom Bull "John Bull" is the symbol of England.[12]
France Gallic rooster Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France.[13]
Germany Tiger/Cat Tiger II and other Tiger series of tanks are the most famous German heavy tank.[14] So in the assumption of the comic this animal called Hans was at first a tiger. But after World War II, Germany has been restricted to use military force, and thus after the war both East and West Germany become cats — a "downsized" tiger.
Multiple countries in Africa
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Tanzania
Sudan
South Sudan
Eritrea 		Hippopotamus Hippo is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in Sub-Saharan Africa.[15] Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all mentioned African countries are represented by hippopotamus, except for Uganda under the Idi Amin regime. Also, Colonel Ka the Hippo sometimes symbolizes Muammar Gaddafi himself other than the country. Sudan and South Sudan only appear in the end of Episode 3, Season 2 of the animation.
Uganda Duck "Uncle Crazy Duck" is, in fact, the nickname of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi among Chinese netizens. The appearance of "Uncle Crazy Duck" in the comic is based upon Count Duckula and has screws on his head, meaning that his brain is different from other Africans; he wears the skin of a hippo, that disguises himself as a hippo. In the animation, Uncle Crazy Duck even shouts "Banana!" as the Minions do during the speech.
Multiple countries in the Arab world
Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia
Iraq
Iran 		Camels Camel is commonly seen and used as transportation in the desertous Arab world. Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all mentioned Arabic countries are represented by camels, but they have different appearance — Afghan camel wears a scarf and is bearded; Saudi Arabian camel wears a scarf and lots of diamonds; Iraqi camel under the Saddam Hussein regime wears a beret; and Iranian camel during the Pahlavi dynasty has a throne on his head.
Iran Persian lion Persian lion is the symbol of ancient Iran and the Persian Empire. The religious reform of Ruhollah Khomeini made Iran quite different from its Arabic neighbours, and so the author chooses the symbol of ancient Persia to represent it.

Included events

Animated series

On March 5, 2015, an animated series started airing on the Internet.[4][19]

Views

Positive view

The comic express the modern history of China and its international relations in a fun way.[17] This comic is also the first series of manga in China which integrated the Japanese anime culture[3] and political propaganda. It is also believed that the comic gives lower class some kind of religious comfort,[20][21] which greatly relieve their pain and suffer given by their too ambitious government.

Criticism

An anti-Year Hare Affair Facebook community page was created,[22] where these people believe this comic is a signal of the rising of Chinese chauvinism and Sinocentrism, thus they give this comic the sarcastic name "Year Nazi Hare Affair". Some also believe that the comic greatly brought about a boost of a mixed enthusiasm of Nazism and native-chauvinism in China when comparing it with Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei made by the Japanese during World War II.[23] Some comments also criticized the comic for not providing a complete view of the development of China, and for understating the mistakes made by the Chinese government in the Cultural Revolution.

Internet phenomenon

Hare (Chinese: 我兔. lit. We the rabbit) is now used as a positive Internet slang referring to the People's Republic of China.[24]

References

  1. ↑ http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_9bccd9b80101eydp.html
  2. ↑ "Hearings". uscc.gov. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 "贴吧404". baidu.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 Year Hare Affair 01 （ English Sub） 那年那兔那些事儿01. YouTube. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  5. ↑ http://shouyou.178.com/nnnt/
  6. ↑ 贺志. "寂寞深蓝". cardinalhehe.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Lawrence, E.A. (1990). "Symbol of a Nation: The Bald Eagle in American Culture". The Journal of American Culture 13 (1): 63–69
  8. ↑ ja:タンチョウ#.E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC
  9. 1 2 http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/11/weekinreview/the-world-china-and-north-korea-not-so-best-of-friends.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
  10. ↑ "金猴献瑞，蛮夷来朝". tianya.cn. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ↑ http://www.thelovelyplanet.net/markhor-the-national-animal-of-pakistan/|title=Markhor: the national animal of Pakistan
  12. ↑ http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/John-Bull/|title=John Bull, the symbol of English and Englishness
  13. ↑ http://www.gouvernement.fr/en/the-gallic-rooster|title=The Gallic Rooster
  14. ↑ Jentz, Thomas; Doyle, Hilary (1993). Kingtiger Heavy Tank 1942–45. Osprey Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 185532282X.
  15. ↑ "Hippopotamus". awf.org.
  16. ↑ "那年那兔那些事儿". 那年那兔那些事儿吧. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  17. 1 2 "台湾网友欢乐讨论内涵漫画《那年那兔那些事》". 360doc.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "逆光飞行：那年那兔大船梦_南渝霜华_新浪博客". sina.com.cn. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "动漫: 那年那兔那些事儿 TV版 2015". Youku. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "那年那兔那些事儿吧_百度贴吧". baidu.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "【兔间真实】前有强拆兔，今天又来钓鱼执法_吧_百度贴吧". baidu.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "Year Hare Affair". facebook.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "贴吧404". baidu.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Google". google.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

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