In addition to book publishing, Zhang Jinglu actively participated in publishing-related social activities during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, mainly to promote the establishment of a new publishing industry united front.
In April 1943, the National Government designated seven bookstores, including Commerce, Zhonghua, The World, Dadong, Enlightened, Zhengzhong, and Wentong, to establish the "Seven Joint Supply Offices for National primary and secondary school textbooks" as a special publishing and distribution agency for primary and secondary school textbooks nationwide. In order to ensure the normal operation of the "Seven Joint Offices", the government stipulates that these seven bookstores can enjoy a number of preferential policies such as low-cost ration paper and low-interest loans. Other small and medium-sized private book industries, not only the price of printing paper is two or three times higher than the price of ration paper, but also the printing price is much higher than that of the "Seven Joint Offices", and it is even more unable to enjoy the low-interest loans of banks, coupled with the high postage and tax system for printed materials, resulting in a great increase in the cost of these small and medium-sized private publishing institutions. At the same time, the rising price of paper has made bookstores and publishing houses in the new publishing industry face great difficulties. At that time, although there were publishing organizations such as the Book Industry Association and the Publishing Industry Commercial Association in Chongqing, most of them were controlled by large bookstores, and it was of no help to the new publishing industry with the small and medium-sized private book industry as the main body. In view of the difficulties faced by the new publishing industry, in the summer of 1943, Zhang Jinglu assisted Huang Luofeng to connect with representatives of 13 other publishing houses in Chongqing, such as the Cultural Life Publishing House and the Qunyi Publishing House, to carry out the "New Publishing Industry Friendship Association" in the form of dinners and discussions.
1948, Shen Jingzhi, Huang Luofeng, Xu Boxin (left to right)
Presided over the merger of Sanlian Bookstore in Hong Kong
Uniting the small and medium-sized publishing industries dominated by the new book industry has always been Zhang Jinglu's wish. As early as 1928, Zhang Jinglu issued an initiative to organize the Shanghai New Book Industry Association with Shen Songquan to exchange news, contact feelings and fight for rights. Although the Shanghai New Book Industry Association was eventually dissolved without official approval, Zhang Jinglu's desire to unite the small and medium-sized publishing industries has not been extinguished. Therefore, when Huang Luofeng planned to form a united front for the new publishing industry in 1943, Zhang Jinglu responded positively and gave full play to his personal advantages to actively mobilize colleagues in the new book industry to participate in the grand event.
After about half a year of brewing, on December 19, 1943, 13 publishing institutions such as Life Bookstore, Reading Publishing House, Xinzhi Bookstore, Emei Publishing House, Shanghai Magazine Company, Writers Bookstore, Fifties Publishing House, Huazhong Book Company, Cultural Life Publishing House, Cultural Supply Agency, Qunyi Publishing House, Guoxun Bookstore, Education Bookstore and other 13 publishing institutions jointly established the "New Publishing Industry United General Office", with Huang Luofeng as the chairman and Zhang Jinglu as the general manager. The joint headquarters office is located on the upper floor next to Huazhong Book Company on Minsheng Road[5]. The "Joint General Office of the New Publishing Industry" is represented by the managers of each publishing house, and a representative meeting is held every half month or a month, presided over by Huang Luofeng and Zhang Jinglu respectively, to discuss the various problems faced by the new publishing industry.
"Drama Post" issued by Huazhong Books
After the establishment of the Joint Headquarters of the New Publishing Industry, it first devoted itself to solving the problem of distribution difficulties in small and medium-sized bookstores. In the publishing industry during the Republic of China period, in addition to the independent distribution agencies of large bookstores such as "ShangZhongshi Dakai", the distribution channels of the vast majority of small and medium-sized bookstores were incomplete, which became a bottleneck restricting the development of small and medium-sized bookstores. In order to solve the difficulties of the distribution channels of the new book industry, in the spring of 1944, "because of the waste of manpower and material resources of individual distribution, most of the peers believed that there was a need to establish a joint distribution agency"[6], the ninth representative meeting of the Joint General Office of the New Publishing Industry decided to open a joint bookstore and implement the "principle of unified distribution division of labor and distribution". The first associated bookstore opened on May 1, 1944, located on Linsen Road, Chongqing, with manager He Lixun (later Mid-Autumn Yuan) and its shareholders increasing to 21 at the time of opening. In August of the same year, Zhang Jinglu and Wan Guojun organized a joint bookstore in Chengdu, with Wang Qiqian as the manager (later Sun Mingxin), and the address was located in Chengdu Ancestral Hall Street.[8] After the opening of the joint bookstore, it was "highly respected by the reading circles and more valued by the publishing industry" [9], highlighting Zhang Jinglu's achievements as a leader of the small and medium-sized publishing industry in the wartime kuomintang area.
With the success of the joint bookstore model, on September 9, 1944, the "New Publishing Industry Joint General Office" was reorganized into the New Publishing Industry Joint Venture Bookstore Co., Ltd., the number of participants increased to 27, Zhang Jinglu was elected as the chairman of the board, Huang Luofeng, Yao Pengzi and other four people were elected as executive directors, Tang Zhitian and other three people were elected as supervisors, Xue Dichang and Lu Mengsheng were elected as associates, Wan Guojun was the chief accountant, and Fang Xuewu was the secretary. At the time of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the number of shareholder units grew to 33, and in the spring of 1946, the Hankou Joint Bookstore was opened. The significance of the joint bookstore model for the small and medium-sized publishing industry, as some scholars have said, the joint bookstore has formed the center of the distribution of progressive books and periodicals in the great southwest, and the surrounding areas of each center are connected horizontally and vertically with many distribution offices, stations and points, thus forming a distribution network in the rear [11], which can be evaluated for confirmation.
Zhang Jinglu (front row, fourth from right) poses with colleagues at the Hankou Associated Bookstore
In addition to initiatives such as the establishment of joint bookstores, Zhang Jinglu has also written in newspapers many times to make a voice for small and medium-sized publishing enterprises. On March 27, 1944, Chongqing's Ta Kung Pao published an editorial entitled "Prices and Culture", lamenting that "if you have food to eat, you will starve to death when you write a book". Within a year, the price of paper had more than quadrupled, from 1,200 yuan per order around the Spring Festival in 1944 to more than 5,200 yuan per order in April 1945,[13] making the new publishing industry difficult. To this end, on April 5, 1945, Zhang Jinglu, Jin Changyou, Huang Luofeng, Yao Pengzi and others jointly signed and published "Difficulties in the Publishing Industry" in Chongqing's "Ta Kung Pao", which pointed out: "At present, those engaged in publishing business can barely maintain expenditure. Most of them are either on the verge of bankruptcy or will be closed to invisibility. In the face of these dilemmas, Zhang Jinglu and others proposed several solutions: "Writers and writers should ask the government to supply daily necessities at an affordable price to reduce the pressure on life" "I intend to ask the government to imitate the method of industrial and agricultural loans, and to hold cultural loans for those who run publishing businesses, and to apply for loans from the General Office of the Fourth Federation" by various publishers"; "All books and periodicals that are sent should be given preferential treatment"; "I am willing to repeatedly appeal to our financial authorities, and all book business taxes should still be levied according to the amount of capital according to the previous methods, and the Soviet business is in difficulty", It is said that some newspaper houses in Chongqing are entitled to affordable paper supply, and the publishing industry should also ask for assistance." "The printing industry should also request relief and preferential treatment, so that there is no way to produce cultural grains"[14]. After the article was published, it resonated with many publishers. On June 14, Xinhua Daily published an Urgent Appeal for the Publishing Industry drafted by dozens of publishing houses in Chongqing recommended Guo Moruo, in response to the difficulties faced by the publishing industry. Under the pressure of public opinion, on June 30, the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee invited 29 publishing houses and other relevant institutions to discuss the issue of the publishing industry.
In July 1945, the "Urgent Appeal" was forwarded in the semi-monthly magazine "Regeneration"
On July 11, 1945, Zhang Jinglu published in the second page of Xinhua Daily, "Where Are The Publishers Going?" ", discuss the development path of the small and medium-sized new publishing industry under the pressure. Zhang Jinglu pointed out at the beginning of the article, "Today, the publishing industry (especially the new publishing industry) has indeed reached a situation of exhaustion. In the eight years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, except for the short-lived Wuhan era, it has been walking in decline. "Despite the downsides and hardships," a man who truly dedicates himself to publishing will not beg for mercy from anyone. A person who truly dedicates himself to publishing will not change careers halfway through"[16]. Such a statement, as well as an appeal for the National Government to take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of the publishing industry and the interests of publishing practitioners, have taken zhang Jinglu's personal position and showed a leading posture of the small and medium-sized publishing industry. These public social activities, together with personalized literary and artistic publishing, constituted two areas of Zhang Jinglu's publishing activities during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
bibliography:
Shen Songquan. Remembering Mr. Zhang Jinglu[M], Song Yingli, Yuan Xisheng, Liu Xiaomin, eds.A Collection of Research Materials of Famous Chinese Editors and Publishers in the 20th Century, Vol. 4. Kaifeng: Henan University Press, 2005.09:479
[5] Compilation Committee of Chongqing Publishing Chronicle. Chongqing Publishing Documentary No. 1 Memoirs of Famous People, Scholars and Elders in the Publishing Industry[M].Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 1988.12:234
[6] See Zhang Jinglu, "Report of the Fifth Session of the General Meeting of Shareholders of New Publishing Industry Associated Bookstores", reproduced from the Editorial Board of the "History of Life Bookstores". History of Life Bookstore[M].Beijing: Life Bookstore Publishing Co., Ltd., 2013.12:283
[7] Compiled by the Compilation Committee of Chongqing Publishing Chronicle. Chongqing Chronicle Publishing 1840-1987.Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 2007:409
[8] Chengdu Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, ed. , v. Selected Literature and History Materials of Chengdu Anti-Japanese War Volume (Part I) Salvation Figures. Chengdu: Sichuan People's Publishing House, 2007.05:399
[9] See Zhang Jinglu, "Report of the Fifth General Meeting of Shareholders of New Publishing Industry Associated Bookstores", reproduced from the Editorial Board of the "History of Life Bookstores". History of Life Bookstore[M].Beijing: Life Bookstore Publishing Co., Ltd., 2013.12:283
Fan Yong. Fighting in the White Zone: Reading Books Publishing House (1934-1948).Beijing: Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Triptych Bookstore, 2001:357
CHEN Ruyan. About the New Publishing Industry Association[M], edited by the Cultural and Historical Materials Research Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial and Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Selected Literature and History of Jiangsu Literature and History Series 17. Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1986:35
[12] Prices and Culture[N], Ta Kung Pao, 1944-3-27
[13] Paper prices soared, cultural undertakings were difficult[N].Xinhua Daily, 1945-4-30(02)
Zhang Jinglu,Jin Changyou,Huang Luofeng,Yao Pengzi,Tian Yiwen,Tang Shengtian. Difficulties in publishing[N].Ta Kung Pao, 1945-4-5
[15] Urgent appeal for publishing industry[N]. Xinhua Daily, 1945-6-14(01)
ZHANG Jinglu. Where are publishers going? [N].Xinhua Daily, 1945-7-11(02)
Originally published in The Press, No. 9, 2018
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Editor-in-Charge: Guo Yanhong
About the Author
Pengfei Wang, Ph.D., Professor. He currently works at the School of Journalism and Communication of Henan University. Ph.D., Department of Chinese, East China Normal University, Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford International Publishing Research Center, UK, And School of Information Management, Nanjing University. His research interests include modern literary journals, publishing culture and new media. His major publications include "Research on The Literary Journal of The Lonely Island" and "Haipai Literature" (co-authored), and the Xiao Hong Scroll, shituo volume, and Xiao Jun Luo Binji volume of "Publishing Science" and "Hundred Literary Libraries of Maritime Literature" are selected. He is also a member of the National Steering Committee for Postgraduate Education in Publishing Majors, the Secretary-General of the Editorial and Publishing Research Committee of the Chinese Journalism History Society, and a member of the Teaching Steering Committee for Publishing Majors in Colleges and Universities.
Qiao Xiaopeng is a doctoral student at the School of Information Management, Nanjing University.
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