It was a happy coincidence, Li said, that the law books listed exactly 52 ways of abusing office.
"We all wanted to help with this," said Chen, the cartoon leader. Eventually, a local man named Hou Junshan was selected to make all the drawings, which he did for free, though he now complains that his name should appear in the patent.
The office of the prosecutor gave the decks to local agencies and sold them publicly for US$0.24 each. About 30,000 have been distributed, Li said, and more requests are coming in.
Li said the cards "serve as a warning to officials" and empowered the people "to help oversee public officials."
Some public officials do not even know what kinds of expenses can be properly billed to the government, Li said, or are unsure exactly what constitutes a bribe. "These pictures make it very easy for them to understand," he said.
The party secretary of Mengjie, a nearby village, says the deck has helped him and his colleagues avoid inadvertent straying.
"We can play cards and at the same time learn the law," he told a Chinese newspaper. "Only now do I understand that one can be sent to jail for sending gifts to get something done."
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