The Paper's reporter Gao Dan intern Zhao Mengyuan
On July 10, Uchiyama Bookstore finally returned to China, where its founders and operators were still in China, and settled in Tianjin.
Founded in 1917 by the Japanese Uchiyama Kanzoku in Shanghai on North Sichuan Road in Hongkou, Shanghai, Uchiyama Bookstore has a reputation for patronizing the most important intellectuals of the early 20th century. Since being repatriated to Japan by the Nationalist government in 1947 as a pro-Communist party, Uchiyama Bookstore has been out of China for more than 70 years.
Uchiyama Bookstore
How do I introduce Uchiyama Bookstore?
Imagine the Uchiyama Bookstore with the most miraculous scene in the movie "Midnight in Paris": you wait for the midnight bell to ring in the streets of Shanghai a hundred years ago, and you are picked up by an unknown car to a bustling bookstore, push open the door and see Lu Xun wearing a "black skinny short shirt, narrow pants and dark blue suit pants" flipping through the letters spread on the table, and when he is sad about his "pale blue and almost yellow and gray appearance", he turns around and bumps into a wide-sleeved red shirt and a coffee-colored skirt. Xiao Hong, who flashed with big eyes with excitement, and Xiao Jun, who was wearing a torn blouse that was neither gray nor blue, could hardly hide his arrogance, and when they were indulging in their freedom and robustness, they saw the "lonely and pitifully cold" Yu Dafu who pushed the door in, and had long been immersed in a melancholy mood...
The rise and fall of neishan bookstore and the cultural landscape of Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s formed a clever intertext, and when the tenth year of neishan bookstore operation (1927) gradually matured, Lu Xun arrived in Shanghai, Chen Danqing said: "Shanghai's literary and artistic history, from the time comparison, almost intensively occurred in the decade when Lu Xun came to Shanghai. In those ten years, Haipai literature rose,...... Coupled with the earlier Mandarin Duck Butterfly Sect such as Zhang Hexhui, coupled with the later Left Wing gang, this constituted the whole landscape of Shanghai literature in the 1930s. As a result, Neishan Bookstore and Lu Xun stood at the very core of this literary landscape and became the solid coordinates in this literary and spiritual carnival.
Lu Xun and Uchiyama finished building and so on
In addition to Lu Xun, the Uchiyama Bookstore is also inextricably linked to Yu Dafu, Xiao Hong, Guo Moruo and many other literati intellectuals, Yu Dafu introduced the owner of the Uchiyama Bookstore, Uchiyama Completed: "Uchiyama Completed, in China, first sell medicine, and then sell books, there have been more than 20 years of history. His life is very simple, he understands the business classics, and he is also infected with the habit of Chinese, and likes to talk about friendship. Therefore, our group of people who have lived in Japan for a long time in Shanghai always like to sit in his shop and talk. Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun first met Lu Xun at neishan Bookstore, and this classic scene was later portrayed repeatedly in film and television dramas about Xiao Hong.
Uchiyama Shoten in The Golden Age
Uchiyama Bookstore has a tortuous way back
Now neishan Bookstore is opened on the basement floor of a shopping mall in Tianjin, and the overall decoration and color and style of the bookstore are consistent with the main style of the mall.
When the surging news reporter visited the Neishan Bookstore, he happened to meet Zhao Qi, general manager of Tianjin Neishan Bookstore Co., Ltd., who was busy in the store, and he introduced the return process of the Neishan Bookstore to the reporter.
The story begins in 2013, when Tianjin-based documentary filmmaker Zhao Qi did a show called "Overseas Bookstore", which filmed the Uchiyama Bookstore in Tokyo, and Zhao Qi became acquainted with the descendants of the Uchiyama family. During the filming of the documentary, Zhao Qi learned that Uchiyama has always had a deep affection for China, in 1947 Neiyama completed as a Japanese expatriate, was repatriated by the then National Government, in 1959, Uchiyama returned to China, died of illness soon after, according to his will, his family buried him in the Shanghai Cemetery.
Time to April 3, 2015, Zhao Qi and the fourth generation of the Uchiyama family descendant Uchiyama Fukazu in the Cemetery for Uchiyama completed the tomb, Uchiyama completed the brother, Tokyo Uchiyama Kayoshi's grandson Uchiyama Kayoshi with tears to tell Zhao Qi, grandfather generation, there is a long-cherished wish, that is, the Uchiyama Bookstore was founded for 100 years, still did not realize this wish, so feel very guilty.
Uchiyama completes the tomb
When talking about this moment again, Zhao Qi was still a little excited, he said: "Suddenly there is a feeling that the ideal illuminates life, and opening the Neishan Bookstore back to China has become my life mission from April 3, 2015." ”
However, Uchiyama's return to the road has been full of twists and turns.
Zhao Qi initially wanted to complete it through fundraising, but when he talked to his friends, everyone thought that the bookstore project was too unprofitable, and even "not as reliable as the pension project"; "Later, I began to take the route of selling houses, I wanted to sell my own house, but catching up with the real estate boom in 2016, the state issued a purchase restriction order, and the house was not easy to sell." ”
In 2018, Zhao Qi met a coal boss. "This coal boss said, Mr. Zhao, I admire your courage, the bookstore I invest money in you, in the early stage, we first according to 5 million 6 million to invest, I have a request, after the bookstore came to mo Yan, Liu Zhenyun such a big coffee, I have to go and take a photo with them, I have to say that this bookstore is opened by me." As a result, within two weeks of the coal boss agreeing to this, he had an accident and suddenly disappeared from my contact list. ”
Until 2019, the leaders of the Propaganda Department of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee found Zhao Qi, and after several discussions, Tianjin decided that Tianjin Publishing and Media Group would be responsible for the reopening and operation of neishan Bookstore. In 2020, the Uchiyama family granted the group the exclusive right to use the "Uchiyama Bookstore" trademark within the scope of China, and in August of that year, Tianjin Publishing and Media Group established a subsidiary "Tianjin Neishan Bookstore Co., Ltd."
"The Bookstore as the Beam, the Interaction of Period Culture"
Regarding the return of Neishan Bookstore this time, the most curious thing is: why did such a bookstore, which is inextricably linked to Shanghai, settle in Tianjin?
Zhao Qi introduced that in fact, Lu Xun's hometown, Shaoxing, had also worked hard for this matter.
Shaoxing City talked to the Neishan family several times, but Shaoxing wanted to open the Neishan Bookstore in the Lu Xun Memorial Hall. The Uchiyama family has always believed that their ancestors and Lu Xun are indeed friends of life and death, but the history of Uchiyama Bookstore for more than a hundred years is not all the history of Mr. Lu Xun, and we cannot become a bookstore in Lu Xun's former residence, because the relationship with Uchiyama Bookstore is very close, like Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu, Cheng Fangwu, Xia Yan, tian Han, then each former residence must open a branch? ”
This concerns the perception of this bookstore by Uchiyama's descendants.
In front of the tombstone, there is a book made of marble, and the inscription engraved on the open page is: "Take the bookstore as the beam, the interaction of culture, born as a Chinese friend, and died in Middle China." Woohoo, such a couple! ”
"Taking the bookstore as the beam, the interaction of period culture" is a footnote to Uchiyama's life, and it is also the expectation of Uchiyama's descendants for this bookstore that has just returned to China: "They hope that the bookstore will play a good role as a cultural bridge and promote the role of Sino-Japanese exchanges, and at any time do not harm the positioning of this bookstore, which is a seemingly general, but in fact, the highest program." Specifically, the Uchiyama family only licensed the brand to China and did not interfere in specific business affairs. ”
Inside the Tianjin Neishan Bookstore
This positioning directly determines the selection of Neishan Bookstore, Zhao Qi introduced, now Tianjin Neishan Bookstore has a total of more than 6,000 kinds of books, of which more than 2,000 kinds are related to Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges. There are fifteen or six people in the bookstore team, and there are eight people in the integrated operation team, and now there are a total of twenty-four or five people, and everyone decides on the selection and operation of this Uchiyama Bookstore.
Zhao Qi introduced a specific book as an example, a book of Japanese Ancient Literature under the Influence of Chinese Buddhist Scriptures," "This book, to be honest, cannot be sold for three years, but we emphasize the origin and influence between Chinese and Japanese cultures, and the eastern transmission of Buddhism has had a considerable impact on Japanese thought and Japanese society, so we have specially chosen this type of book." ”
"Now many bookstores, in order to save trouble, put the ideal country, oracle bones, Guangxi Normal University, the quality of the books, so arranged in a row. We are not exempt from business, but we also work very hard to introduce Japan to Chinese readers, such as a book called "Shinto and the Japanese", which introduces the Shinto beliefs of the Japanese. You can't see any commercial value in the packaging. Zhao Qi introduced.
In the selection of Japanese literature, "In addition to Haruki Murakami and Natsume Soseki, we also chose higuchi Kazuba's books, including Nagai Hefeng, who we think should have these writers in the history of literature, as well as Osamu Dazai, who we selected some of his best-selling works, and also specially selected "Farewell". ”
A selection of literary books
In addition to books, in terms of cultural and creative products, Tianjin Uchiyama Bookstore also deliberately chooses to be related to Japanese culture, "such as some stationery imported from Japan, Japanese youth prefer to unlock the Rubik's Cube magic gold, and some tea leaves, we especially chose Gyokuro this tea, because at that time Mr. Uchiyama completed the use of Gyokuro to entertain Lu Xun." They once changed some things, such as Longjing, but Lu Xun picked them up and drank them as soon as they drank them, jokingly saying that they had changed tea and seemed not to welcome us. There is also the lying flat juvenile blind box, and we want to let everyone know about the Japanese youth who have a self-deprecating and a way of life. ”
Cultural and creative products
Zhao Qi also told the surging news reporter that Neishan Bookstore may open two more in Tianjin, and plans to choose cities with a very basic foundation for Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges in the country, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Xi'an and so on.
Lu Xun and Uchiyama
The Neishan Bookstore was like a circle center in Lu Xun's life in his later years, and Lu Xun went around and around, always not too far away from it.
In his essay "Remembering Lu Xun", Yu Dafu wrote about the geographical relationship between Lu Xun's residence in Shanghai and neishan Bookstore: The house in Jingyunli where Lu Xun lived was on the west side of the end of North Sichuan Road, close to Hongkou Garden. Therefore, there are only a few hundred steps to the Neishan Bookstore north of Deswell Road. After the war, he moved out of Jingyun and lived on the three floors of a building diagonally opposite the Neishan Bookstore... He did not live there for a long time, and when the secret wanted notice in Nanjing came down and the reactionary atmosphere in Shanghai was very thick, he moved to the north of the Neishan Bookstore, the sixty-odd houses in the newly built mainland new village. He lived here until the time of his death.
The more valuable place for the completion of Uchiyama is to provide shelter for the left-wing literati represented by Lu Xun in the turbulent situation of wind and rain, such as Lu Xun's diary in 1932: "There was a war on January 29, in the line of fire." The next day, he took refuge in Uchiyama Bookstore. On February 6, the insiders of the Neishan store escorted them to the Neishan branch of the British Concession for temporary refuge. Some researchers believe that Lu Xun's Chinese works to be published in the semi-colony of Shanghai, many times need to rely on the assistance of Japanese friends Uchiyama Tokizo.
In the design and layout of Tianjin Neishan Bookstore, these many historical elements are restored, the most important of which is the restoration of the door of China Neishan Bookstore in a small space. The display cabinet at the front of the door contains some old objects and old editions of books, and now in the display cabinet, the last page of Lu Xun's diary is displayed, which writes that Lu Xun went to the Neishan Bookstore; it also shows the e-mails that Lu Xun received and sent through the Neishan Bookstore.
Historical photos
Restoration of the gatehouse
Lu Xun sent and received e-mails through neishan Bookstore
"We hope that Uchiyama Bookstore will have some museum attributes, including these old books in my hand, which are the publications of Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu and Cheng Fangwu's Creation Society in Shanghai, and we will regularly change exhibitions in the bookstore to display them." Zhao Qi introduced.
Neishan Bookstore set up a whole wall of Lu Xun's books at the entrance, from various editions of the "Complete Works of Lu Xun" to Lu Xun's biography, Lu Xun's collection of prints, and the original manuscripts of Lu Xun's letters, etc., which is quite a trend of exhausting the books about Lu Xun on the market. Zhao Qi introduced that when selecting books, he deliberately selected some of the more interesting ones, such as Huang Qiaosheng's "Lu Xun Tu Biography" and "No One Forgives" known as the "Treasure Book of the King", "This book introduces the background of Lu Xun's era, such as when Lu Xun said a shocking sentence, in what kind of a situation." ”
Lu Xun Book Wall
Partial selection
In addition, Tianjin Neishan Bookstore also deliberately selected some works by left-wing writers at that time, such as Hu Feng's, Yu Dafu's and so on.
Scholars also have many blessings and expectations for the return of Uchiyama Bookstore, such as the unveiling ceremony, Zhou Lingfei said that Lu Xun came to Uchiyama Bookstore 512 times before his death, and formed a deep friendship with Uchiyama, and saw the truth in the tribulation. As a descendant of Mr. Lu Xun, he is glad to see that this friendship can be continued in the way that Neishan Bookstore has settled in Tianjin.
Guo Pingying, daughter of Guo Moruo and honorary president of the China Guo Moruo Research Association, said that in the "circle of friends" of neishan bookstore, there were Chen Wangdao, the earliest Chinese translator of the "Communist Manifesto"; Ouyang Yuqian and Tian Han, the founders of modern Chinese drama; Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu, and Cheng Fangwu, the founders of the creation society; and Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu also went to Neishan Bookstore to buy books. It is hoped that Tianjin Neishan Bookstore, which was jointly established by Tianjin Publishing and Media Group and the descendants of the Uchiyama family, can steadily move forward on the road of "meeting friends with literature and assisting people with friends" and jointly achieve the ideal goal.
The old photo wall of the bookstore
The coffee area of the bookstore
Editor-in-Charge: Chen Shihuai
Proofreader: Yan Zhang