Researches On The Publishing Industry During The "New Policy" Period Of The Late Qing Dynasty

During the seventy years of the late Qing dynasty, the China experienced drastic social changes. While the internal uprisings and external interference kept hunting China, the Chinese politics, economy, and culture moved into the process of modernization, though with difficulty. Under the pressure of all these influences, the publishing industry of China started a transition from the traditional publication to a modern one. The transition finished at the "New Policy" period. The advanced typography, planographic printing, and the mighty machinery were far more superior to the traditional block printing and manual labor, and gradually replaced them. Private printing houses, represented by The Commercial Press, became an important force in the industry. Publications were no longer limited to the traditional Chinese ethic teachings, but embraced the whole dimention of modern knowledge system. The business management of modern corporation gradually replaced the family model of business management. The national publishing industry was getting stronger. For the first time, it replaced the Church-controlled press house to disseminate the western culture. Therefore, this transition at the "New Policy Period" of the late Qing dynasty obtained its importance in the history of the publishing industry in China. In addition, the study of the survival and development of the publishing industry at the late Qing dynasty could help us explore a larger range of the "New Policy" of the late Qing dynasty and get informed about the positive role the "New Policy" played in the social change of that time.The new changes that occurred at the "New Policy' period of the late Qing dynasty are the product of history at one hand, but can't be separatedfrom the social condition of the publishing industry at that times. This social condition includes the Church-controlled publishing houses and the environment that the Manchu government created to encourage the publishing businesses by setting up reform and other relevant policies. This social condition will be fully developed in this book.Under the guide of the philosophical outlook of Marxism and its methodology, this book will study in detail a large amount of used or newly-discovered historical material of the publishing industry, and attempt to give a picture of the national publishing business at the "New Policy" period of the late Qing dynasty by the combination of scientific experimental methodology, case study and cross-field study and find out the external reasons that led to the development.The book is divided into four chapters:Chapter 1 makes a preliminary interpretation for the study of the history of the publishing industry in modern China, explains the significance of the proposition selection and clarifies the research ideology and methodology,Chapter 2 introduces the impact of the church-controlled printing houses on the printing industry of modern China, like the other national capitalist enterprises, the printing companies of modern China were built on the introduction of western printing technology and management systems. The church-controlled printing organizations performed a bridge function, which was indispensable for the modernization of the modern printing industry in China.Chapter 3 focuses on the two aspects of the printing industry at the "New Policy" period of the late Qing dynasty: the government-sponsored publishing houses and the private publishing companies. This period was characteristic of the change of dominant role, of the increased volumes of paper, and of different types of publications as well as initial establishment of publishing laws.Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 explains the impact of economic and cultural policies of the late Qing dynasty government on the modern publishingindustry of China. In view of the economic policies, the late Qing dynasty government set and issued a series of incentive policies and laws that encourage and protect the development of industrialization and commerce. Some special management and service organizations we...