Zhang Zhengyu, also known as the old man Shimen, was born in the 30th year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1904), a native of Sanliqiao, Beimenwai, Wuxi. I have been fond of painting since childhood. He attended private school in his early years and later worked as a trainee in a flour mill. When he was 17, he went to Shanghai with his eldest brother Zhang Guangyu to learn how to draw advertisements and scenery. In the early 1920s, he and his elder brother opened a small art printing shop, published "Three Days Pictorial", and participated in the Shanghai Comic Con. In the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), he and Ye Qianyu founded "Shanghai Comics". This is my country's first pictorial magazine dedicated to publishing comics.
Later, he and his elder brother founded Times Printing Company and Times Book Company, and established illustrated magazines such as "Times Comics", "Times
Times Pictorial", and "Independent Comics". He not only provided works and designed covers for these illustrated magazines, but also engaged in printing, publishing and distribution. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he published "Anti-Japanese Pictorial" and "New Life Pictorial" for a short period of time, and created comics with anti-Japanese themes. At the end of the 26th year of the Republic of China
went into exile in Hong Kong. He once served as the chief editor of the pictorial magazine "Shen Shen", the director of the printing department of "Sing Tao Daily", the art editor of "The News", and also co-founded "Public Life". He once edited and published the comic book "Such Wang Jingwei" and continued to carry out anti-Japanese propaganda activities. The Japanese tried to coerce him into participating in literary work for the pro-Japanese "Datong" magazine
so he was forced to abandon his writing and go into business and co-open the Fu Lu Shou Hotel. Later, the Japanese authorities who occupied Hong Kong put him on a blacklist. After hearing the news, he fled to Guilin in the spring of 1932, where he opened a furniture decoration company with his elder brother. He also participated in the activities of the "Culture Reclamation Group" organized by Xiong Foxi and others. In the spring of 1934, he and his elder brother arrived in Chongqing to prepare for the establishment of the China Art Factory. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to Shanghai. Soon after he went to Taiwan, he was hired as a special committee member by the Taiwan Provincial Department of Construction and served as the executive director of the Taiwan Travel Agency. He was responsible for compiling and printing the album "Taiwan after the Restoration". Arrives in Hong Kong in September 1949. Soon, he returned to Beijing together with a group of artists in Hong Kong. In the spring of 1950, Zhang Zhengyu was invited to attend the South China Cultural Workers Conference held in Guangzhou. After the meeting, he returned to Beijing and served as a stage art consultant for the China Youth Art Theatre. At the same time, he also served as an editorial board member of "People's Pictorial", "Art", and "Drama News", and as an art consultant for publications such as "PLA Pictorial", "PLA Literature and Art", and "China Construction". He has been elected
as a director of the Chinese Artists Association, the Chinese Dramatists Association and a member of the Beijing CPPCC Committee. He works conscientiously
and is meticulous. When designing stage art, he is not satisfied with the design on the screen, but
continuously carries out the design during rehearsal and even during the performance. Ponder and revise. He once wrote his own creative experience
in an article "Stage Art Anecdotes" and published it in a newspaper. While creating stage art design
, he is also engaged in crafts, binding, decoration, film and drama, and even art design for exhibitions, group gymnastics, and festival parades. Aspects of artistic creation, for which he has worked hard. In 1965, he designed the group exercise "Revolutionary Hymn" for the Third National Sports Games and won the gold medal. The large-scale animated film "Havoc in Heaven" co-created by him and his brother has received praise at home and abroad. He is also very knowledgeable in Chinese painting, calligraphy, epigraphy, etc. In his later years, he wrote many ink sketches, which are treasured by people. He especially likes to draw cats.
He incorporates cats with different expressions into basic shapes, whether square or round, and they are all lively and lively, so he is known as the "cat man"
. The seal scripts he made are unique, and their formal beauty is also derived from paintings and arts and crafts. His epigraphic works of calligraphy and painting
were later compiled into "Selected Works of Zhang Zhengyu's Calligraphy and Paintings" and "Selected Selections of Zhang Zhengyu's Calligraphy, Paintings and Epigraphic Works"
He died of illness on October 27, 1976, at the age of 72.