Chang Chong-Chen

Lore & Background

The fictional Chang first appeared in The Blue Lotus as a young orphan whom Tintin saved from drowning. The first thing he asked was why a white foreigner like Tintin would bother saving a non-white boy at all. He and Tintin then exchanged notes on the prejudice that Chinese and non-Chinese have for each other and laughed it away. Chang led Tintin to Hukow where he was on the trail of a kidnapped doctor. He replaced a lost document with another one claiming Thomson and Thompson were 'lunatics and this proves it', getting them thrown out and Tintin released. Chang also saved Tintin from a Japanese agent dressed as a photographer who had been sent to kill him. Tintin took Chang with him back to Shanghai to settle scores with his enemy Mitsuhirato. Chang moved in with the Sons of the Dragon, a secret society fighting opium trafficking, and played a crucial part in capturing the leaders of the gang, including Tintin's arch-enemy Rastapopoulos. After that Chang was adopted by Tintin's ally Wang Chen-Yee. Tintin and Snowy left for Europe amid a tearful and emotional farewell to Chang and his new family.

In Their Own Story

Chang remained unmentioned in the stories until Tintin in Tibet, published 24 years later in 1960. In this story, Chang sends Tintin a letter announcing his imminent move from Hong Kong to London to work in an antique shop owned by a brother of Wang's. His aeroplane crashes over the mountains of Tibet. Chang survives the disaster while all his fellow passengers perish, and is rescued by the yeti, the mythical creature said to live in the Himalayas. The yeti takes care of Chang, providing him with food, but when rescue arrives, he also takes Chang, weak with fever, as far away as possible. Tintin is convinced that Chang is not dead, after seeing him in a dream calling for help. Against all logic he sets off to find him, with the grudging help of Captain Haddock who, along with almost everyone else, believes Chang to be deceased. Tintin and Haddock eventually track Chang and the yeti down to another cave, and manage to get him out, following a tearful reunion. Chang is very grateful to the yeti for keeping him alive and describes him as 'poor snowman', rather than 'abominable'. When Tintin wonders if he might one day be captured, Chang objects, feeling that the yeti should be looked upon as a human rather than a wild animal. Chang later goes to London from where he keeps in touch, sending letters to Tintin and Haddock (see The Castafiore Emerald).

Reader's Guide

Chang Chong-Chen first appears in The Blue Lotus (1934-35) as a young orphan saved from drowning by Tintin. He immediately questions why a white foreigner would bother saving a non-white boy. He and Tintin laugh away their exchange on mutual prejudices. Chang leads Tintin to Hukow, helps him escape police custody by swapping a document, and saves him from a Japanese assassin disguised as a photographer. He joins the Sons of the Dragon secret society in Shanghai, helps capture the opium smuggling gang including Rastapopoulos, and is adopted by Wang Chen-Yee. After a tearful farewell, he reappears 24 years later in Tintin in Tibet (1960). He survives a plane crash, is cared for by the yeti, and is rescued by Tintin and Haddock after a dream convinces Tintin he is alive. He later moves to London and corresponds with Tintin and Haddock. The real-life Zhang Chongren, on whom Chang was based, was a student at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels when Hergé met him through Father Gosset. Zhang supplied Chinese writing, culture, history, drawing techniques, and descriptions of 1930s China including Japanese, British, American and other Western occupations. Their collaboration produced The Blue Lotus, a landmark that changed Hergé's approach to research and his attitude toward imperialism.

Did You Know?

• Chang was based on the real Chinese artist Zhang Chongren, a friend of Hergé's who was a student at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
• The story The Blue Lotus (1934-35) was a major landmark that changed Hergé's attitude toward imperialism, after he previously took a positive view in Tintin in the Congo (1930).
• Chang survives a plane crash in Tintin in Tibet (1960) while all his fellow passengers perish, and is rescued by the yeti.
• The real Zhang Chongren did not see Hergé for several decades until the French media arranged a reunion in 1981.
• Chang describes the yeti as 'poor snowman' rather than 'abominable', and objects to the idea of the yeti being captured, feeling it should be looked upon as human.