"Model of Publishing" Zou Taofen

Source: Learning Times

　　Zou Taofen is a famous publisher and journalist, who founded and edited six periodicals and one newspaper in his lifetime, which can be called a banner of China's progressive news and publishing industry, and was called "a model of publishing" by Zhou Enlai. The Yangtze River Taofen Award, named after Fan Changjiang and Zou Taofen, has become the highest award for outstanding journalists in China.

　　"For the benefit of ordinary people in society"

　　Zou Taofen, whose real name is Zou Enrun, was born on November 5, 1895 in Yong'an, Fujian Province. Tao Fen is his pen name, which is intended to "taoguang and cultivate obscurity on the one hand, and struggle on the other hand". At the age of 6, Zou Taofen began to receive private school education, and later studied at Fuzhou Industrial School and St. John's University in Shanghai. In 1922, he entered the China Vocational Education Society, founded by Huang Yanpei and others, and began a career in journalism and publishing.

　　In October 1926, Zou Taofen took over as the editor-in-chief of Life Weekly, and identified "suggesting life cultivation, evoking the spirit of service, and seeking social transformation" as the purpose of the journal. In 1928, who was he in Life Magazine? It is written: "Seek to benefit ordinary people in society", which further indicates the idea of running a journal that serves society and promotes social progress. Originally printed only about 1,000 copies, in 1929 the number of copies sold "actually increased to more than 150,000 copies, ushering in a new era for the Chinese magazine industry." In July 1932, the "Life Publishing Cooperative" was established on the basis of the weekly magazine "Life", which was called the Life Bookstore.

　　Life Magazine's adherence to a patriotic and progressive stance is evident in its commentary. From September 25, 1927, vol. 2, No. 47, Life Weekly set up a "Small Speech" column on the homepage, which was personally written by Zou Taofen. From its inception until July 1933, when he was threatened with assassination and forced into exile, this column was published in 417 small articles in each issue. On September 26, 1931, the "Highlights of the Week" recorded the September 18 Incident and published four small remarks calling on the people to resist Japan and save the country. After the 1932 128 Incident, Life Magazine published a large number of progressive remarks such as "Our Recent Trend" to expound the anti-Japanese stance and boost the morale of the military and the people. Zhou Youguang said the magazine "awakened a generation of young people."

　　"Life" weekly magazine is always at the forefront of the times, and Zou Taofen has gradually entered action from words. On June 18, 1933, Yang Xingfo, director general of the Chinese Civil Rights Protection League, was assassinated by Kuomintang agents, and Zou Taofen was also on the assassination list. Under the urging of his friends, Zou Taofen went abroad for a while, and he regarded the exile as an expedition "representing the ears and eyes of readers and friends", covering Italy, Switzerland, France, Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States. After two years of overseas wandering, Zou Taofen wrote three episodes of "Ping Trace Message", plus "Ping Trace Remembrance" made at the Suzhou Detention Center after returning to China, and he used four books to describe what he saw and thought. This experience has made great progress in Zou Taofen's thinking, and he has made the judgment that "the progress of the productive forces is incompatible with the social system of private ownership of the means of production", proposing that "the means of production must be socialized, that is, they must be publicly owned by society", and his position and viewpoint have turned to Marxism.

　　Soon after Zou Taofen went into exile, Life magazine was shut down by the Kuomintang government. On February 10, 1934, the famous patriotic democrat and industrialist Du Chongyuan continued his spirit and re-established "New Life". In May 1935, "New Life" triggered Japanese provocations and threats of force because of the article "Gossip Emperor". In June, he was seized by the Kuomintang authorities and Du Chongyuan was imprisoned. When Zou Taofen learned of this, he returned to China in August 1935.

　　On November 16, 1935, "as the spokesman and planner of patriots", "Mass Life" was founded, with a circulation of 200,000 copies, setting a record for the circulation of Chinese publications at that time. "Mass Life" vigorously promoted the anti-Japanese salvation movement, causing panic in the Kuomintang. In February 1936, After publishing 16 issues, Mass Life was banned on the charge of "advocating the armed resistance of the people against Japan." In March, Zou Waswolfing was forced into exile in Hong Kong.

　　On the night of November 23, 1936, Zou Taofen, Shen Junru and seven others were arrested, known in history as the "Seven Gentlemen Incident". After his acquittal on July 31, 1937, Zou Taofen actively organized a new journal. On August 19, the third-day magazine of "Anti-Japanese War" was launched in Shanghai. After the fall of Shanghai, he went to Wuhan and Chongqing to run periodicals, and successively published the five-day war edition of "The War of Resistance of the Whole People," the weekly magazine of the popular edition of "The War of Resistance of the Whole People," and the sixth-day magazine of the "War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression." At one point, the sales of "National Resistance" exceeded 300,000 copies, setting a record for the circulation of the journal at that time. In addition to running periodicals, he also organized the Life Bookstore to publish more than a thousand kinds of progressive books. At its peak, the Life Bookstore had 56 branches, and the Kuomintang also said that "the books of the Life Bookstore, although they are in the remote areas of the countryside and can be seen everywhere, can be described as pervasive, and their power is really terrible."

　　On September 22, 1937, the Kuomintang Central News Agency issued the "Declaration of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for promulgating the Cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party", which Zou Taofen considered to be "bright and honest and selfless". During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zou Taofen made a request to Zhou Enlai to join the Party, and Zhou Enlai believed that it would be more advantageous for him to fight politically against the Kuomintang in the Kuomintang as a non-party figure. The publications and books organized and published by Zou Taofen not only benefit ordinary people in society, but also arouse the great patriotic enthusiasm of the people, lead a large number of young people to the revolutionary road, and benefit the Chinese revolution.

　　"Never betray the masses"

　　Zou Taofen paid great attention to relying on the masses in running newspapers and periodicals. In 1936, when he founded the "Life Daily" in Hong Kong, he lacked the funds to run the newspaper, so he announced the purpose of running the journal, the editorial policy, and the business methods, and recruited shares from readers. Because of his "complete standing on the side of the public", he quickly raised a large number of shares. Later, the "Life Daily" renamed "Life Star Journal" moved to Shanghai, and he proposed to "establish a national communication network" and absorb readers from all over the country as correspondents to contribute, so that it could "record the living conditions of the whole country and solve all problems in life."

　　For the masses, Zou Taofen "often feels only his own smallness, the greatness of the masses." After his release from prison in 1937, he said: "What can be comforted is that you have not betrayed the public, and you have not said anything that has failed the public." In the future, we will only seek 'peace of mind' and never betray the public."

　　Zou Taofen's patriotic newspaper activities aroused the anger of the Kuomintang authorities. From April 1939, the branches of the Life Bookstore were forced to close, and more than 40 people were arrested at the manager level. On February 25, 1941, Zou Tao resigned from his post as a suffragan of the Nationalist government and secretly left Chongqing for Hong Kong.

　　On April 8, 1941, Huashang Bao was founded in Hong Kong. Zou Taofen was not only busy with editing, but also wrote a column serialized "Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", "as an ordinary journalist", recording his personal experience during the National Political Participation Conference, in order to "arouse the understanding and efforts of the Chinese people for political reform."

　　On May 17, 1941, "Public Life" was revived in Hong Kong, with Zou Taofen as the editor-in-chief. Zou Taofen's experience in running a journal is to grasp the "head and tail" of editorials and letters from readers. At its peak, "Mass Life" received more than 10,000 letters from readers a month, requiring 4 people to be responsible for opening and copying letters at the same time. Zou Taofen called the readers' letters "the real vitamins of this journal", and invested a lot of time and energy to read the letters and replies, and his enthusiasm was "not inferior to writing love letters".

　　"The Glory of Our Party"

　　On December 25, 1941, Hong Kong fell. In January 1942, with the help of the Communist Party of China, Zou Taofen moved with progressive cultural figures to the dongjiang anti-Japanese guerrilla station. At this time, he was already wanted by the Kuomintang. In November, at the suggestion of Zhou Enlai, he entered the Soviet-Chinese anti-Japanese base area. Soon after, he returned to Shanghai for treatment due to the recurrence of ear disease.

　　During his illness, Zou Taofen insisted on writing. In "Appeal to State Affairs," he recorded that he saw "democratic politics inspiring the people's upward spirit" in the anti-Japanese base areas, and saw that the Communist Party of China "united all strata to solve all difficulties" and "saw a bright future for the great motherland."

　　On July 24, 1944, Zou Taofen passed away and gave a will that "the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is requested to strictly examine the history of my lifelong struggle, and if it is qualified, please admit to the party, and the will is also expected to be properly sent to Yan'an." On September 28, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a message of condolence to his family: "Mr. Will, requesting posthumous recognition of the party, ashes moved to Yan'an, we would like to accept Mr. Wang's deathbed request with a serious and sad mood, and cite this as the glory of our party." At the memorial service for Zou Taofen held in Yan'an on November 15, Mao Zedong wrote an inscription: "Love the people, sincerely serve the people, bow down to the best of your ability, and die after death, this is the spirit of Mr. Zou Taofen, this is what makes him move people."