The judge who conquered Paris
0 
|
|
|
A scene from the French Judge Bao comic books. Photo: Courtesy of Xu Gefei |
When French television playwright and director, Patrick Marty, first read a story about the ancient Chinese Judge Bao several years ago, he was stunned.
"The judge was Chinese, but in that story he was pictured very strangely – he had a dark complexion and was marked by a crescent moon on his forehead. Even more astonishingly the judge investigated worldly cases in the daytime, but at night he traveled to the underworld and sat in judgment on dead people. I was really confused whether this man had really existed or if he was just a Chinese myth.
"I decided to try to sort it out – but there was no one in France who could tell me about this," Marty told the Global Times.
Then three years ago in Beijing, when Marty met Xu Gefei, who published comic books in Paris, he learned the truth about the judge.
"I could not help laughing out loud when he asked me whether I knew anything about a Judge Bao. Of course, we knew about him. Everybody in China knows him," Xu said. But to Marty's knowledge "there was hardly any information about him in all of France."
The question led to more than a unique comic book legend. Marty went on to marry Xu and in 2010, they published their first French Judge Bao comic books, introducing the ancient Chinese judge to the French for the first time.
On Tuesday, Marty and Xu brought their Judge Bao comics to the Alliance Fran?aise de Shanghai and explained, in a special lecture, how the ancient Chinese character has become a cult figure in France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
"Now, I know the reality. He was a much-praised official who lived during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). His unselfish acts and wisdom turned him into a 'half-man-half-mythological' hero for all Chinese people. But his spirit is so strong that he should belong to the whole world," Marty said.
|
|
|
A scene from the French Judge Bao comic books. Photo: Courtesy of Xu Gefei |
Xu, who had launched her own comic publishing house, Les Editions Fei, in Paris in 2003, told the Global Times that after Marty and she decided to adapt Judge Bao for French comics, she collected books and some of the television series about the judge and translated them into French for Marty.
"Most of the books were fiction and not based on history. I went with Marty to visit Judge Bao's hometown Hefei in Anhui Province, and the county where Bao served as a judge which is today's Kaifeng in Henan Province," Xu said.
Marty was thrilled with the trips and developed a closer understanding of the ancient judge. "He was not dark or tall as he was always portrayed in books. He was rather short, only about 1.62 meters tall, well read, pale, and not very strong," Marty told the Global Times.
"My stories of the judge are much more like the real person. He was the man who understood the poor and had a heart filled with goodness. He always gave frank advice to his emperor who mourned him when he died. He had a wide range of interests and enjoyed good food, wine and writing poetry with friends and colleagues."
Marty has written three books in his Judge Bao series, and each book features two of the judge's intriguing cases. "Through the stories of Judge Bao, I want to present a complete social picture of that time, not only of the society, but of ordinary people."
"I haven't written about the birth and early life of Bao before he became a judge because I am keeping this for a film about him," Marty said.
Xu told the Global Times that her Judge Bao comics were designed like traditional Chinese picture books and were drawn by Nie Chongrui, a 65-year-old Chinese artist.
There could be other Chinese-French comics on the way. Marty is currently researching Zheng He, the famous explorer of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) who led seven major expeditions throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, from 1405 to 1433. Marty said Zheng He was well-known in the West. "People believe he discovered America before Columbus. And I am astounded at the shipbuilding technology of ancient China," Marty said.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments