"Live" witnessed the 10-year change of Taiwan Man, and the final episode of "The Trail of Tea" was grandly published, Zhang Jiya: It may not have been completed as scheduled

Author, Photography｜ Wu Zhiliang (literary worker)

It took 12 years and accumulated readers of different generations. Taiwan cartoonist Zhang Jiya's most important work so far, "The Tea Trail of Aliens", has recently launched the fifth episode, ushering in the wonderful ending of the story.

"The Traces of Tea from Different People" is credited to John F., who is known as the father of Taiwan oolong tea/the father of Taiwan tea. Based on the historical facts of John Dodd and Li Chunsheng, they describe the ups and downs of the legendary development of Taiwan oolong tea from scratch. At the launch of the new book, two important promoters, Li Yalun, editor-in-chief of Gaia Comics Department, and Wen Chunya, editor-in-chief of "CCC Creation Collection" (the editor in charge of this work), made a rare appearance.

"The Traces of Tea from Different People" is rigorously researched on the basis of historical facts, and adds color with free creativity. Zhang Jiya takes two important figures in the history of Taiwan's tea as the main characters. Through the perspective of this charming partner, she leads readers into the local area The important events of oolong tea, at the same time, delicately present the special ecology among the early industries such as compradors, foreign companies, and tea farmers.

In the more than 10 years of serialization, this comic has not only accumulated many loyal fans, but has also been transformed into a day reading route, allowing readers to follow the story of Tao De and Chunsheng on a journey of tea industry. In recent years, it has been translated into Japanese and Thai versions one after another to enter overseas markets.

➤ Carefully scrutinize the character's personality and pay attention to emotional superposition

Although the success of "Tea Traces of Different People" depends on the cooperation of many parties, the most important key to making the story so fascinating is Zhang Jiya's ability to tell the story.

Li Yalun pointed out that when the first episode of the single book "Yiren Tea Traces Danshui 1865" came out, there were still relatively few local works combining literature, history and comics, which was considered a bonus period for novel themes. "Next, why does it last so long? This aspect relies on the talent of the cartoonist, and it is difficult to replicate."

Wen Chunya mentioned: "Jiya is very good at acting. When dealing with the turning point of the plot, she pays attention to laying out the characters, layering the emotions of the characters, and then letting the characters react to the events." Because of such creative characteristics, she can control a larger story. Lines are not difficult for Zhang Jiya.

Both editors mentioned that although Zhang Jiya is emotionally restrained and not good at words, she has rich ideas and delicate thinking. Li Yalun praised her for always scrutinizing the characters' personalities, emotional reactions and actions very carefully. Wen Chunya praised Zhang Jiya's good observation. She gave an example: "When sorting out the data, I only confirmed what Todd did, but Ji Ya pointed out that Todd is a very romantic person. When this character appears, the whole character comes alive!"

Tao De is romantic and Li Chunsheng is practical, and it is indeed one of the most critical designs of "The Trace of Tea". The personality differences of the two partners have established the main structure of the emotional tension of this work.

➤I was afraid of not knowing how to show the way of thinking of businessmen

"In order to present more diverse values, I try to avoid only pure good and evil." Zhang Jiya said in an interview that people often have a judgment of liking or disliking, good or bad because of different values and positions. When laying out the story, she believes that the position and values of the characters should be displayed, so that readers can find their own identity, and it is up to the readers to judge what is right and what is wrong.

For example, in Episode 5, the business of Taiwanese oolong tea is not only getting better, but even growing rapidly. Todd believes that the pace should be slowed down to avoid repeating the frenzy of tulips; Li Chunsheng is worried that if he stops immediately, it will cause heavy losses to the newly joined tea farmers. The two have their own considerations.

Zhang Jiya promotes the plot from different business thinking and shows the tension of the story. However, she, who has never done business at all, was actually very distressed at first, "Before I painted, I was always worried about 'how the businessman thinks', because I am not a businessman, and I didn't want to draw too exaggeratedly, and I was worried that I would not be able to convince readers, so I At that time, I read a lot of books by Japanese novelist Toyoko Yamazaki.” Especially Yamazaki’s stories depicting the struggles of Osaka merchants, from the nourishment of these novels, she learned how to combine business and stories.

➤Interactive puzzle-solving board game, Alien Tea Trace: Anecdote of the Tea Case

The atmosphere at the launch of the new book was warm, just like a concert of "The Unknown Tea Trail". Partners including the upcoming release of derivative board games, urban puzzle solving and other cross-disciplinary cooperation were present to send their blessings.

The board game "Anecdote of the Tea Case", adapted from "The Story of the Different People", contains physical accessories and auxiliary APPs. It is somewhat similar to the concept of RPG. Players need 2 to 4 people to cooperate. Through the dialogue between the characters, you can read the characters and experience To get close to the feeling of reading a manga. There are rich levels in the board game, and the tea making process is experienced with a strong interactive experience, and there is even a process of weaving a tea basket, allowing players to solve puzzles in the weaving.

The board game "Anecdote of the Tea Case" was created by Ju Lebang, a design company known for its issue games. The founder Wu Yaxuan said that he initially chose to adapt this comic not only because it has accumulated a lot of praise, but also because the theme reflects Taiwanese culture It is an important part of Julebang, which is quite in line with the concept of Julebang. In addition, "Because I started a business with my partner, and the book is also the story of two partners starting a business together, the most resonant thing is the difficulty of starting a business in the book."

Xiao Yaxin, the brand manager of Julebang, said that the biggest challenge in production is how to be loyal to the original work to achieve the fun and character of the story. "The character can't run away, it can't become a character that doesn't belong to its own soul, because the character has been created in the book."

➤Tea is of great significance in Taiwan's exquisite culture and common people's life

"Yiren Tea Traces" has delicate and precise drawings of tea and related tools and utensils. For example, because of the different production processes of tea leaves, the results are also different, "The oolong tea we know now is spherical, but in fact, the oolong tea that Todd and the others exported back then It's corded."

Regarding the tea tasting culture, there are also wonderful descriptions in the comics. For example, Todd mentioned in the first episode: "I think there have always been people who drink tea, but tea is constantly changing with time." Or the tea inspection in episode 4 The teacher mentioned a sales detail: "I was chatting with the clerk of the tea shop in New York before. The number of consumers who drink tea directly without adding milk and sugar has increased. Maybe the roasting should not be too heavy."

One of the difficulties in creating food-related works is that the description of taste is often very important, but people today cannot taste the taste of ancient people. During the drawing of the comics, Zhang Jiya also went to the famous store "You Named Tea" in Taipei to taste the taste of oolong tea.

Born in a family of tea farmers in Meishan, Chiayi, Zhang Jiya's immersion in tea culture is not a day's work. She said that when she was a child, she didn't really know how to introduce her father to her classmates, and she didn't know much about his father's work, so she didn't know how to explain the "tea farmer" industry. "When I take it for granted, sometimes I don't quite understand its advantages or value. After I drew this comic, I realized that 'tea' is not just something I drank like plain water when I was a child, there are more behind it. stories and emotions."

"Tea is actually some kind of cottage industry." Zhang Jiya said that she has met many readers who have tea-making machines at home, but they are no longer in use. Tea was also made at home in the past.

Zhang Jiya is also addicted to tea in life. She pointed out that Taiwan's tea will have new production methods and tea varieties launched every one or two years. As a commodity, tea is very active and diverse in the market. Zhang Jiya likes to try early adopters, but she also mentioned: "I found that the taste of some teas will gradually disappear, the more popular flavors will remain, and many will gradually disappear. It is difficult to find the exact same taste."

Now, if you want to explain "tea" to people, Zhang Jiya usually starts with: "Everyone likes drinking hand-cranked drinks, do you know which teas are produced in Taiwan?" Extending from this, let readers understand that tea does not It is only an important necessities for people's livelihood around the world, and it is also an agricultural product that Taiwan is proud of.

Tea is not only a part of history, but also has a representative meaning in Taiwan's common people's life, exquisite culture, and international export. The history described in "The Trail of Tea of Different People" should be familiar to everyone in Taiwan.

At the launch of the new book, Legislator Su Qiaohui also offered her blessings. She believed that this book not only splendidly interprets the history of tea industry in northern Taiwan in an entertaining and entertaining way, but also is a "new creation bible" that young people should read carefully. Because the book counts down all kinds of realities and ideals in the pursuit of dreams. She hopes that with the power of this book, readers and the general public will have a deeper and deeper understanding of Taiwan's history and land in the future. (➤Reading Reader is a comic book and a newly created bible. Su Qiaohui, a legislator, is also a super fan of "Yijin Tea Trace" )

➤ There is no longer space to test the true energy of literary and historical comics

"In a medium or long-form work, readers can see the growth process of a cartoonist." Li Yalun said that since the serialization, Zhang Jiya has made great progress in terms of painting skills, character performance, background, and refining of lines. . Not only that, Li Yalun also mentioned that when she met Zhang Jiya more than 10 years ago, she was just a young girl who just came out of the society and was very, very shy, but now she can talk freely in the press conference, "I There is a feeling like seeing my daughter grow up.”

However, this is not only a journey for cartoonist Zhang Jiya towards maturity, but also an important journey through the rugged changes of Taiwanese cartoons. In the 12 years of its serialization, "Invisible Tea Traces" has witnessed the "CCC Creation Collection" being suspended twice on paper, once restarted on paper, once transformed into a digital platform, and changed hands twice (note).

 Note: In 2009, Academia Sinica implemented the "Digital Collection Project" of the National Academy of Sciences, and the collection program ended in 2012; in 2013, Academia Sinica established the "Digital Culture Center", and in July 2019, the CCC team was transferred to the Institute of Culture and Policy

In the trend of "CCC Creation Collection" to create a new path for Taiwanese manga with the issue of literature and history, most of the serialized works did not accumulate into a volume or only published 1 or 2 volumes. Possibly the most important representative that pushes the same type of work farthest.

"Other countries have made many attempts in terms of manga comics or historical topics, and it has long been proven that it is effective in terms of commerciality and knowledge transfer. However, because Taiwan has not pulled out a longer scale, we cannot really test such a story. How deep can it be?" Wen Chunya said.

If we agree that the "Inhuman Tea Trail" has some kind of test significance, what experience can we gain from this important and rare attempt? For example, do the stories and depths of literary and historical comics require a longer length to complete? This kind of comics is not without commerciality. Is there a longer-term and larger-scale development? If there is a more complete comic environment, a good work may not have to wait 12 years? In an environment where Taiwanese comics are inherently disadvantaged, for a good comic, our observation period or waiting period is as long as 12 years? Whatever these questions point to, they all reflect the limitations of the current Taiwanese comics environment.

Li Yalun mentioned: "The creative life of a cartoonist is about a few years. If you fail to make a full-length novel, the consequences are irreversible. Whether the market is healthy or not, whether you can succeed or not depends on how many best-selling long-term comics the market can support."

In 2014, Zhang Jiya won the Golden Comic Award for Newcomer with this work. The first test cry attracted much attention, her talent was outstanding, and the subject matter was a very important part of Taiwan's history. In the past 12 years, "Iren Tea Traces" has slowly ended with 5 volumes. Its success is by no means accidental, but it is also fortunate, and it has gathered the joint efforts of many parties. Zhang Jiya said at the press conference:

Thank you so much for coming together today for the final episode, I really appreciate it.

I'm actually very timid, and I know that to really bring this comic to a wider area, I need to use everyone's strength. However, I am also very afraid, because this will involve a lot of people and will trouble everyone. When I was young, I was very afraid of bothering people, so I didn't dare to ask you to do anything.

However, in the more than ten years of writing comics, I know that there are many things. If I don't ask everyone for help, I can't go further, and I can't do things better. Just like Todd asked Li Chunsheng to create the scene of baking Formosa oolong tea in his heart together, here, I would like to make my invitation to everyone: I hope to take "The Trail of Tea from Aliens" to a farther place. Thank you, and trouble everyone.

Regarding this set of comics, it was finally concluded in the 12th year. Some readers will ask, will they feel reluctant? Rather than being reluctant, my heart is actually closer to a feeling of relief.

Because in the past 10 years or so, this manga may not be able to be completed as expected. It can only be completed at a minimum with the help of many people and the support of many readers along the way.

I'm really happy that I was able to get it done and hand it over to the readers, and I'm satisfied with the story, I've done it and presented it as planned, thank you all. ●

( The original text was first published on the OPENBOOK official website on 2022-07-15)

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Author: Zhang Jiya Publishing: Gaia Publishing

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Author: Zhang Jiya Publishing: Gaia Publishing