| Year Hare Affair | |
| Original Name | 那年那兔那些事儿 |
| Translation Name | Year Hare Affair |
| Original run | 2017 |
| Written by | Lin Chao |
| Website | Xiaomi Read More |
Year Hare Affair (Chinese:
Contents
- 1 Story
- 2 Characters
- 3 Notes
- 4 References
Story
The author tells the history of China through a group of cute rabbits in uniforms who symbolize the People's Liberation Army, and images of other animals. Sometimes, these animals would talk with a dialect that sounds funnier than simply using Mandarin.[1]
The story happens in the Flower-Planting Home(种花家) where hares lives in on the Blue Star(蓝星).Hares made their home richer when they were very poor and backward.They drove away eagles and invented The mushroom bomb to protect their home.
The first season was broadcast in March 2015 and the third one concluded on March 8, 2017. The second and third season got 8.6 and 8.4 points out of 10 on Douban.
Characters
| Nations / Sovereign states | Appearance | Reasons and source of the appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Mainland (or Communist Party of China | Hare(Chinese:兔子) |
|
| Taiwan region (or Kuomintang) | Baldhead(Chinese:秃子) | Based on the hair style of Chiang Kai-shek. Besides, in Standard Chinese "baldhead" (秃子 tūzi) and "rabbit" (兔子 tùzi) have similar pronunciations, which represent the complexity of Cross-Strait relations. |
| Soviet Union | Russian Bear(Chinese:俄国熊,Nickname:毛熊) | 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 (or Soviet Union) | Russian Bear with a single separated hair | To differentiate with the Soviet Union. This bear has a character "大" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "eldest son" of the USSR. The hair stands for the common Northern Chinese nickname for Russians "毛子" ("hairy ones", referring to the comparatively higher body hair count in Caucasians). |
| United States | Bald eagle(Chinese:白头鹰,Nickname:鹰酱) | Bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America. |
| Japan | Crane(Chinese:鹤,Nickname:脚盆鸡) | The crane is an important part of the Japanese culture.The chicken is used as an insult based on the similar appearance of crane and chicken and the traditional Chinese slang term xiao riben. |
| South Korea | Gaoli bangzi(Chinese:高丽棒子) with helmet | Bangzi is an ethnic slur used in Northeast China as a reference of Koreans. To differentiate with North Korea, a US-style combat helmet is added to the appearance of South Korea. |
| North Korea | Gaoli bangzi with red star hat | Bangzi is an ethnic slur used in Northeast China as a reference of Koreans.To differentiate with South Korea, a Communist-style red star ski cap is added to the appearance of North Korea. |
| Multiple countries in Southeast Asia Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines | Monkey | Monkey is commonly seen in the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia. It is also used as an ethnic slur in China for areas without modern development. |
| Pakistan | Markhor | Markhor is commonly seen in Pakistan and the national animal of this country. In the animation the Markhor is called Ba Ba Yang ("Paki 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. |
| Germany | Tiger/Cat | Tiger II and other Tiger series of tanks are the most famous German heavy tank.So in the assumption of the comic this animal called Hans was at first a tiger. But after World War II, Germany has been restricted to use military force, and thus after the war both East and West Germany become cats — a "downsized" tiger. |
| Multiple countries in Africa Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Tanzania Sudan South Sudan Eritrea | Hippopotamus | Hippo is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in Sub-Saharan Africa.Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all mentioned African countries are represented by hippopotamus, except for Uganda under the Idi Amin regime. 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 Colonel Muammar Gaddafi among Chinese netizens. The appearance of "Uncle Crazy Duck" in the comic is based upon Count Duckula and has screws on his head, meaning that his brain is different from other Africans; he wears the skin of a hippo. In the animation, Uncle Crazy Duck even shouts "Banana!" as the Minions do during the speech. |
| Multiple countries in the Arab world Afghanistan Saudi Arabia Iraq Iran | Camels | Camel is commonly seen and used as transportation in the desertous Arab world. 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 Arabian camel wears a scarf and lots of diamonds; Iraqi camel under the Saddam Hussein regime wears a beret; and Iranian camel during the Pahlavi dynasty has a throne on his head. |
| Iran | Persian lion | Persian lion is the symbol of ancient Iran and the Persian Empire. The religious reform of Ruhollah Khomeini made Iran quite different from its Arabic neighbours, and so the author chooses the symbol of ancient Persia to represent it. |
[2]
Notes
References
- ↑ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2017-03/16/content_28581355.htm
- ↑ Some of the text in this section is from the page Year_Hare_Affair in Wikipedia(View history).License:CC BY-SA 3.0
