Tsai Chih-chung (; C. C. Tsai; Buddhist name Yanyi 延ä¸Â; born February 2, 1948) is a Taiwanese comic-artist. He is known for his graphical works on Chinese philosophy and literature, most notably on Daoism and Zen Buddhism, which he made accessible and popularized through the use of plain language and engaging illustrations. He also made a name for himself as an award-winning film director, serialized comic strip creator, widely collected painter, champion bridge player, and premiere collector of antique bronze Buddhist statues. He is also a Shaolin monk.
Tsai's books have sold over 500 million copies in 59 countries. He currently resides in Hangzhou, China.
C. C. Tsai was born on February 2, 1948, in Sanjia, Huatan, Zhanghua, Taiwan å°ç£彰åÂÂ縣è±å£ÂéÂÂä¸Â家æÂÂ. In 1963, when he was 15 years old, he answered an ad for a comic artist and was hired. He dropped out of school and moved to Taipei. Three months later, he moved to the largest comic publishing house in Taiwan, where he anonymously created hundreds of comic books, mostly in the kung-fu genre.
From 1968 to 1971, he fulfilled three years of compulsory military service, during which time he educated himself in art history, color theory, and design. Upon being released from the military, he applied at Kuangchi Program Service (the first independent television production company in Taiwan) and beat out all of the fresh design school graduates for a position as director of television art design. Using KPS's equipment and library, Tsai taught himself the art of animation, and in 1977, he separated from KPS, partnered with Che Gam-Tiu è¬ÂéÂÂå¡Â, and established Far Eastern Animation Productions é æ±å¡éÂÂå ¬å¸, creating animated ads and shorts. Their first full-length movie, came out in 1981, based on Hong Kong cartoonist Alfonso Wong's çÂÂ澤 Old Master Q èÂÂ夫å comic strip. It was co-directed by Tsai, Che, and Woo Shu-Yue è¡樹åÂÂ, was a box-office success, and won the 1981 Golden Horse Award for best full-length animation.
In 1981, Tsai left Far Eastern Animation and started his own company, Dragon Animation é¾Âå¡éÂÂ, which brought out the full length-animated movie Old Master Cute Part 3 å±±TèÂÂ夫å in 1983, and in 1984 it brought out Black Dragon Courtyard çÂÂé¾Âé¢, based on comics by Ao Yu-hsiang æÂÂ幼祥. In 1984, Tsai shut down Dragon Animation to focus on original comic illustrations of his own.
In 1983, Tsai began serializing his own comic strips:
In 1985, the year he was named one of Taiwan's Ten Outstanding Young Persons, Tsai developed a plan to adapt the major Chinese classics into comic book format. The first was Zhuangzi Speaks èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ說ï¼Âèªç¶çÂÂç°«è² (1986), which immediately shot up the best-sellers list and stayed at the number 1 spot for 10 months.
Tsai continued his success in 1987 with the following interpretations of classical thought: Laozi Speaks èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ説: æºè çÂÂä½Â, Liezi Speaks ä¾ÂÃ¥ÂÂ說ï¼Â御風èÂÂè¡ÂçÂÂå²æÂÂ, Confucius Speaks Ã¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ説ï¼Âä»Âè çÂÂå®åÂÂ, and The New Dao ä¸Â説æ°èªÂï¼Âå ÂæÂÂçÂÂ渠è«Â. These were followed in 1988 by: Zen Speaks 禪說ï¼Âå°Âè çÂÂæ£ÂÃ¥ÂÂ, The Platform Sutra å Âç¥Â墰ç¶Âï¼Âæ¹溪çÂÂä½Âå±, The Middle Path ä¸Â庸ï¼ÂÃ¥ÂÂ諧çÂÂ人çÂÂ, Roots of Wisdom èÂÂæ ¹èÂÂï¼Â人çÂÂçÂÂæ»Âå³, Book of History å²è¨Âï¼Âæ·å²çÂÂé·åÂÂ, Higher Learning 大å¸ï¼ÂÃ¥ÂÂ大çÂÂå¸åÂÂ, and Analects è«ÂèªÂï¼Âä»Âè çÂÂè«Âè¨Â. In 1989 came: Han Feizi Speaks éÂÂéÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ說ï¼Âæ³Â家çÂÂå³»è¨Â, Mencius Speaks Ã¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ說ï¼ÂäºÂä¸ÂçÂÂå²æÂÂ, Zhuangzi Speaks II èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ說 II: èªç¶çÂÂç°«è², and Laozi Speaks II: èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ説 IIï¼Âæºè çÂÂä½Âæ¼. Sunzi Speaks å«åÂÂ說ï¼Âå µå¸çÂÂå ÂçÂÂ¥ was published in 1990.
In 1987, Tsai's books held the top 3 spots of the Taiwan bestseller list. He was the bestselling author in Taiwan in 1987 and 1988.
He also published comedic interpretations of classic literature, such as Journey to the West 西游訠(1987âÂÂ88), Ghosts and Wizards èÂÂé½Âå¿Âç° (1988), Outlaws of the Marsh 水滸å³ (1988), and White Snake ç½èÂÂå³ (1990), as well as straightforward versions of the poetry of the Tang and Song dynasties (1989).
Overall, Tsai was instrumental in initiating Taiwan's animation and comics boom that began in the 1980s, providing both expertise and unprecedented creative style.
In 1991, Tsai entered the China market when Joint Publishing ä¸Âè¯æ¸庠published his 27 volume Classics of China comic book series ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¤ç±Â漫ç«系åÂÂ, with an initial print run of 5 million volumes. Within one year, sales topped 30 million volumes and 60 million by 1998.
By 1991 authorized translations of his books were being published in English, Spanish, Japanese, Czech, and Russian, among other languages in over 20 countries. By 2003, they had been translated into 42 languages.
In the late 1980s, Tsai took up traditional Chinese ink-wash painting.
His solo exhibitions include:
Prints have been published in his six volume Zen Paintings è¡å¿Â忠水墨說禪.
Tsai is a champion bridge player, with over 90 trophies from competitions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and North America, including 1991 champion of British Columbia, Canada.
In 1991, Tsai began collecting gold and bronze Buddhist statuary. By 1997, his collection included 2,000 items. The collection had increased to 3,300 by 2003 and to about 4,000 by 2020.
Exhibitions:
Cai's father was the village calligrapher. In 1976, Tsai married Yang Wanqiong æ¥ÂçÂÂ. They have one daughter.
In 2020, Tsai took vows as a Buddhist Monk at Shaolin Temple.
The first museum dedicated to C. C. Tsai opened in Hangzhou in March 2024. A second opened in Gaoping é«Âå¹³, Shanxi 山西 in June 2024.