Commercial Press and the Dissemination of Modern Knowledge and Culture

Author: Li Jiaju
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-02-01
Features: In 1897, the Commercial Press was established and opened for business in Shanghai, marking a new milestone in the history of modern Chinese publishing and cultural history. From then on, the Commercial Press entered the annals of modern China and played a role in transforming culture and changing history, producing new knowledge, cultivating new citizens, and promoting the birth of a new society. Over the past century, the role of the Commercial Press in the history of modern and contemporary China has been extremely significant. For this reason, the history related to the Commercial Press has also attracted more attention and importance. In the past decade, discussions about "Commercial Press history" have become increasingly frequent, including works in the form of "institutional history," such as Ninety Years of the Commercial Press and A Hundred Years of the Commercial Press edited by the Beijing Commercial Press, and A Hundred Years of the Commercial Press / Fifty Years in Taiwan published by the Taiwan Commercial Press; there are also various biographies and anecdotes surrounding "Commercial Press people," such as Ye Songmyeong's From Hanlin to Publisher: The Life and Career of Zhang Yuanji, Liu Hecheng's Biography of Zhang Yuanji, Jiang Fucheng's Wang Yunwu and Modern China, and Wang Jianhui's Cultural Commercial: A Special Study of Wang Yunwu; there are also some works that approach the subject from the perspective of publishing history or different cultural angles, which are not listed here in detail. For more information, please refer to Chapter of this book. In summary, "Commercial Press history" and related research have been quite active in recent years, making the study and discussion of the Commercial Press, like rivers converging into the sea, advance and form a new academic research field centered around "Commercial," i.e., the emergence of "Commercial Studies." Under modern, diverse approaches and different perspectives, "Commercial Press history" and "Commercial Studies" have gradually begun to detach themselves from the subjective judgments of "Commercial Press people" and even collective memories of their own, becoming a public space and shared topic within academia. Dr. Li Jiaju, although a "Commercial Press person," clearly does not aim to rewrite the institutional history of the Commercial Press. Instead, he explores and discusses "Commercial Press history" from a broader and more important level of knowledge history and cultural history. As a "Commercial Press person," his advantage lies in his opportunity to utilize the vast data on printing, editing, and selling books from the Commercial Press archives, providing a solid empirical foundation for his analysis. Furthermore, his identity and experience as a "Commercial Press person" give him a comprehensive understanding of the institution's traditions, as well as its editorial, publishing, and operational characteristics. However, on the other hand, the academic approach and research methods adopted by the author in this book go beyond the institutional history perspective, placing "Commercial Press history" within the framework of knowledge history and cultural history for objective examination and analysis, without being constrained by "institutional views." For this reason, this book pioneers a new path in "Commercial Studies," differing from general works on the history of the Commercial Press. The original version of this book was the author's doctoral dissertation while studying at the Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Although I had the honor of being his dissertation supervisor, all innovative thinking and research achievements are the result of Li Jiaju's diligent effort and ingenuity. Over these years of academic reflection, I have been the greatest and earliest beneficiary. Now that the dissertation has been published, it not only benefits more people but also brings new insights and impacts to the study of "Commercial Press history," modern Chinese cultural history, and knowledge history. This book argues for the development process of the Commercial Press from the perspective of book publishing history. The author explores the issues from the levels of knowledge history and cultural history, pioneering a unique approach without being constrained by "institutional views." This book helps readers understand the development dynamics of the modern Commercial Press and provides certain inspiration for readers when discussing topics such as the cultural functions of publishers.