Chang Chong-Jen, also known as Tchang Tchong-Jen in French or Zhāng Zhòngrén in Chinese, is a major character in the Tintin comic book series, appearing as a major protagonist in The Blue Lotus and the main central character of Tintin in Tibet.
He is a Chinese boy who Tintin meets after the train stopped due to a flooded river on his way to Hukow, as he heard him screaming for help. Surprised that Tintin saved him, he helps him on his mission with the Sons of the Dragon to stop the smuggling operation run by Mitsuhirato and Roberto Rastapopoulos.
Appearance[]
He is a young Chinese boy with black hair, a red tunic, black pants and yellow shoes.
Biography[]
The Blue Lotus[]
Chang is first seen being saved by Tintin from drowning in the Yangtze river. The two became friends and Chang tells Tintin that his orphanage was destroyed by the flood and that his grandfather was killed in the war. He guides Tintin through a shortcut in order to travel to Hukow faster and saves Tintin from the Thompsons who reluctantly arrested Tintin under orders from Dawson by writing a different message on a paper of the same format after they lost the original paper authorizing his arrest. He then joins Tintin on his mission to stop the opium smuggling operations in China along with the Sons of the Dragon. They then travel to the place where the ransom money must be paid, only to see one of Wang's men, unconscious, drugged by Mitsuhirato as he kidnapped Mr. Wang and his family, confirming that Mitsuhirato was the one who kidnapped Fang Hsi-ying earlier.
Tintin and Chang then travel to the Shanghai docks where they hide inside opium barrels to get inside the temple undetected, but it turns out that Tintin was actually seen by one of Mitsuhirato's men, who drew a cross on the barrel indicating that this was the barrel Tintin was hiding in. As they successfully infiltrate inside the place, he is forced out of the barrel at gun point by Mitsuhirato, who then binds Tintin along with Mr. Wang and his wife to have them killed by Didi. Little do they know, however, is that Chang and the other Sons of the Dragon were also hiding inside the barrels, as he shoots Didi's sword, snapping it in half and saving Tintin. He and the other Sons of the Dragon then binds both Rastapopoulos and Mitsuhirato, defeating them. Tintin and Chang then discovers a secret room where they find Fang Hsi-ying tied to a chair. After rescusing him, they find out that the secret room was accessible through a large safe, leading to the Blue Lotus. Chang is then adopted by Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang, who later wishes goodbye to Tintin as he goes back to Europe.
Tintin in Tibet[]
Chang returns in this story, this time as the main central character of the plot, as Tintin, Haddock and their guide Tharkey travel to the Himalaya mountains to rescue him.
He is first mentioned on a newspaper informing that Chang has died from a plane crash in the Gosain Than Massif while travelling through the Himalaya mountains. Having dreamed of his survival, Tintin is confident that Chang is still alive, despite Haddock trying to convince him that Chang is actually dead and that it would be useless to travel to the Himalayas to find a dead person. They then go to Nepal to find a sherpa called Tharkey, who initially refuses to go to the mountains to find his dead body, but Tintin is still confident of his survival and convinces him to find Chang, which he reluctantly agrees. However, the mountains is guarded by a Yeti, who Tintin mistakes as Haddock when he first encounters him, which further confirm Haddock and Tharkey's initial refusals. After multiple dangers, they fail to find Chang and Haddock tells him that it is hopeless as Chang is actually dead, but Tintin still persists at saying that Chang is alive. They later find his scarf lost in the mountains, which is a clue that Chang survived the crash and was sheltered somewhere.
They later find Chang, ultimately confirmed as being alive, inside the Yeti's shelter, where he explains to Tintin and the crew how he survived the plane crash (as well as being the only survivor of the plane crash) and that he was found by the Yeti who sheltered him and took care of him by giving him food every day. The Yeti then returns to the cavern, but he flees due to the light from Tintin's camera, knocking over the Captain in the process. Along the way, they briefly find the Yeti again, who Haddock scares off by blowing his nose, leading to Chang expressing sympathy for the Yeti, calling the "Poor" Snowman instead of "abominable". After being prepared for comfortable conveyance, he, Tintin and Haddock are met with the Grand Abbot and an emissary group of monks, who present Tintin with a silk scarf in honour of the bravery he has shown and the strength of his friendship for Chang. After they are taken back to Khor-Biyong where Chang recovers a week later, they return to Nepal via caravan. Chang then muses that the Yeti is no wild animal, but instead has a human soul. As they leave the monastery, the Yeti watches their departure in sadness.
Trivia[]
- Chang was created and modelled after a sculptor that Hergé met and befriended in 1934, Zhang Chongren (1907-1998). He is also the one who gave Hergé and the Tintin comic series a major turning point, as he no longer used stereotypes and instead did cultural research for the places Tintin travelled to in future albums of the series. As a token of Hergé's appreciation, he was added in the series as Chang Chong-Jen.
- He is also mentioned in The Castafiore Emerald.
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