Zhang Shuyu, a 2022 Master in Department of Visual Communication Design at Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University under the mentorship of Professor Chen Nan, has been awarded the National Scholarship and Tsinghua University Comprehensive Excellence Scholarship (First Class). Her portfolio includes cover designs for Reader magazine, product packaging, video game concept art, and promotional posters for films and TV series. She previously served as a student counselor at the Academy.

Reimagining classical aesthetics through a contemporary lens resembles a romantic dialogue across millennia. When ancient artistic ideals meet modern perspectives, the aesthetic DNA embedded in poetry, calligraphy, and painting awakens renewed reverence for tradition.

Illustration from Zhang Shuyu’s Ode to the Red Cliff
During her undergraduate studies at Tsinghua, Zhang conceived the idea of creating a series of picture books inspired by classical Chinese literature. She audited humanities courses and lectures from Tsinghua’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature, gaining interdisciplinary insights into translating textual imagery, metaphors, and emotional structures into visual narratives.

Since beginning her graduate studies, Zhang has focused intensely on illustration. “Painting fills my days with richness, even in simplicity,” she reflects. Her style, rooted in meticulous brushwork and line drawing techniques honed through years of traditional Chinese painting, emphasizes contour and spirit through delicate strokes. “The slow process of outlining and coloring feels meditative,” she shares.

From Sketch to Final Artwork

Line Drawing as Core Visual Language

Zhang’s illustrated series spans classical genres, poetry (Spring River Flower Moon Night), lyrical songs (Autumn Meditation), prose-poetry (Ode to the Red Cliff), and essays (The Peach Blossom Spring) translating literary diversity into visual splendor.

Her Spring River Flower Moon Night picture book, based on Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu’s masterpiece, uses the river, blossoms, and moon as metaphors. By blending natural beauty with philosophical musings on time’s passage and life’s transience, she visualizes the poem’s meditation: “Generations pass endlessly like the river, yet the moon remains unchanged through the ages.”

Illustration from Spring River Flower Moon Night
“Visual symbols in illustration must align with the text’s imagery,” Zhang explains. In this work, the moon depicted in its waxing and waning phases serves as both a temporal anchor and a metaphor for eternity, appearing in every spread to echo the poem’s themes.

Illustration from Spring River Flower Moon Night
The book has won 12 international awards and been featured on People’s Daily’s official social media, amassing over 5 million views across platforms like Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Weibo, and Douyin.

Illustration from Ode to the Red Cliff
For Su Shi’s Ode to the Red Cliff, Zhang captures the misty riverside ambiance to convey the philosopher’s cosmic perspective: “Observing the unchanging, all things including ourselves are infinite.” Her reinterpretation of Su’s metaphor for life’s brevity, the mayfly places the ephemeral insect atop a blazing sun, juxtaposing fleeting existence against celestial permanence. “While mayflies live mere hours, even the sun will one day extinguish. In the cosmic scale, all existence is transient,” she explains.

Visual Metaphors in Ode to the Red Cliff

·Mirror Reflections: Delayed reflections in mirrors visualize the line “If we perceive change, not a moment remains static,” embodying the philosophy of impermanence.

·Botanical Boats: Oars morph into orchids and cassia branches, dissolving the boat into floral shadows for the verse “With cinnamon paddles, we row through moonlit waves.”

·Celestial Romance: Ethereal depictions of “roaming with immortals, embracing the moon eternally” encapsulate classical lyricism.

Illustration from The Peach Blossom Spring
Her Peach Blossom Spring integrates shadow puppet art elements, rendering Tao Yuanming’s utopia through the interplay of light and silhouette.

Illustration from Autumn Meditation
For the Yuan-dynasty song Autumn Meditation, Zhang translates its “noun-collage” technique into visual juxtapositions isolated villages, setting suns, and lone crows using sparse compositions and muted tones to evoke the desolate refrain: “A heartbroken wanderer at world’s end.”

Global Recognition
Zhang’s works have been exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and earned accolades including:

·Gold Award, iJungle International Illustration Competition

·Silver Awards, 3x3 International Illustration Show and Japan Illustrators Association (JIA) Competition

·Jury Prize, 9th China Illustration Biennale (CIB9)

·Honorable Mention, Chen Bochui Children’s Literature Illustration Award

iJungle’s Feature on Zhang’s Gold Award
For her graduate thesis, under Professor Chen Nan’s guidance, Zhang is systematically exploring how visual language interacts with diverse literary genres using lavish colors for Han-dynasty fu poetry’s grandeur and ink-wash minimalism for landscape essays’ ethereality.

Zhang Shuyu’s Vision
“Since the 20th century, Tsinghua’s pioneers have masterfully integrated traditional aesthetics into illustration and animation, inspiring my work. Moving forward, I aim to deepen this dialogue between classical visual elements and modern illustration. Illustrating ancient texts is not just preservation, it’s a romantic conversation across time. Through art, I hope to reignite global appreciation for Chinese aesthetics, allowing this millennia-old romance to thrive anew.”