Picture Book of Hegezhuang
As the author and illustrator of the Hegezhuang Picture Book, I used watercolors to narrate the journey of a frog's soul wandering through Hegezhuang.
Hegezhuang is a village-in-the-city in Beijing. International schools, tech companies, and the construction industry has segmented and eroded its original fabric, while also attracting diverse communities. Through my picture book, I want to explore the connections within Hegezhuang and the very way this urban village exists. The book also mirrors my own journey.
The Story About Hegezhuang
A group of frogs had been fighting in the river of Hegezhuang since birth, and none of them knew why. One of them died an absurd death and then met a young hen. Because it could not return to its body, it began to wander the village.
The frog did not know what death was, and was numbed to watch its companions die without knowing what happed. It died, only to feel that everything had changed, and inertia made it yearn to return to the familiar. In order not to be blown away by the wind, it held onto the hen’s feathers, but in any case could not bo back, and could only wander.
The proud hen, wandering freely around the village, was curious about the “flying frog”.
I see my body. It won’t take me in anymore.
The wind is going to take me away.
I see a hen the color of the sun. She is coming to eat my body.
I see the round sun and people wading around.
I see the clerk looking blankly out of the cafe.
I see the old and eight or nine dogs.
Dogs run after her, heads held high, the unseen clenching them together.
I see children growing out of a tree.
I see a dog and a soft hand.
The dog arches its spine upward and holds its head low, its body constricting as it tries to “eat” itself, safe only in its own body.
Because of the hand, it curls its body and streches its neck, making a difficult balancing act.
I see the dog with several workers.
“You! What are you feeding?”
“Who knows what you’re up to. Poison it?”
They come here, kick the dog through the gate.
The dog stands up without a sound, following them with its back hunched high.
“You ungrateful beast, we feed you!”
With another kick, the dog slants down, turns stiffly and walks on. Finally, it stops in front of the board house, slowly lying down in front of the door.
Some bones are thrown from the door, and the dog eats. A worker comes out, kneeling near the dog, petting its arched back.
I see a woman with wet hair in front of the TV.
She is the owner of the donkey meat shop, the top of her head posted with three yellow talismans : fortune, treasure, and windfall.
I see a very, very old woman.
I see people drinking in front of the stall. The alcohol seeps in, breaking a layer of their shells, and what comes out of their bodies...
I see a line of wandering glowing people.
The man who came out of the stone pier say, “So, you come to our Hegezhuang office to do accounting. You are a frog, even though you have four legs, you can still fool the door.
(The three-legged toad in Chinese myth can spit out gold and is a symbol of wealth. In paintings, the frog's soul has four legs, but it is still be loosely associated with the role of an "accountant" by the spirits living in the stone.)
Again, I see the old with dogs during the day.
Again, the wind is going to take me away.
I see the clouds of red over the sky.
Behind-the-Scenes
Hegezhuang
Preparation & Drafts