Eight years ago, the famous publisher Shen Changwen said in an interview with this reporter that his greatest wish was to "end without illness", and at about 6 o'clock in the morning of January 10, he was found by his daughter sleeping in his sleep, and said goodbye in peace, at the age of 90.
<h1>He bet his best on Triptych Bookstore</h1>
"His life is too rich to say clearly in a few words." Shen Changwen said so many old friends and colleagues before his death.
Shen Changwen has been immersed in the book and magazine publishing industry for 50 years. He was born in Shanghai on September 26, 1931, and graduated from the Private Minzhi Journalism College in Shanghai. From March 1951 to December 1985, he successively served as proofreader, secretary, editor, director and deputy editor-in-chief of the People's Publishing House. From January 1986 to December 1995, he was the general manager of Life, Reading and Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore and the editor-in-chief of Reading Magazine. He retired in January 1996 and later participated in the founding of Vientiane magazine.
Shen Changwen, during his tenure at the Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Triptych Bookstore, planned the "Xinzhi Library" and "Modern Academic Library" series of books, he was keen on disseminating excellent culture at home and abroad, and spared no effort to disseminate the classic cultural achievements of modern and contemporary times, publishing a series of books of far-reaching significance, such as Yang Dai's "Bathing", "Six Records of Cadre School", "We Both", "Will Drink Tea", Ba Jin's "Caprice Record", Dong Dingshan's "West Window Man's Tale", Yu Feng's "Yu Dafu Overseas Anthology", Xia Yan, Hu Feng and other outstanding writers' collections of essays, etc. The comics of Cai Zhizhong and the works of Jin Yong that he planned and published caused great repercussions in society. Its editor-in-chief", Reader, is regarded as a spiritual enlightenment by young readers and has influenced generations of readers.
Zheng Yong, deputy editor-in-chief of Sanlian Bookstore, said that in the 90-year development history of Sanlian Bookstore, four publishers have played an important role, which he called "one ancestor and three sects", "old ancestor" that is, Mr. Zou Taofen, and "three cases" that is, Mr. Fan Yong, Mr. Shen Changwen and Mr. Dong Xiuyu. "Sanlian can create today's brand, and "Reading" can have great prestige, and Mr. Shen Changwen is indispensable." In Zheng Yong's view, in the publishing industry, Shen Changwen is a representative figure of the Jinghai school, he attaches great importance to the market, attaches great importance to the feelings of readers, advocates publishing books for readers, running journals for readers, and pays attention to opening up author resources. Among them, Shen Changwen's "Reader Service Day" in Reading magazine has continued to this day, and he has established deep network resources, making Reading the spiritual home of intellectuals, and he has also started the tradition of book and magazine interaction. "Shen Changwen's pioneering work that year, Sanlian Bookstore still benefits to this day."
Zheng Yong said that Mr. Shen Changwen has rich experience and is very peaceful, he has invested the greatest ideal of his life in Sanlian Bookstore, bet on "Reading", he often rides to Sanlian when he is more than eighty years old, and his health is not good in recent years, and he still has to come by bus.
<h1>"Don't dare to face the last side with him"</h1>
In the publishing world, everyone likes to honor Shen Changwen as "Shen Gong". The departure of this old naughty boy has suddenly become a hot search topic on Weibo and the circle of friends.
Publisher Yu Xiaoqun received a WeChat message from Shen Changwen's daughter on the morning of January 10, saying, "More than a month ago, we were drinking with Shen Gong. Lu Hao, a famous editor and writer who has known Shen Changwen for 30 years, said: "I dare not face the last side with him, I really can't take this step, but this day still comes." According to Lu Hao, Shen Changwen has suffered from illness in recent years, but he is reluctant to be hospitalized, and he has only lived for less than a week before being discharged from the hospital. Last month, hearing that he had a bad appetite, Lu Hao sent drunken crab and bald butter from Shanghai, which were Shen Changwen's favorite hometown flavors.
Lu Hao remembered that four or five years ago, Shen Changwen and his daughter came to Shanghai together, they finished eating at the Xiao Shaoxing restaurant, and at the moment when they said goodbye to each other at the hotel, Shen Changwen suddenly came and said: "Brother, we may see each other next month, maybe next year, maybe never see each other." Lu Hao's voice choked and said that he had known him for 30 years and had never thought of not seeing him.
Mao Jian, a professor and writer at East China Normal University, began to publish articles in Vientiane 20 years ago, and has since formed a friendship with his elder Shen Changwen. "In fact, in the past ten years, every time he walks from Shanghai, he will say that it may be the last side." Every time we laugh and giggle, we'll see you again for fifty years. It was finally the last side. ”
<h1>He will always be the master of the publisher</h1>
Shen Gong pointed out to us a way, how a cultural person and a cultural businessman should go, how to publish, do culture, and face readers. He will always be our master. Yu Xiaoqun said that the younger generations and Shen Changwen's relationship with Shen Changwen is very simple, "that is, spiritual following, spiritual identification." ”
Yu Xiaoqun recalled that in the early 1990s, he was in charge of the Liaoning Education Publishing House, when he wrote some articles for "Reading", in 1995, he remembered the editor Zhao Liya said: "Old Shen is retiring, he has a lot of manuscripts on hand, he can't use the triptych, I hope to find a partner." What Yu Xiaoqun did not expect was that the cooperation between the two had been decades, and the "Book Fun Literature Series" and "New Century Universal Library" that they planned to publish were at least thousands of kinds, and many books had become rare works in the publishing industry.
Scholar Chen Zishan recalls that his book "Selling Literature and Buying Books: Yu Dafu and Books" was launched by Sanlian Bookstore in March 1995 and reprinted a year later. The title of the book, "Selling Literature and Buying Books", comes from Yu Dafu's poem "Absolutely communicate customs for laziness, sell articles to buy books", and it is Shen Changwen's idea.
"The famous work "Alaya Epistemology" that our school has decreed was introduced and published by Shen Gong, and this support is a lifelong memory." The scholar Zhi'an recalled that he had published a related article in the newspaper that year and was discovered by Shen Changwen, and in 2001, the "Alaya Theory of Knowledge" was included in the "New Century Universal Library". Zhi'an looked at the copyright page and sighed: "This book was priced at 3.6 yuan that year, and 3,000 copies were printed, and there was no money at all." Zhi An said that this is exactly Shen Gong's style, it has not been out, it is fun, he will be out.
Yu Xiaoqun said that Shen Changwen often taught them how to deal with authors and how to get good manuscripts. "He said that publishers must not have gangs, they must talk about the spirit of service, and they must stand on the academic side." In Shen Changwen's concept, the publisher is not a star who plays a game, but a referee, and he even thinks that the publisher is not even a chef, but a dish.
In the actual work process, Yu Xiaoqun found that this Haipai publisher does have its own unique features, everyone attaches importance to cutting manuscripts, and Shen Changwen is a key author, "He thinks that we must find the best author, even if it is not the author's best manuscript, it is better than the manuscript of the poor author." "And he was very strict with the manuscript, too careful with the text, and never caused me any trouble."
<h1>It is hard to have such an interesting person in the world</h1>
"Shen Gong is an extremely intelligent and very interesting person, and it is rare in the world to have such an interesting person." Ji An said he remembered that during the dinner, Shen Changwen's favorite words were "sit and wait for the coin."
In Zhi'an's recollection, once the Tsinghua University student union asked Shen Changwen and her to do an activity, at that time his ears were already very bad, "He said a paragraph, I followed his words, and then handed him the head of the conversation, he didn't hear what I said at all, so he opened a new conversation, so I chased him all the way, and I couldn't catch up." ”
Shen Changwen often laughs at himself as a "bad old age". He liked to open up meals and invite scholars to go down to the restaurant and "dig up ideas" while eating. He said this is also the old tradition of the Triptych. As early as 1990, Lu Hao met Shen Changwen, who was an editor in Wenhui Reading Weekly, and the two saw each other as before, "Every time we meet, we are invited to dinner first, and we are always at the dinner table." ”
Chen Zishan also said, "Shen Gong is very famous for inviting meals, and it is a big trick of Shen Gong to assemble a draft at the dinner bureau, discuss and determine the publication matter at the dinner bureau. "In those years, Chen Zishan followed Shen Changwen and ate Beijing cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine, Yunnan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hangzhou cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, and halal cuisine in Beijing.
"The most impressive thing about Mr. Shen is his huge gap. He did Reading, China's most important cultural magazine, but his own dress and conversation seemed to be particularly a departure from the cultural people. Mao Jian described Shen Changwen as "warm and excited", emitting the heat of Ningbo soup dumplings, he spoke without scruples, and talked about interesting things. Mao Jian thought, perhaps because he wanted to make himself seem less complicated. "He is like Falstaff in Henry V, but he has Henry V's plan in mind. He has a very broad spectrum in him, and as a publisher, that's his biggest trait. In Mao Jian's view, Shen Changwen can accept all kinds of people and things, and this is the best thing in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, he has taken that era with him.
The farewell ceremony of Shen Changwen's body will be held at 10:00 a.m. on January 14, 2021 at the Orchid Hall of Babaoshan Funeral Home.
Source: Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Lu Yanxia
Edit: Jin Liwei
Process Editor: Dan Guo