Chen Lei (pen name: Er Hun Zi), formerly a designer of SAIC Group, was the founder of Wechat public account “Hun Zi Yue,” which is a historical story platform generated over 3 million followers. His articles have accumulated 300 million page views with over hundreds of thousands page views per article across platforms. In 2017, Chen Lei was recognized as New Writer and Ambassador of Love Reading. Zhang Quanling, a former CCTV host and mentor of the hit network show “Qi Pa Shuo”, recommended Chen Lei as an author of historical stories written in another perspective.

Chen Lei is the pioneer of writing popular science in comic format. His hilarious and creative hand-painted images and historical sections were popular among younger generations. Chen Lei and his team are committed to popularizing general education in comic language. No matter what field of knowledge, this set of books will become the first “30 minutes” on your way to gain more knowledge.

By all accounts, it’s a remarkable achievement when a first-time author reaches a best seller list. But what is to be made of a first-time author cornering 8 of the top 12 positions in non-fiction?

As shown in OpenBook October Non-Fiction Bestseller Chart, Chen Lei’s series “30 Minutes Cartoon” dominate the non-fiction category, with a total of 8 titles listed on Top 30. The publication of new books has not only been a hit, but also boosted sales of other series of books to be listed on the bestseller chart. Specifically,

• All 5 volumes of “30 Minutes Cartoon” in history series have entered Top 10;

The latest volume 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (4), published in September, became No. 2nd on the non-fiction bestseller;

• 30 Minutes of Tang Poetry in Cartoon has two volumes in the series, ranked No. 8th and No. 9th respectively;
• 30 Minutes of Economics in Cartoon came in at No. 12th, which was published in the recent three months.

Chart 1: OpenBook October Non-Fiction Bestseller Chart

In the past 2 years, Mr Chen or “Stone” as he likes to be called has sold more than 7.6 million copies. In addition, Stone has over 5 million daily viewers of his professionally managed social media accounts (WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Tautiao).

What’s driving this excitement? The expanding book market in China reflects a strong desire amongst Chinese readers to learn more about the world. Yet, people in China are working longer hours and have less time to read. In many professional sectors, including publishing and technology, it’s not uncommon for people to work 9am to 9pm 6 days a week or “9-9-6”.

Stone recognized these two converging factors and created a simple formula for satisfying his reader’s endless curiosity. First, he has selected popular topics of the day which range from understanding block chain technologies to a survey of History of China and the History of Tong Poetry.  (When is the last time an anthology of poetry has reached the NYT best selling list?) Tong presents his material in easy to understand language mixed with a clever dose of humor and comic depictions of his subject matter. His books which average around 300 pages are intended to be read in less than an hour.

Drawing inspiration from his industrial design professors, Stone recognized that the most elegant solution to most problems is the simplest one. And Stone has successfully applied this concept to storytelling.

Stone’s works have been enthusiastically received by readers of all ages. Many young readers discovered Stone from the books that their parents had bought for themselves. In the last several months, we has become China’s latest celebrity.

Chen Lei’s 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Comics 5 was selected as Top Ten Excellent Original Social Science Work at the third “Nationwide Reading – National Bookstore Choice” organized by OpenBook

“30 Minutes Cartoon” Series: Narrate Their Stories and Laugh Your Way to a Six Pack Abs

Is old-fashioned research the only way to accumulate knowledge? Should reading for pleasure be overlooked? Chen Lei’s book has such a fatal disadvantage: it provides you a non-stop workout for your abs as you will be laughing after reading these serious history and science knowledge.

Starting with a series of comics on Weibo in 2014, Chen Lei and his work have opened up a new model of “reading for pleasure”- hand-drawn comics and humorous bit of wisdom. Chen Lei uses the funny character image and humor section to tell stories about history in an easy-to-understand way.

In just half an hour, Chen Lei hopes to convey serious historical and scientific knowledge to the reader. He establishes a logical thinking mechanism for people to gain knowledge. The whole story is connected by the causality of things. Started by his history series, Chen Lei believes that “history is a string of pearl necklace; each pearl is a wonderful allusion. But only if they are connected by the string, it could be called history.” In the process of learning history, Chen Lei started from an event, constantly looking for its reasons, and finally the chain of history could be found. This logic applies to Chen Lei’s other popular science series that were recently published.

Knowledge itself is fascinating; whether it is the ever-changing history, or the inexplicable science, they always attract people’s attention. But terms and thick books are often discouraged. Chen Lei knows that it is not his cartoons that attract people, but the knowledge that comics convey. Like Chen Lei, there are countless people attracted to knowledge. Chen Lei expressed that “I am not the creator of knowledge, but a porter of knowledge, so that the cost of getting people to gain knowledge is reduced throughout easy-to-understand way.”

Chen Lei’s “30 Minutes Cartoon” series has been popular among readers in all age groups. Among the millions of readers, there are a large group of primary and secondary school students, and some middle school students even use his comic books as a must-read for history.

Recommendations from industry experts and major media platforms for the “30 Minutes Cartoon” series:

There is a WeChat public account called “Hun Zi Yue,” which is a very productive platform with high traffic volume; the creator writes the historical analysis, painting, and has a stable content production and quality.——By Zhang Quanling, former TV host of CCTV

The key is the painting style. His paintings look very comfortable, and the picture with text is very funny. I heard that his team took Zhang Quanling’s investment. I regret that I missed this opportunity.——By Wei Wuhui, a well-known investor

30 Minutes of Global History in Cartoon is written in a humorous, slightly flirtatious way. While reading through, the content is true, rigorous. It is ideal for young people to read.——By Professor Xiang Rong, Department of History of Fudan University

If you have followed his public account, you could be impressed by his comics that explain profound knowledge in such simple language. The difficulty is not comics themselves to attract people, but also knowledge spreading through comic style. So, it is a bit of a surprise.——By Spiritual Wealth Club, a Book Club in China

What makes this series of comics fascinating is that, on the one hand, they tell about high-end knowledge; on the other hand, stories all wear a layer of “funny humor” coat. The original boring and raw knowledge thus become alive. It also shows the power of communication. Chen Lei combine all elements together to explain the boring history, profound science, and current political news throughout fun stories and humorous bit of wisdom.——By Global People

More Media Comments and Reader’s Comments available

• In May 2021, Chen Lei and his team created a comic on wechat public account in memory of Yuan Longping: Today, you need to know how powerful Yuan Longping’s hybrid rice is!
• It is remarkable that Chen Lei’s “30 Minute in Cartoon” series still dominated the non-fiction bestseller chart in December, with a total of 10 titles on Top 30, as the following series.
• His new title 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon: Traditional Chinese Festival published in November 2019 also entered OpenBook Bestseller Chart of December, ranked No. 30^th.

• OpenBook’s info about 30 Minute of Tang Poem in Cartoon, 2019