Tchang Ju Chi - Culturepaedia: One-Stop Repository on Singapore Chinese Culture

Tchang Ju Chi (1904–1942) is one of Singapore’s most important painters from the pre-World War II era. He was also an important advocate of fine art activities for Chinese associations in Singapore.

Born in Chaoan, Guangdong, Tchang (whose father Zhang Yinbo was skilled in the gongbi style of painting) cultivated a love of art from a young age. He studied Western-style painting at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and upon graduation, furthered his studies at the Marseille Academy of Fine Arts in France. In 1927, he moved to Singapore, where he taught at Tuan Mong School and Yeung Ching School (now Yangzheng Primary School).

In 1929, when Sin Chew Jit Poh was founded, its chief managing editor Tchou Paoyun (birth and death years unknown) invited Tchang to contribute cartoons to the newspaper’s literary section Fanxing (Stars). In July that same year, the newspaper added a pictorial section, Xingguang (Starlight) — with Tchang as its chief editor — to promote fine art and gain the interest of readers. During this period, the mastheads of Sin Chew Jit Poh supplements, such as Fanxing and Yepa (Wild flowers), as well as Tsing Nien (Youth) organised by the Nanyang Chinese Students’ Society through Sin Chew Jit Poh, were all designed by him. He also redesigned the masthead of the literary supplement Yelin (Coconut Grove). In 1930, after a year and two months at the helm, Tchang resigned as editor of Xingguang. That same year, his friend Chen Lien Tsing (1907–1943), who was editor of Lat Pau, added a new illustrated weekend pictorial supplement Yehui (Coconut Splendour) to the newspaper, and put Tchang in charge of it. Due to a lack of funds, however, the supplement ceased publication after half a year.

Tchang Ju Chi, *Self-Portrait*, 1939. Oil on canvas, 62 x 49 cm. *Gift of Chang Si Fun (Shewin Chang),*[footnote]1[/footnote]*National Gallery Singapore Collection, courtesy of the National Heritage Board.*

Ju Chi Studio and The United Painters

In late 1929, Tchang resigned from his job as a schoolteacher. He then founded Ju Chi Studio on 11 February 1930. It was apparent, from an advertisement for the studio in Sin Chew Jit Poh on 18 February 1930, that members of the cultural community such as Zhang Shu‘nai (1895–1939), Francis S. Fang (unknown–1942), Chen Lien Tsing, and Fu Wu Mun (1892–1965), held Tchang’s artistic talent in high esteem.

Ju Chi Studio was mainly involved in designing artwork for business advertisements. It also conducted art classes. Many cartoons by Tchang’s students were published in Sin Chew Jit Poh’s pictorial supplement Xingguang. In 1933, Tchang and his brother-in-law Chuang U-Chow (1907–1942) co-founded The United Painters to create advertisements for businesses.

A sense of place: Nanyang scenery in paintings

While living in Singapore, Tchang was actively involved in local and overseas exhibitions. Many of his exhibited works were oil paintings, probably closely related to his time in France.

According to existing literature, he was a painter who consciously — and from very early on — integrated Nanyang (Southeast Asian) scenery into his paintings. The masthead he designed for Lat Pau’s supplement Yelin featured a coconut grove, which not only echoed the supplement’s name but highlighted a view, long advocated by Chen Lien Tsing, that “literature should exhibit a sense of place”. In his essay Difang secai yu wenyi (Local colour and the arts), Chen Lien Tsing regarded Nanyang scenery, such as verdant coconut groves, dense rubber trees, lush banana plants, towering old trees, and cooling rains, as good subjects for writers. Chen Lien Tsing mentioned in his writing Zhang Ruqi xiansheng (Mister Tchang Ju Chi) that “the coconut tree, though having slender branches and leaves, and a weak posture, when featured in Mister Tchang Ju Chi’s paintings, shows strength in its slender length and robustness in its weak posture, a symbol of our life in Nanyang.”²

Mastheads of *Yelin* which were designed by Tchang Ju Chi, from 18 January 1929 (left) and 13 May 1929 (right). *Courtesy of Yeo Mang Thong*.

Tchang’s time in Singapore may have been short, but it was a brilliant one, artistically speaking. After living in Singapore for some time, he felt strongly about the development of local art. In 1930, when he was in charge of Lat Pau’s Yehui pictorial supplement, he wrote in the preface of the publication what was undoubtedly a call-to-arms for the art community, as well as a reflection of his strong social mission: “The art scene right now is no different from a desert – bleak, desolate, and extremely dry! Yet here in the desert, we long for the fountain of life … The pace, though very slow, still carries a great mission. Step by step forward, never to tire…” The masthead of Yehui even had the English words “Slow but Sure” on it.

Tchang Ju Chi’s preface in *Lat Pau*’s illustrated pictorial supplement *Yehui*, 11 October 1930. *Courtesy of Yeo Mang Thong.*

Tchang’s works include Malay daughter, Kachang Puteh Man, Southern Beauty, Still Life, Portrait of a Bengali, Old man from Jining, Attap House, Shadow of a Coconut Tree, and Coolie, all of which expressed the painter’s love of local life. Chen Chong Swee (1910–1985) wrote of Tchang’s works: “The composition is uniquely crafted, the figures are life-like, the lines are perfectly applied, the shades show strong and weak texturing that is precise and concise; and a cool breeze can be felt looking at his landscape painting of madashan [Brastagi, Sumatra], as if he has completely tapped the magical power of nature in his masterful expression.”³

Tchang Ju Chi, *Kachang Puteh Man*, circa 1930s. Oil on canvas, 108 x 72 cm. *Gift of Chang Si Fun (Shewin Chang), National Gallery Singapore Collection, courtesy of the National Heritage Board.* Editor’s Note: As the original work is now mottled and damaged, this image provided to the author by Chang Si Fun is a photograph taken of the painting in the early years.

The Society of Chinese Artists

Before World War II, the Society of Chinese Artists and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts promoted the development of fine art in Singapore in a big way. Tchang served as the founding president of the Society of Chinese Artists in 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1940, making huge contributions to its growth. The society was regarded as the first well-organised art group in Singapore, and many of its members were art teachers in primary and secondary schools. Other members of the club included Chen Chong Swee (who taught at Tuan Mong School), Yeh Chi Wei (1913–1981; Chung Cheng High School), Huang Qingquan (birth and death years unknown; Chinese Industrial and Commercial Continuation School⁴), Wu Tsai Yen (1911–2001), Yan Zaisheng (birth and death years unknown; Tao Nan School), and others. Tchang Ju Chi also taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, doing what he could to nurture the next generation of artists.

Painter Liu Kang (1911–2004) said of Tchang: “He is one of the painters in all of Malaya with the most mature and sophisticated realist techniques comparable to that of [Xu] Beihong and Basuki [Abdullah], and at least as, or even more, charming and elegant in style, with characters so life-like to the point that they enthral the soul.”⁵

In 1942, during the Japanese Occupation, Tchang was killed in the Sook Ching massacre, bringing an end to his short life.

1	Chang Si Fun (Shewin Chang) is the daughter of Tchang Ju Chi.
2	Lat Pau supplement Coconut Grove, 18 January 1929.
3	Chen Zongrui shiwenji [Collection of poems by Chen Chong Swee] (Singapore: Chen Qixin, 2010), 23.
4	Now Gongshang Primary School.
5	Liu Kang, Liu Kang wenji [Collection of Liu Kang’s Essays] (Singapore: Educational Publishing House, 1981), 237.

	“Tchang Ju Chi”. Reference@NLB.
	Yeo, Mang Thong. “Guan guojia meishuguan ‘Nanyang xiaxiang’ zhi Zhang Ruqi gushi” [Observations of the Tchang Ju Chi story of “Nanyang Reverie” at the National Gallery Singapore]. Lianhe Zaobao, 1 January 2016.