Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ding Cong (1916-2009) was a cartoonist, illustrator, and graphic artist. Before the Second World War (1939-1945) and after 1949 he edited pictorial magazines. During the war he travelled extensively in west China. He became friends with Khoan (1919-2003) and Michael Sullivan (1916-2013) in Chengdu, Sichuan province, where he gave the Sullivans a number of his drawings. It was in the war years that Ding Cong matured as a graphic artist. This drawing was produced by Ding Cong in 1977, depicting Lu Xun (1881-1936), a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Ding Cong inscribed the drawing and gave it to Khoan and Michael in 1979, when the couple were visiting Beijing after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The inscription reads ‘To old friends Lao Mai [Michael] and Khoan. Xiaoding. October 1979 in Beijing.’ They had not seen each other for more than 30 years, since their last meeting in Chengdu. Ding Cong and Michael met again in 1980 at the dinner arranged by the Chinese Artists’ Association and he signed the menu with other artist friends of Michael’s. Michael kept this menu for the rest of his life as another token of the friendship between him and his artist friends.