Feng Zikai Memorial Hall (Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum)

Feng Zikai Memorial Hall (Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum)

The Feng Zikai Memorial Hall is located in Shimen Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, and consists of two parts: Feng Zikai’s former residence “Yuan Yuan Tang” and the Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum.

In the southeast corner of Yuan Yuan Tang, Feng Zikai’s former residence in Shimen Town, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, there is a building with dark tiles and white walls, featuring varied heights and levels, which is integrated with the former residence. This is China’s first cartoon museum — the Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum.

Mr. Feng Zikai (1898–1975) was a modern painter, writer, art and music educator, and translator. In his early years, he studied painting and music under Li Shutong and was deeply influenced by his Buddhist philosophy. After the May Fourth Movement, he began creating cartoons. His early works often drew from real-life subjects with “gentle satire,” while his later works frequently reinterpreted classical poetry through new illustrations, with a particular fondness for children’s themes. His cartoon style is simple and unadorned, with profound and subtle artistic conception, serving as a bridge between literature and visual art. The former residence, Shimen Yuan Yuan Tang, was built in the spring of 1933. The structure was personally designed by the owner. It features traditional Chinese architecture — upright, tall, spacious, bright, and embodying a deep, simple beauty. It was destroyed by Japanese invaders’ artillery fire in January 1938. Later, it was rebuilt by the Tongxiang County People’s Government to its original appearance, with funding support from Venerable Guangqia, Feng Zikai’s close friend in Singapore. It was completed in December 1984.

The Cartoon Museum was established in 1998 — the centennial year of Feng Zikai’s birth. Adjacent to Yuan Yuan Tang, Tongxiang built the “Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum.” In the courtyard of the museum stands a full-body stone statue of Feng Zikai. In addition to exhibiting Feng Zikai’s works and an introduction to his life, the museum also houses display rooms for works by various renowned cartoonists. All exhibits originally in Yuan Yuan Tang were moved here. Yuan Yuan Tang itself is arranged with period furniture. The Cartoon Museum covers a construction area of over 800 square meters, with a total of four exhibition halls. The museum includes the Feng Zikai Art Career Exhibition Room, the Feng Zikai Calligraphy and Painting Masterpieces Exhibition Room, the Chinese Cartoon Masters Exhibition Room, the Chinese Contemporary Cartoonists' Works Exhibition Room, and the Feng Zikai Cartoon Stele Corridor composed of forty stone tablets. There are also statues and sculptures of Mr. Feng, as well as items he used during his lifetime, located in the courtyard and exhibition rooms.

The Feng Zikai Cartoon Museum includes the Feng Zikai Art Career Exhibition Room, the Feng Zikai Calligraphy and Painting Masterpieces Exhibition Room, and the Chinese Cartoon Masters Exhibition Room. The Feng Zikai Art Career Exhibition Room introduces the life and artistic journey of Mr. Feng Zikai; the Feng Zikai Calligraphy and Painting Masterpieces Exhibition Room displays 12 of Feng Zikai’s paintings and calligraphy works; the Chinese Cartoon Masters Exhibition Room presents introductions and representative works of famous Chinese cartoonists who made significant contributions to the history of Chinese cartoons, including Hua Junwu, Ding Cong, Zhang Ding, Fang Cheng, as well as the late Shen Bochen, Ye Qianyu, Zhang Leping, Zhang Guangyu, and Liao Bingxiong.

Museum Address: No. 1, Dajing Lane, Xishi Street, Shimen Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province (Feng Zikai Memorial Hall)

Postal Code: 314512

Contact Number: 0573-8611275 Fax: 0573-8614475

Email: yuanyuantang_001@163.com

Opening Hours: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (open all year round)

Admission Fee: 10 RMB

Further Reading:

· National Third-Class Museum of China