[The author says]
The Chinese Society of Editors decided on the topic of "History of Editing and Publishing in Modern China", and persisted on and off for several years.
There are at least a few reasons why this topic was established and pushed forward.
First, the purpose of the Chinese Society of Editors dictates.
The Chinese Society of Editors is a national and mass academic organization of philosophy and social sciences.
The general task of the Society is to trace the history of editorial science through theoretical and business research, analyze reality, explore the laws and scientific principles of editing work, establish a theoretical system of editorial science, cultivate a team of high-quality editorial talents, and be dedicated to the development of socialist publishing with Chinese characteristics. Serve.
Second, the innovations in the history of editing and publishing in modern China are due to this.
Starting from history is of course a relatively mature and submerged way of academic research, and the highlight or innovation of this topic is in "modern editorial history".
There are not a few works on the "History of Chinese Publishing", whether it is a brief history or a general history, when comrades in the industry talk and discuss, they can always make a long list, but there are very few works on the "History of Chinese Editing". Hard to find a few.
"History of Editing and Publishing in Modern China" is not only about the chronological history of publishing, but on this basis, it focuses more on the exploration and research on the history of editing - focusing on the formation of editing professional groups, the development of editing institutions, the emergence of editorial characters, and the Discussion and research on the combing of achievements, the interaction of editorial development and social changes, etc.
Third, the combination of necessity and possibility constitutes the law of necessity of things.
The Editing History Research Committee under the China Society of Editors has gathered a number of experts, scholars and colleagues who have been working in editor-in-chief, key editors, and editing teaching and scientific research positions for a long time. Feasibility with realistic personnel guarantee.
The book materially and dialectically reveals the logical relationship between modern social changes and changes in the publishing industry.
In 1840, Britain launched the Opium War, forcing China from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
Due to the establishment of factories and trade in trade ports and some coastal towns, the growing demand for technology and business information gave birth to the first newspaper industry in modern times; missionaries who came to China with the colonialists started church newspapers and printed churches one after another. Books and some technical books, etc.
The trend of "Teaching the Barbarians' Long Skills" and "Saving the Nation to Survive" led to the establishment of government-run bookstores and Tongwenguan, which served the Westernization Movement, and other publishing institutions.
The abolition of the imperial examination system, the implementation of the "Renyin school system" and the "Guimao school system", and the large-scale public demand for new textbooks have also triggered the rapid emergence of the private book industry.
All of these contributed to the birth and development of modern Chinese editing and publishing industry with certain characteristics of capitalism.
It can be said that the new-style intellectual group and the modern Chinese editing and publishing industry have been produced and grown together with each other.
Initially, Chinese editors and publishers sought jobs in church publishing organizations, and gradually mastered certain editing and publishing techniques and management knowledge. Some of them began to set up factories and enterprises on their own.
In the beginning, it mainly contracted printing, distribution and other businesses, and gradually it also directly set up a one-stop book and periodical enterprise that edits, prints and distributes.
The profit of one-stop editing, printing and distribution is obviously higher than that of only having one or two links.
The development of new-style education and the end of the imperial examination system have led to a large number of new-style intellectuals entering the editing and publishing industry. These new-style intellectuals have a relatively new knowledge structure, better Western learning literacy, and a relatively broad world outlook, and no longer regard reading as the value of life. The only orientation is that they have become the most modernized group in the editing and publishing team. The simple printing factory in the traditional book industry has also transformed into a modern publishing enterprise with editing, printing and distribution functions.
The modernization of the printing business and the postalization of the distribution business require the intensification and professionalization (full-time) of the editing process, so the "editing office" system has been gradually formed and continuously improved.
Some far-sighted editors and publishers, such as Bao Tianxiao and Xia Ruifang, believe that in order to expand their business and prepare their own books, it is necessary to set up an editorial and printing department (institution).
A learned celebrity should be invited to host.
Publishing companies are born one by one, and editor groups are formed one by one, which has become a distinctive feature of the development of modern editing and publishing in China.
After the evolution of modern Chinese editing and publishing history to the 1920s, it was precisely an important historical period for the birth, growth and development of the Communist Party of China.
From this, we can find the origin of the birth and growth of the party and the cause of editing and publishing in modern China.
As mentioned earlier, modern editors were born out of the old intellectual camp, and the first batch of professional editors in modern China were born and grew up in the process of the establishment of Chinese and foreign newspapers and periodicals by Western missionaries in China.
After the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, "enlightenment", "salvation of the nation" and "protection of the country" became the urgent themes of Chinese society. The reformist press gave birth to a group of media intellectuals with political consciousness. The reformist party press around the 20th century made newspaper editors. Their social image and professional status have been improved.
The ups and downs of modern Chinese history are closely related to newspapers and periodicals, and most of the important thinkers, writers, and politicians are directly involved in the editing work of newspapers and periodicals.
Publishing has a deep connection with the rise and fall of a country, has a close relationship with the enlightenment of people's wisdom, has a solid echo with the scientific enlightenment, and has a direct connection with the democratic revolution.
The elitisation of editors and publishers takes another form in the publishing house.
Represented by private publishing institutions such as the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Bookstore, Kaiming Bookstore, and Life Bookstore, the modern publishing industry has gathered a large number of cultural elites for decades, who are seeking careers, survival and work with dignity. At the same time, the education of people's wisdom and prosperity has been launched, and unremitting efforts have been made to save the nation and to awaken the people.
Generally speaking, they show a strong sense of social participation, and they are brave and good at expressing their cultural and political ideas.
On the one hand, they seized the opportunity of the abolition of the imperial examination system and launched textbooks at different levels that can meet the needs of modern society; on the other hand, while maintaining the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, they actively introduced advanced or progressive and scientific content from the West Used, Xing my Chinese.
The new-style intellectual group in this period not only introduced new ideas and created new culture, but also continuously expanded the new-style intellectual team or the quasi-intellectual team, and jointly contributed to the development of the publishing industry.
The thriving modern publishing industry and professional editorial team provide basic conditions for community activities, and this kind of community activity and professional editorial team promote each other and give birth to each other.
On the one hand, the commonality, commonality, differences and ideals of occupations prompt editors to form closely related associations (society), through the exchange of information, brainstorming, collision of ideas and wisdom aggregation, to achieve the goal of connecting feelings and improving professional ability.
On the other hand, in this process of discussion, collision, and aggregation, professional editors gradually realized the role of this new type of society as a link and platform, and gradually developed a sense of dependence and gain, and the new type of society gradually became a modern society in China. source of academic societies.
The society, the journal and the annual meeting constitute a "trinity" academic system.
If there is a society, there must be a journal, and if there is a journal, there must be an annual meeting.
The establishment of journals and the holding of annual meetings are the most important undertakings and main activities of the Chinese Modern Society.
It can be said that newspapers and books are the media foundation of modern society, and the society is a propellant for the improvement of the ability of newspaper editors and book editors and the improvement of the quality of newspapers and books, and the reinforcement of the common ideals and aspirations between newspaper editors and book editors. device.
The Communist Party of China attaches great importance to the editing and publishing of newspapers and books, and has established a red editing and publishing team, which has greatly promoted and guaranteed the success of China's new democratic revolution, and written the history of red publishing in our party.
(Author: Hao Zhensheng, President of China Society of Editors)