Late Qing Business Catalog

Author: Zhou Zhenhe
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The spread of Western learning reached its peak in the late Qing Dynasty, which is a well-known fact. However, the speed and depth of this spread is a question worth exploring. Because the advocacy of Western learning by officials in the Self-Strengthening Movement and the calls of enlightenment thinkers do not necessarily equate to the practical implementation by the general populace. Moreover, the public's understanding of Western learning differs significantly from that of the intellectual and official circles. However, previous research has primarily focused on the cognition and experience of Western learning among the upper class, leaving the attitudes of ordinary scholars and the masses largely unexplored. Therefore, it is essential to conduct in-depth research on the actual popularity of Western learning in the late Qing Dynasty, as only through such research can we gain a comprehensive understanding of the social.
China has a long tradition of compiling bibliographies. Various bibliographies serve different purposes. From the bibliographies in the official histories such as the Jingji Zhi and Yiwen Zhi, we can see the classical texts that have appeared in Chinese history. From the vast number of public and private bibliographies, we can also learn what books were once collected by the government and private individuals. In the late Qing Dynasty, with the influx of Western learning, a large number of Western books were translated and introduced into China. Initially, this translation was largely the product of collaboration between Westerners and Chinese, such as the translations of Western works on natural and social sciences by the Imperial College, and the numerous books on science and technology by the Jiangnan Arsenal. Later, there were also a large number of Western books translated by Japanese students and scholars who studied in Japan and introduced them into China. By the late Qing and early Republican periods, enlightenment thinkers and others compiled various bibliographies, such as Liang Qichao's Bibliography of Western Learning (1896), Xu Weiye's Bibliography of Eastern and Western Learning (1899), and A Record of Translated Books, from which we can see how many Western and new learning books had been translated into Chinese and which ones were considered essential reading by scholars.
However, none of the above bibliographies can tell us which books were popular at the time or which ones were widely read by the public. Books recommended by scholars may not necessarily be popular among the masses, and popular books may not be included in the bibliographies compiled by scholars. The study of modern history in China has largely focused on the activities of major figures and significant events, with little attention paid to the thoughts, behaviors, and social activities of ordinary people. As a result, although there have been many discussions on the influence of Western learning in the late Qing Dynasty, there has been no in-depth exploration of its breadth and depth, and it is difficult to conduct such research based on the historical materials commonly available.
However, there is one approach worth considering: using the business catalogs of late Qing bookstores, archives of book industry guilds, and book advertisements in newspapers to analyze the extent and direction of the influence of Western learning on Chinese society. Here, the term "direction" refers to the degree of inclination. For example, I noticed that many popular foreign language textbooks (English, Japanese, Russian) were included in the bibliographies compiled by scholars, but in the business catalogs and book records of the Shanghai Book Industry Guild, I found them to be common books. Moreover, some textbooks, apart from the business catalogs and advertisements, were not mentioned in any other records, showing the significant historical value of these materials.
Business catalogs were not intended for sale but were small pamphlets or flyers compiled by bookstores for advertising books. Such catalogs have rarely been noticed by scholars and are even less likely to have been preserved. Apart from a few donated to the National Library by Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, few libraries have collected such materials, and even when they are collected, they are rarely listed in the library's catalog. Yet, it is precisely these business catalogs that fully reflect the popularity of books at the time, i.e., public reading trends. These trends align with the development of society itself and are generally consistent with the progress of national reforms, but they do not fully match, as the interests and preferences of the masses have their own inclinations.
For historical research, every word can be a valuable source of information. Late Qing business catalogs serve the same purpose. Mr. Zheng Zhenduo was a visionary scholar, and only his Bibliography of Xidi openly recognized the status of business catalogs, and no one before him had this insight. Although there are very few late Qing business catalogs in existence, I have personally collected nearly twenty over the years, starting with the Shanghai Daily Catalog and Supplementary Catalog from the 1880s, ending with the textbook catalog of the Commercial Press in 1904, including sales catalogs from bookstores in Shanghai and Ningbo, book catalogs from official bookstores in Hubei and Zhejiang, and book catalogs printed and sold by Catholic churches. These catalogs mostly exist in the form of single-page flyers, ranging from large to small formats, with only a few in book form, similar to today's subscription catalogs, but much smaller in size. Considering that these catalogs could be compiled into a small book for reference by interested scholars, I have self-recommended this to Shanghai Bookstore Press. Coincidentally, the Shanghai Archives also preserves the book catalog records of dozens of member bookstores of the Shanghai Book Industry Guild in 1903, listing the printing and sales catalogs of many bookstores other than the Commercial Press, which is also an important source of information. This is how this book came to be.
In the future, if someone has the interest and time, they could consider compiling and organizing book advertisements in late Qing newspapers into a more comprehensive Bibliography of Popular Books in the Late Qing Dynasty. Of course, this would be a substantial undertaking, and if someone were willing to do so, it would be almost an act of academic charity.
Beyond bibliographies, the trends of public reading should naturally be explained by the public themselves. Unfortunately, such materials are almost unobtainable. Only the reading range of scholars can be traced, such as in private diaries where they may record the books they have read. A typical example is Sun Baoquan's Diary of Wangshan, which records almost all the Western books he has read and shares his reflections on them. Similar records can be found in the diaries of others, but they are more scattered. By comparing these records with the above two types of bibliographies, we can roughly outline the popularity of Western learning in the late Qing Dynasty.
This book compiles the bibliographies of government-run bookstores and private bookshops in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hubei, and other regions during the Tongguang period of the late Qing Dynasty, as well as the original archives of the Shanghai Book Industry Guild, including "book records," in chronological order. It includes book titles, prices, brief descriptions, and the names of translators and annotators, among other relevant information. Its main value lies in:
1. Providing a comprehensive view of the cultural and publishing industry in southern China, especially Shanghai, during the late Qing Dynasty;
2. Offering first-hand materials for the study of the spread of Western learning;
3. Helping to grasp the basic trends of political, social, and educational reforms at the time;
4. Providing social data such as price levels based on book prices.
All the content is unprecedented in modern publishing historical materials, with the original texts preserved in private hands or buried in archives, making them extremely valuable.