Sketches of Humanity
- Digital388 JPY










This volume brings together several of Ren Zhenghua’s most important late-period award-winning works. It includes six stories from Sketching Humanity, a collection of short comics newly remastered from the author’s original manuscripts (winner of the 2003 Golden Tripod Award); the full-length work Sketching Humanity 2: Offspring (winner of the 2004 Government Information Office Award for Dramatic Comics and First Prize in the Graphic Narrative category of the 2005 National Institute for Compilation and Translation’s Excellent Comics Awards); as well as the rare and treasured ink-wash gag comic doujinshi The Seven Leisurely Sages of the Bamboo Grove and the illustrated afterword “My Life in Comics.” The Seven Leisurely Sages of the Bamboo Grove is one of Ren Zhenghua’s representative works before she withdrew from the comics scene. Its freely flowing brushwork—loose, expressive, and effortlessly confident—pairs with razor-sharp humor and unrestrained satire. It is hilariously brilliant and displays her remarkable versatility. Issued only once in a small-batch doujinshi edition, it is today an exceptionally rare and precious piece. “Happiness at Home” examines what a “happy” family truly means through the lens of long-term hospital care and directly confronts the cruelty of domestic violence. “‘No’ Means ‘Yes’” continues the theme of how truth is often nothing like what it appears, revealing the destructive power of rumor and the bullying, misunderstanding, and family pressure faced by women in a misogynistic environment. “Anna’s Child” delicately portrays the realities of childrearing in households with foreign domestic workers. “Seduction” is a darkly humorous ancient-era tale reminiscent of A Chinese Ghost Story, satirizing misogynistic attitudes. “The Visitor” carries a surreal, magical-realist tone, exploring themes of self-searching and spiritual questioning. Offspring, previously published as a standalone volume, depicts at greater length the deep-rooted cultural anxieties surrounding lineage and inheritance in Chinese society. It was also released in French by Casterman under the title Le fils. “Fighting Fish,” serving as an epilogue, is the only non-fiction piece in the collection and offers a rare glimpse into the author’s reflections on life. These eight works vary in length and theme, ranging from stark realism that reflects the harshness of everyday life—including issues such as long-term hospital care, domestic violence, workplace rumors, bullying, and the challenges faced by foreign domestic workers—to literary explorations of love, marriage, and the cultural weight of lineage in Chinese societies. The collection also includes ancient dark humor and surreal magical realism. All are significant works in the history of Taiwanese comics, yet most have long been out of print and extremely difficult to find. On auction sites, the doujin scroll edition of The Seven Leisurely Sages of the Bamboo Grove has soared to NT$4,000, while Sketching Humanity and Offspring typically exceed NT$1,500. This new edition, remastered from the original manuscripts, is a true blessing for both Taiwanese comics and their readers. The book concludes with a complete chronology of Ren Zhenghua’s creative career, four newly rescanned color illustrations, and a special interpretive essay by Wo Axe.









