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Year Hare Affair

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Chinese webcomic and animated series

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Year Hare Affair
那年那兔那些事
GenreHistorical, comedy
AuthorLin Chao
PublisherSina Weibo
Original run13 June 2011 – present

Year Hare Affair (Chinese: 那年那兔那些事(儿); lit. 'Those stories of that rabbit that happened in those years') is a Chinese webcomic and media franchise by Lin Chao (林超), initially under the pen name "逆光飞行" (Pinyin: Nìguāng Fēixíng, lit. "flight against the light"). The comic uses anthropomorphic animals as an allegory for nations and sovereign states to represent 20th and 21st century political, military, and diplomatic events.

An animated adaptation of the series started airing in Douban in March 2015 and a free-to-play strategy video game based on it was released on iOS and Android in July 2015.

Characters

Factions and characters

Nations / Sovereign states Appearance Reasons and source of the appearance
People's Republic of China
(or Chinese Communist Party)		 Hare Hares are herbivorous animals that are usually considered cute, docile and populous, as well as being "harmless to humans and animals alike" (Chinese: 人畜无害), but can still inflict nasty bites and kicks when irritated, representing the People's Republic of China's traditionally not so aggressive foreign policies, but can still pack a heavy punch when required. Another explanation for it is that the Chinese words for "comrade" and "rabbit/hare" sound very similar when pronounced with a Shanghainese accent, as famously coined by crosstalk comedian Jiang Kun during the 1980s.

The Hare normally prefers to act friendly and moe in front of others and is obsessed with working the fields harvesting carrots and earning "small money", but when provoked into fighting often wields a cleaver and a brick in each hand while emitting a hellish black aura, and later learns to "plant mushrooms" and build "water cabinets". When extremely enraged, the Hare dons a green dinosaur suit and becomes a Godzilla-like monster that breathes fire.

Republic of China in all its forms (minus Communist) Baldhead Based on the (absence of) hair of Chiang Kai-shek. In Standard Chinese the words "baldhead" (秃子 tūzi) and "Hare" (兔子 tùzi) are near-homophones, which also represent the complexity of Cross-Strait relations.
Hong Kong Democrats Cockroach Based on the slur used by Hong Kong police against Anti-ELAB Protestors. Some big wig cockroaches such as HSBC executives have a yellow sticker on a front leg.
Qing dynasty and Manchukuo Pigtail Based on the queues which is the Manchu hairstyle of the Qing dynasty. (辫子 biànzi).
United States Bald eagle Bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America.
Soviet Union Brown bear Bear is a common national personification for Russia and the USSR starting from the Russian Empire. The Soviet bear has a symbol — the hammer and sickle of Communism — on his stomach, which later becomes more like a character, "父", meaning "father" in Chinese.
Russia Brown bear To differentiate from Soviet Union, this bear has a character "大" ("big" in Chinese, or "eldest" when describing age order of siblings) on his stomach, meaning that he is the "eldest son" of the USSR. The hair refers to "毛子" ("hairy ones", referring to the comparatively higher body hair count in Caucasians), a common northern Chinese nickname for Russians (and all East Slavs by extension).
Ukraine Brown bear To differentiate from Russia, this bear has a number "2" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "second son" of the USSR.
Belarus Brown bear To differentiate from Russia, this bear has a number "3" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "third son" of the USSR.
Japan Poussin (insists on being addressed as Crane) The crane is an important part of the Japanese culture, and the fact that the green pheasant is Japan's official national bird. However, they are mocked as a poussin in canon.
South Korea stick with a M1 helmet Bangzi is an ethnic slur by Chinese people towards Korean. To differentiate with North Korea, a US-style combat helmet is added to the appearance of South Korea.
North Korea stick with a military skicap To differentiate with South Korea, a Communist-style red star cap is added to the appearance of North Korea.
Various Southeast Asian countries:
Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines		 Snub-nosed monkey In Chinese, monkey is a racist term used to describe Southeast Asians.
Pakistan Markhor Markhor is commonly seen in Pakistan and the national animal. In the animation the Markhor is called Ba Ba Yang ("Pak Goat") and sometimes nicknamed "Little Ba" by the Hare.
India White elephant White elephant is commonly seen in India as an important part of Hindu mythology. In the animation the author chooses it rather than the bull which is sacred in Hindu to represent India because bull has already been used to represent the UK.
United Kingdom Bull "John Bull" is a national personification of England and the United Kingdom in general.
France Gallic rooster Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France.
Cuba Crocodile Based on the shape of the country
Germany cat The Tiger I/II heavy tanks and the Jagdtiger series tank destroyers are the most famous German armoured fighting vehicles from the Second World War, so in the comic Germany was at first a tiger called "Hans". But since both East and West Germany had been restricted in military strength after World War II, the "big cat" have been "tamed" and "downsized" to "small cats".
Various African countries in:
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
Tanzania,
Sudan,
South Sudan,
Eritrea		 Hippopotamus Hippopotamus is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in Sub-Saharan Africa generally stereotyped as being simple-witted and clumsy. Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all African countries mentioned are represented by hippopotamus, except for the Ugandan junta regime under Idi Amin. Also, "Colonel Ka the Hippo" sometimes symbolizes Muammar Gaddafi himself other than the country. Sudan and South Sudan only appear in the end of Episode 3, Season 2 of the animation.
Uganda Duck "Uncle Crazy Duck" is, in fact, the nickname of Idi Amin Dada among Chinese netizens. He wears a hippopotamus fursuit with loose screws on the head, meaning that his brain is "different" from other Africans. In the animation, Uncle Crazy Duck shouts "Banana!" during speeches like the Minions.
Various Arab world countries:
Afghanistan,
Saudi Arabia,
Iraq,
Pahlavi Iran		 Camel Camel is commonly seen and used as transportation in the arid, desert Middle East and Central Asia. Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all mentioned Arabic countries are represented by camels, but they have different appearance — Afghan camel wears a scarf and is bearded; Saudi (and other Gulf nations by extension) camel wears a scarf and many diamonds; Iraqi camel under the Saddam Hussein regime wears a military beret; and Iranian camel during the Pahlavi dynasty has a crown on his head.
Post-revolution Iran Lion Lion is the symbol of ancient Iran and the Persian Empire. The religious reform of Ruhollah Khomeini made the shia-majority Iran quite different from its sunni Arabic neighbours, and so the author chooses the symbol of ancient Persia to represent it.

Others

Character Avatar Reasons and source of the appearance
Lin Chao (author) Dragon "Twiny snake" (Chinese: 麻蛇) is one of the author's online nickname, and comes in the form of a small green dragon with a pair of yellow antlers. The author is often violently beaten up by other characters for inappropriately awkward straight man talks, and frequently threatened by the Hare to be cooked into a pasty soup — a running in-joke about the author's notoriety of often delaying the periodic updates of the comic series. The Chinese characters for "update" (更) and "paste" (羹) are homophones both pronouncing Gēng, causing the series' fans to create a parodic light poetry: "if the Snake doesn't update, make a snake paste (Chinese: 麻蛇不更麻蛇羹)."
Lin Chao's wife Snail Fairy Lin Chao's girlfriend (whom he married later) was often used as an excuse when he failed to update the comics on time, so an avatar is created as a recurrent cameo character who is a homemaker for the author, like in the Chinese legend of the Snail Fairy.
Director of the animated cartoon Tree "Two Tree" (Chinese: 二树) is the online username of the director/producer of the comics' animated series, so an avatar is created as a cameo character.
Suning.com Lion Suning.com is a sponsor of the animated series, and its mascot is a lion.

Included events

Video game

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2017)

A free-to-play strategy role-playing video game based on the webcomic, was released on iOS and Android on 15 July 2015. The player controls one of three factions: Hare, Bald Eagle and Bear.

Reception

Critical response

Hare (Chinese: 我兔; lit. 'Our rabbit') is now used as Internet slang referring to China.

Criticisms

The historical vision, provided in first two seasons of Year Hare Affair, came under heavy criticism in an overview on the Russian website South China Insight, especially Sino-Soviet relations. Though it is admitted that relations with Russia "occupy a leading place" in reflecting of Chinese history, but with a "complete disregard for historical facts", such as Soviet involvement in the Chinese Communist Party's foundation and the Red Army's liberation of Manchuria from Japanese forces. It was also noted that the Sino-Vietnamese War has been completely left behind.

Oiwan Lam of Global Voices Online finds racism in portraying the African as a hippopotamus, which she considers "a lazy and stupid animal". In that regard, "China's aid for Africa has also been simplified as a last resort because 'the first world refused to play with us'".

Ratings

The second and third season received 8.6 and 8.4 points out of 10 on Douban.

References

  1. Lawrence, E.A. (1990). "Symbol of a Nation: The Bald Eagle in American Culture". The Journal of American Culture 13 (1): 63–69
  2. Diana, James S. (1985). Production systems for commonly cultured freshwater fishes of southeast Asia /. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, Great Lakes and Marine Waters Center. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.58512.
  3. "Markhor: the national animal of Pakistan".
  4. Jentz, Thomas; Doyle, Hilary (1993). Kingtiger Heavy Tank 1942–45. Osprey Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 185532282X.
  5. "Hippopotamus". awf.org.
  6. 国漫《那年那兔那些事儿》出军事题材手游. xw.qq.com (in Chinese). 6 June 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. "网民为什么会把中国称为"兔子"" [Why do Internet called China a "hare"?]. The Paper (in Chinese). 1 August 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  8. "Дела зайца в те годы" - как китайцы видят отношения с Россией в одном из самых популярных мультфильмов Китая ["Year Hare Affair" - how the Chinese view relations with Russia in one of the most popular cartoons of China]. South-insight.com (in Russian). 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  9. Lam, Oiwan (1 June 2016). "Why Some Chinese Fail to See Racism in Qiaobi's Viral Detergent Commercial". Global Voices Online. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  10. Li, Hongrui (16 March 2017). "Five popular new Chinese animation series". China Daily. Retrieved 3 August 2017.

Further reading

External links

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