A combining of the modern with the traditional is sweeping across the field of Chinese literature classics as many of the household names put on a new look with cartoon editions.

Ancient China's four classic literature works: A Dream of Red Mansions, The Romance of Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West and The Water Margin; as well as other familiar favorites like Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, have all been adapted into cartoon series.

The previous profound words and phrases now come to life as vivid, comic pictures. Also, new elements have been injected into the characters, allowing them to be closer to our modern life.

The heroine of A Dream of Red Mansions, Lin Daiyu, is originally portrayed as a very fragile girl who always hides behind a book and is awash in sentimental feelings. However, the new edition brings readers a very cool, trendy girl whose hair is dyed purple.

In The Romance of Three Kingdoms, the ancient great figures like Liu Bei, founder of the Shu Kingdom, and Cao Cao, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, begin to work for present government offices and even talk about contracts and salaries.

Creators described the new versions as trail-blazing attempts to attract more young people to read classic literature works.

The creators said today's children were exposed to Western culture via many media and they were often carried away by the fancy and interesting looks in foreign cartoon books or on TV programs. They said just reading the literature classics would not insure their hearts and therefore some publishing houses launched modern editions of the classics targeted at young readers.

"I like the cartoon editions, because it is easier for us to understand the story and even some captions include our slang," said 13-year-old Zhou Yong from Shenzhen Experimental School.

"It seems very interesting that ancient people look very stylish and can speak our language," said Zhou's classmate Chen Dong.

Even though the young readers like what the publishing houses are doing, the revised versions have still aroused much controversy. Well-known Chinese cartoonist Miao Yintang is one of the proponents who consider it to be a turning point for the Chinese cartooning industry.

"China is dominated by Japanese and South Korean cartoons," Miao said. "The new cartoon renditions mark the beginning of a new cartooning style in China. With the injection of modern and innovative ideas, I hope Chinese cartooning will gain prevalence among young readers and can inspire much new cartoon work."

However, some are not so supportive of Chinese cartooning's new direction. Liu Xiaolingtong, the actor who played the leading role as the monkey king in The Journey to the West, said the new versions only distort traditional Chinese culture.

"The original charm of the characters is destroyed by the new versions," said Liu. "They fail to truthfully convey the meaning and lessons taught by the literature classics."

The creators said they expect children to learn the essence of traditional Chinese literature, but Chinese language teachers hold a different voice.

"The classic works require careful reading, which will ignite your imagination and enrich your spirit," said a local teacher Liu Fang. "The humorous reflection of the classics fails to live up to the originals and their unique charm as literature masterpieces. Classic literature will gradually lose its luster as the future generation loses its connection to the literature's true spirit and carry on its essence."

Parents of today's youth are filled with mixed feelings when they see modern looks sewn into the old classics.

"If the children can learn more about classic culture, then the new cartoons are a good thing. However, I can tell some of the characters are totally distorted in the new versions and have lost most of their original meaning," said Zhang Youling, mother of an 8-year-old girl.