Xiong Dun

Xiong Dun (熊頓) (19 October 1982 — 16 November 2012) was the pen-name of Xiang Yao (項瑤), a Chinese cartoonist, who documented her own experience with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in her web comic Go to the Devil, Mr. Tumor. Her story was later adapted into a Chinese film, Go Away Mr. Tumor (Gun dan ba! Zhong liu jun) (2015).

Xiong Dun
Xiong Dun, from a 2012 obituary.
Born
Xiang Yao

(1982-10-19)19 October 1982
Lishui, China
Died16 November 2012(2012-11-16) (aged 30)
NationalityChinese
OccupationCartoonist, memoirist

Early life

Xiang Yao was from Lishui in Zhejiang province.[1]

Career

Xiang Yao worked as an illustrator for Beijing advertising company, while creating comics using the name Xiong Dun,[2] with titles like A Bachelorette's Diary, Superwoman on Diet, Stories in City,[3] and Maturing into Womanhood. She had six books of her cartoons published.[4] Her style was compared to that of Japanese cartoonist Naoko Takagi.[5]

Xiong Dun began to experience symptoms that were diagnosed as Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in August 2011. She blamed her own long hours for her turn of health, saying "I hope my illness will sound alarm bells to those workaholics like me."[6] Despite the grim subject, the cartoon published in book form as Go to the Devil, Mr. Tumor (2013)[7] was upbeat in tone, with humorous illustrations and observations about her cancer and treatments.[1]

Personal life and legacy

Xiong Dun died in November 2012, aged 30. "Death is only a result," she assured her fans. "How you live is the most important."[8] A film based on her life and work, Go Away Mr. Tumor, directed by Han Yan and starring Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu, was released in China in 2015,[9] and was considered a box-office success.[10] Wang Yichuan described it as an example of the "sorrow from joy" theme common in recent Chinese films.[11]

References
  1. Lin Lin, "Chinese Cartoonists Gain Popularity" Women of China (5 March 2012).
  2. "Tale of Hope and Humor Ends in Sadness" CCTV.com (19 November 2012).
  3. 熊顿 女, 1982-2012. (2015). Da cheng xiao shi : Shou nu^ zu fang ri zhi. Xiong, Dun., 熊顿. (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing: Beijing li gong da xue chu ban she you xian ze ren gong si. ISBN 978-7-5682-0894-9. OCLC 950447307.
  4. "Farewell, Xiang Yao" CRI English (2 January 2013).
  5. Xiao, Hui Faye (2019-11-22). Youth Economy, Crisis, and Reinvention in Twenty-First-Century China: Morning Sun in the Tiny Times. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-76534-2.
  6. Rebecca Lin, "China's Naoko Takagi Died of Cancer" Sino-US China News (20 November 2012).
  7. Xiong, Dun, 1982-2012; 熊顿, 1982-2012 (2012). Gun dan ba! Zhong liu jun : wo yu ai zheng dou zheng de yi nian li = Get away Mr. Tumour (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing: 北京理工大学出版社. ISBN 978-7-5640-6752-6. OCLC 823496497.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "Cancer-fighting Cartoonist's Story Touches Chinese Moviegoers" New China (19 August 2015).
  9. Maggie Lee, "Film Review: 'Go Away, Mr. Tumor'" Variety (19 September 2015).
  10. Beijing Film Academy Yearbook 2016. Intellect Books. 2017-08-15. ISBN 978-1-78320-825-8.
  11. Wang, Yichuan (2019-02-15). "Chinese Cinema: Sorrow from Joy". Beijing Film Academy Yearbook 2017. Intellect Books. ISBN 978-1-78320-932-3.
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