XXX Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 19–21 июня 2019 г. Т. 2

Секция XV 40 XXX Международный Конгресс по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки Not surprisingly, the central issue in China’s international standing for cartoonists was Japanese encroachment; while the pain of Manchuria’s separation had somewhat tailed off by 1933/1934, Japan’s advances in Northern China were regarded with renewed despair and disgust. Concurrent conflicts in theWest brought about the idea of relating these parallel trends. Therefore, Japan’s policy in China was incorporated into the same visual narrative as Mussolini’s actions towards Abyssinia, as well as the inadequacy of the League of Nations’ measures against such actions, the spread of totalitarian ideologies and the world powers’ unrestrained desire to gain profit. However, some contradictions come into view: the threat from Japan inspired a call to defend the motherland, while the militaristic trends abroad caused anxiety and fear. Chinese cartoons reflect a sharp contrast between the perception of China’s own helplessness against the horrors of foreign invasion and the demand for disarmament on the global scale. Cartoons depicting Sino-Japanese clash implied criticism of gov- ernment’s non-resistance and society’s inaction, while images of oppressed peoples abroad demonstrated sympathy rather than a cry for revenge. That is an understandable incongruity, of course, but it brought several Chinese cartoonists to the conclusion that peace on Earthwas impossible while humankind inhabited the planet. Such apocalyptic vision was further enhanced by the ever more frequent use of such clichés as dead or mutilated bodies (both male and female), skeletons, skulls and other macabre details. Analyzing the cartoons also shows the dynamics of allocating the role of “the main villain” in the mid-1930s. For example, several cartoons from 1935 portrayed Mussolini as a far more dangerous actor than Hitler, while Hitler at first (in 1934) appeared to be no more than a puppet or a “straw dog” being manipulated by London or, largely, capitalists. Generally, the cartoons contained multiple warnings against the coming global war through various metaphors, such as oceans of blood and bombs destroying all. Yet, the same cartoonists aimed to rouse the militant spirit in their compatriots in order to resist the Japanese threat. The cartoons show the growing apprehension and distrust of all foreign powers in Chinese society. These visual sources represent China as being alone, helpless against the terror of war, with this terror spreading onto the whole planet. Liu Zifan (Institute of Ancient History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China) «Han-hai»: A Geographic Concept of Inner Asia Recorded in Chinese Historiography “Han-hai” 瀚海 was a weel-known geographic concept in Chinese historiography. In 119 A. D., General Huo Qubing 霍去病 won a decisive victory over Xiongnu 匈 奴 . The sources reported that the General offered sacrifices to Heaven on “Lang-