MiGu’s name is little known to people today, but he was one of the most representative comic artists of 20th-century China, along with his contemporaries such as Hua Junwu and Liao Bingxiong, to consolidate the development of comic art at home.

His outputs were grounded on rich experiences of life. He was trained at art schools in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Shanghai; he went to Yan’an, Shaanxi province, where he was nurtured by the communist ideas; he was a member of the New Fourth Army where he created art to promote revolutionary ideas.

The years between 1945 and 1965 saw his most prolific time when the dramatic changes of China motivated him to produce works to speak for people, to expose social problems under the Kuomintang governance, and to condemn foreign interference.

A selection of works from this period in Mi’s career are now on show at A Time of Comics: MiGu Between 1945 and 1965, at the Art Museum of Beijing Fine Art Academy until Aug 27. It introduces to the audience the art of sarcasm of a productive man who thought a lot and drew a lot to express the concerns of his people and nation.