Biography of scholars
Tong Bing, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, is a famous Marxist journalism theorist and educator, and a senior professor of liberal arts at Fudan University. Graduated from Fudan University and Chinese University, he studied under the famous journalism educator Professor Gan Xifen, became the first doctor of journalism trained by China in 1988, promoted to professor in 1990, enjoyed the special government allowance of the State Council since 1992, and served as a doctoral supervisor since 1993. He is the author of academic monographs such as "Draft History of Marxist Journalism And Thought", "Classic Course of Marxist Journalism", "Introduction to Theoretical Journalism and Communication", "Journalism Theory", "Comparative Journalism and Communication", "Subject and Mouthpiece - Examination of the Trajectory of News Communication in the Republic", and has published more than 700 academic papers in his research and teaching career in more than 40 years, and published and edited more than 50 books, textbooks and dictionaries.
On the afternoon of December 17, 2021, a sharing meeting entitled "Professor Tong Bing's Experience in Education on Marxist Journalism" was held at the School of Journalism of Fudan University, and well-known scholars in the field of journalism, including Hu Baijing, Hu Zhengrong, Sun Youzhong, Ding Baiquan, Yin Yungong, Huang Hu, Cheng Manli, Chen Changfeng, etc., participated in the sharing meeting in the form of online and offline interaction. Focusing on the Marxist news ideology theoretical system and teaching system that Professor Tong Bing has accumulated more than 40 years of painstaking efforts, the participants emotionally expressed the influence of these two systems on their own research and teaching. At the sharing meeting, the boy soldiers, who are already in the year of the cane dynasty but are full of spirit, said that all the great practices and innovations of Marxism in the next hundred years will be carried out in China as the base camp, "as witnesses and witnesses of the times, how fortunate we are to be able to enter the situation and think out, we should make greater contributions to the summary of practice and theoretical abstraction, and have the courage to put forward the Marxist news concept with Chinese characteristics (hereinafter referred to as 'Ma Xinguan')".
Since entering the School of Journalism of Fudan University in 1963, the boy soldier's study career has been almost the same as the bumpy course of new Chinese journalism education, and in 1978 he became the first student of the graduate class of journalism after the re-establishment of Chinese Min University, and in 1988 he became the first doctor of journalism trained by China himself; from the publication of the first academic long article in 1980, "A Preliminary Study of the Thought of Marx and Engels In Founding the People's Newspaper", the research purpose of the boy soldiers for more than 40 years has always been to build a theoretical system of "Ma Xinguan", and has successively published the "Ma Xinguan" theoretical system. In recent years, he has continuously improved in the exploration of the "Ma Xinguan" with Chinese characteristics; since he stayed on as a teacher in 1981, from Chinese Min University to Fudan University, he has built the "Marxist News Thought" course into a national-level high-quality course, determined to enable contemporary college students to truly understand and believe in Marxism. His sincere spirit of going to heaven and earth, daring to break through and dare to stand, and single-mindedly seeking the "Ma Xinguan" has infected countless scholars of later generations; he has made people believe that in the search for truth, "there is an inch of joy in entering an inch"; and his simple but happy academic career with a childlike heart and a rock-like faith has been like a rock.
Climb up and see that glorious apex for the first time
"There is no smooth road in science, and only those who climb along the steep mountain road without fear of toil can hope to reach the glorious peak." - Marx
The 1963 boy soldier, full of enthusiasm and ideals, was admitted to the journalism department of Fudan University from Shanghai Middle School, looking forward to it as Lu Xun, a fellow villager of the predecessors, said: "May The Chinese youth get rid of the air conditioner... Do things that can be done, make a sound that can be heard. There is a point of heat, a point of light. However, frequent political movements failed to make the study life of the child soldier go on normally, and what awaited him when he graduated was not a journalistic career of "shouldering morality on iron shoulders and writing articles with hot hands", but going to the Horqin steppe to receive labor training of "transforming intellectuals from the depths of the soul". From 1968 to 1978, child soldiers raised horses, planted vegetables, and did railway maintenance. In 1970, he was accidentally discovered by the Jintie News newspaper and transferred to the reporter. These ten years are the "grain of ash" that the big times fell on his generation. Looking back on this decade now, the optimistic child soldier can also vividly describe the past of getting up in the morning to chisel ice and drink horses, and duty to guard against lone wolves at night, and the eight years of journalist experience of Jintie News is still a practical experience that he cherishes very much. Tong Bing recalled: "At that time, the living conditions were bitter, but as soon as I heard that the child reporter was coming today, the old workers would take out the most precious eggs and bacon in the family to entertain you. It's not because the pen in your hand seems powerful to them. ”
In 1977, the state resumed the college entrance examination enrollment, and the child soldiers who were far away from the Guanguan could not suppress their excitement when they heard the news: "Finally, we can get rid of the life of 'small newspaper copying big newspaper, big newspaper copying Liang effect'." Returning to campus was his choice to aspire to another, more abundant spiritual life. In 1978, he was admitted to the Department of Chinese of Peking University, and soon moved back to Chinese Min University with his journalism major, where he studied under the famous journalism educator Professor Gan Xifen. In 1983, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council agreed to establish a doctorate in journalism, and in the following year, an examination was conducted, and the boy soldier once again became a disciple of Gan Lao's doctor. In 1988, Tong Bing defended his doctoral dissertation with the title of "History of Marxist Journalism and Thought", "A few of our students who were close to Teacher Tong were waiting outside the defense classroom, and as soon as they heard that the defense was over, everyone clapped excitedly, and the head of the department, He Zihua, came over and said to me, You hurry to write a manuscript for Xinhua News Agency, this is a big thing." Huang Yu, a first student of Tong Bing's university at Chinese university and dean of the School of Communication, Science and Film and Television at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that he still remembers the first line of the message he excitedly wrote: China's first doctor of journalism was born.
Ten years of study, the deepest memory of child soldiers is to rub books and rub lessons. "I only had the opportunity to study for a master's degree at the age of 36, which is really cherished from the bottom of my heart, and it is really hard to learn." This fierceness is to read through more than 4,000 papers with the word "horse" in one year, and read through all 50 volumes of The Complete Works of Man, "The complete works of Man are published in batches, and after all 39 volumes have been read, 11 volumes have been completed until 1985." As a result, the child soldiers who were still "poor scholars" at that time had to go to Xidan Xinhua Bookstore and the Central Compilation Bureau to rub new books, and the bus ticket from Chinese Min University to Xidan Xinhua Bookstore cost 2 cents. In order to save money, he walked to the major bookstores every day, "hungry, just heat up the steamed buns brought by the canteen, and don't dare to bring teacups in, I read new books, but also do excerpts, people are selling books, they must be suspicious, but they don't drive me out when they look at the poor students who are studious." However, rubbing the book also rubbed out a warm memory. At that time, the Central Compilation Bureau was the most complete and informative place for new materials, "Remember that the director of the Marne room was called Zhang Qifang, I went more often, and slowly became familiar with it, and later Director Zhang would shout 'College students, do you bring a cup?'" He took the initiative to add water to me, and also took care of the staff of the reference room, saying that this student needed any information, as long as there was any information, as long as there was, try to provide him."
After entering the Chinese University, the boy soldiers found that the study of Mann's publishing ideas could not avoid the history of the international communist movement and world history, but also needed a broad vision of political economy, philosophy, and sociology. As a result, Tong Bing began to rub classes at Peking University, and what impressed him was two courses, one of which was Mr. Li Peifen's course on modern world history, "I rubbed from the first class to the last class, and Teacher Li thought that my learning momentum as a student exceeded that of professional students." The other is a course on the study of freedom of the press, which enables him to understand the origin and development of Marx's idea of freedom of the press from a broader historical perspective. It is precisely with such a knowledge framework that in later academic research, Tong Bing has always been vigilant about journalism, emphasizing the need to put journalism research in the entire social field, and what he misses most is the extensive knowledge system that his mentor is willing to share with himself, "Many times, Gan Lao's guidance courses for me will specially invite Professor Gao Fang, an expert in the history of the international communist movement of Chinese Min University, to participate, he is an expert with his own unique views on Marxism, plus Gan Lao personally experienced the journalism work of the Yan'an period. This laid a good foundation for my later research."
Dare to break through and dare to stand, truly understand, truly believe, and truly use Marxism
"If a nation wants to stand at the highest peak of science, it cannot be without theoretical thinking for a moment." - Engels
On December 13, 2020, the "Heart has faith, can go far - national Marxist journalism concept forum" sponsored by the School of Journalism of Fudan University, which was the largest professional seminar on Marxist journalism concept that year, and the boy soldier delivered a speech on the topic of "truly understanding true faith, entering heaven and earth, daring to break through and dare to stand - trying to discuss the expansion and deepening of Ma Xinguan's education and research", which not only represents his academic attitude towards the study of "Ma Xinguan" but also the academic belief he has established for himself. The beginning of this belief dates back to May 1980, when Tong Bing followed his mentor Gan Xifen to participate in a symposium on journalism held in Lanzhou, where a series of controversial academic topics were raised, such as whether journalism is a science, whether there are laws to follow in news dissemination, and the party spirit and people's nature of party newspapers. Combined with his practical experience at the grassroots level, Tong Bing was eager to find answers to the historical questions that were suspended in the journalism discipline and also in his mind, and he decided to go to the original book of Marne's classics to solve the doubts. He set himself the "Three Principles of Reading": reading through The Complete Works of Marne, intensively reading important chapters, and at the same time "cleaning the battlefield", that is, expanding to works related to classic writers, such as utopian socialist scholars and international communist movement experts. It was precisely this method of reading that gave him the confidence of "not being afraid of the three" -- "not afraid of arguing, not being afraid of criticism, not being afraid of discussion", and also laid a solid foundation for him to truly understand, truly believe, and truly use Marxism throughout his life.
Soon, the "Three Principles of Reading" brought him the first academic harvest period. After repeatedly studying Marx's "The Defense of the Moselle Reporter" and "The Ban on the Leipzig General Report in prussia" and other original political treatises, and combing in detail Man's journalistic practice in the period of "Rheinische Zeitung" and "Neue Rheinische Zeitung", the child soldiers gained a profound insight into the core concept of Marxism's early news thinking, the people's press, and clearly put forward the concept of freedom guided by Marxism and the people's view with the proletariat as the main body, which is the basis for the unification of the ideas of the free press and the people's press. He also published the first academic long article "A Preliminary Study of Marx and Engels's Thought on The Founding of the People's Press". In that special historical period, he was able to use theoretical research to overcome the dogmatism and formalism that had been formed for a long time and get rid of the influence of "quotation journalism", and his boldness and influence were extraordinary. It is precisely by following this research path of entering heaven and earth and daring to break through and dare to stand, that child soldiers have explored the entrance to the treasure house of theory and expanded their research from young Marx to the complete system of Marxism. In 1988, Tong Bing clearly pointed out in his doctoral dissertation "Research on Marx and Engels's Journalistic Thought" that the main body of Marxist journalistic thought was the journalistic thought formed by Marx and Engels during the "Neue Rheinische Zeitung" period, with the expression of the laws of proletarian newspapers and periodicals and party newspapers and periodicals as the main body, and this thesis laid the foundation for the continuous development of the "Ma Xinguan" since then. Today, this academic monograph "Draft History of Marxist Journalism Thought", which was published in the "Doctoral Library of Chinese Min University" in 1989, is still one of the must-read books for students of major journalism departments, including Tsinghua University, Chinese Min University, etc., and has been evaluated by many scholars of later generations: (one) the best book on Marxist journalism thought, a book that can be recorded in the history of journalism; it is recommended to try every means to find it (even if it is worth copying the whole book). To grasp the essence of Marxist journalistic thinking, we must read this book.
As a theoretical seeker, Tong Bing's lifelong pursuit is to build a scientific and open theoretical system of "Ma Xinguan". In August 2002, in the sweltering heat of nearly 38.8 ° C, Tong Bing wrote the last few lines of the manuscript of "Marxist Journalism Classic Course", and in the following twenty years, this classic textbook with a green cover of this herb became the most familiar theoretical reading book for Chinese journalism students and news practitioners, and was republished in 2009; in 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Party, Tong Bing published a 10,000-word long article "The Composition and Source of the Marxist News Concept with Chinese Characteristics", clearly proposing four compositions and sources. That is, the basic principles of Marxism, the traditional cultural achievements formed and accumulated in China for five thousand years have been inherited and enlarged, the research results of foreign news concepts have been reasonably drawn on, and the theoretical abstraction of news scientific research on the practical experience of news. It is precisely this persistent and advancing research attitude that has enabled the child soldiers to continuously improve on the research road of "Ma Xinguan" and achieve fruitful results. With the in-depth development of the domestic "Ma Xinguan" education, the works such as "Marxist News View Reader" (2016) and "Marxist News View Hundred Questions and Hundred Answers" (2019), edited and published by him and the academic team, have almost become the designated teaching materials for major sister colleges and universities and news units, and almost all the units and personnel related to journalism are known as Professor Tong. In this regard, Tong Bing laughed and said that Marxism has not always been so "lively" in China, in his long academic career, liveliness has no impact on him, research is life, academics are faith, and there are lively reasons for being lively, but when he returns to the study, he is still the Gengjie scholar who has never changed his original intention.
Looking back on more than 40 years of research experience, Tong Bing believes that journalism research needs both the knowledge of constructing theory and the courage to break through the forbidden area. As early as 1985, in his article "The Historical Experience of The Public Publication of the Critique of the Gotha Program", he discussed the supervision of public opinion and the relationship between the Party and the Party newspaper. In the academic atmosphere of that year, this insightful and courageous article brought great pressure to the child soldiers, and some people even said that this article was "borrowing the dead to scold the living", but in line with the principle of never telling lies, in the spirit of self-confidence in reading through the classics, he insisted on his own views.
Trot all the way, into an inch of joy
"Philosophers just explain the world in different ways, and the problem is to change the world" "All social life is essentially practical. ”
- Marx
The "Ma XinGuan" was formed and developed in practice, and it is bound to return to practice. As a theoretical researcher, child soldiers always have a kind of "unbearable care" for journalistic practice.
Journalism reform relies heavily on the renewal of journalistic concepts and the transformation of communication systems, both of which in turn depend to a large extent on the deepening of journalism research. The theoretical research of the child soldiers emphasizes "trotting all the way", drumming and shouting for the turbulent news reform in contemporary China, advancing inch by inch of joy, and accumulating every inch to promote China's news reform. Therefore, what he pursues is not the high-minded theory of "how it should be" in journalism, but the realistic possibility of "for the time being".
By opening up the academic papers published by the child soldiers in different periods and stringing them together, we can clearly outline the historical context of China's news reform: in 1989, the article "Dialogue on the Guiding Ideology of News Legislation" was published, which put forward the basic guiding ideology of news legislation in a sensitive public opinion atmosphere; in 2003, the article "Examination of the Role of the News Media in the SARS Period" was published, which timely summarized the "absence", "in place" and "dislocation" of the media in public events, and explored major issues such as citizens' right to know and media functions In 2010, he published the article "Sudden Group Incidents and the Social Mission of the News Media", which pointed out that improving the news release system and improving the news reporting mechanism of public emergencies is an effective strategy for improving the social mission of the media... From the original source of the supervision of party newspapers and public opinion, the introduction of information theory and the concept of communication, to the mission and responsibility of the media in the mediated society, almost all cutting-edge topics in journalism and the current practice of journalism reform can find responses and reflections in his academic research. In this regard, Ma Ling, a professor at the School of Journalism of Fudan University, who is both his disciple and a colleague for many years, once had an image analogy: "There are probably two kinds of articles in the world, one is like a rainbow, hanging in the sky; the other is like a spring rain, hugging the land tightly." A kind of philosophical reason can transcend the times, and a kind of practice has been integrated into the times. In her view, most of the articles of the child soldiers belong to the latter, and these clean and simple academic articles with deep problem awareness show that a theoretical researcher cannot help but have a realistic view, a stubborn bass from the conscience of intellectuals.
In the century-old discipline development of Chinese journalism, the "journalism theory" appears from time to time. As a new generation of leading scholars in Chinese journalism and communication, how to break this "unlearned theory" and consolidate the disciplinary foundation of journalism has always been a topic that child soldiers have been thinking about. In 1998, in his article "Starting from defining every journalism academic language", child soldiers stressed that to change the "journalism without learning", it is necessary to start from defining every news term and engage in these basic work brick by brick, and warned that if journalism research arbitrarily adopts terms, categories, principles, and principles from other disciplines, this "shortcut" is another kind of "journalism without learning". In 2001, he also advocated in "The View of Journalism in Science and Humanities" that journalism should be a fusion of science and humanities, and the two should be superficial and cannot be abandoned. In recent years, he has continued to think and improve on the construction of news discourse with Chinese characteristics, and has continuously published influential academic papers such as "The Source of Chinese News Discourse and Critically Absorbing Western News Discourse" and "70 Years of New Chinese Journalism Construction: From "Journalism Without Learning" to "Manifest Learning"", clearly proposing the source of Chinese news discourse, and combing in detail the theoretical development of China's journalism construction in the past 70 years to respond to the proposition of how to build socialist journalism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
The introduction of comparative journalism and the expansion of the field of journalism are child soldiers' counterattacks on another dimension of "journalism without learning". Comparative journalism is an emerging discipline that originated in the West in the early 20th century, and with the continuous strengthening of academic exchanges between the East and the West, child soldiers consciously entered the field of comparative journalism. In 1999, he edited the "Outline of Comparative Theory of Chinese and Western Journalism", which made a detailed comparison of the history of Chinese and Western journalism, media organizational structure and social regulation, etc., and became one of the pioneering works of Chinese comparative journalism. In the subsequent research, Tong Bing deeply felt that comparative journalism is still weak and immature in the entire field of journalism, some works are limited to the comparison between China and the United States, and the research objects are limited to the microscopic level of specific cases, so it is possible and necessary to further expand whether from the research method, theoretical construction, or research horizon. After several years of accumulation, in 2002, Tong Bing published a monograph entitled "Comparative Journalism and Communication", which elaborated on the history of Chinese and Western news communication, and carried out scientific sorting and logical summarization of the similarities and differences in the concept, system, control, legal system, practice and education of news communication, and conducted a full and rational discussion and analysis of comparative journalism and communication as an integral part of the construction of journalism disciplines, which was praised by the academic circles as the most authoritative and systematic comparative journalism monograph published in the mainland so far. In 2020, the English translation of this research book was published by Macmillan Press in the United Kingdom, one of the world's leading international publishing institutions.
For more than 40 years, child soldiers have continued to be eclectic in the process of "small steps and fast running", continuing to dialogue with Western Marxism, disseminating political economy, and critical research schools, and connecting the sinicization of Marxist journalistic thought with the development of the times and global scholarship. In this regard, Professor Cao Jin of the School of Journalism of Fudan University was deeply touched. Over the years, her academic research has focused on the dissemination of political economy, which intersects with Marxist research, "Marx's interpretation of the theory of the crisis of capitalism, his imagination and belief in human liberation, and the impact and adjustment of capitalism in the face of the global financial crisis and digital platforms, we have had academic dialogues, And Teacher Tong is very much in recognition of the theoretical ambition and critical thinking of disseminating political economy, Professor Graham Murdock of the United Kingdom and Vincent of Canada." Every time Professor Mosco came to Fudan University, Mr. Tong actively communicated with them." As an academic junior with outstanding achievements in the field of communication political science, Cao Jin is also very grateful for the encouragement of the child soldiers to himself and his team, "his attention to the political economy of communication has encouraged us academic descendants not to slack off in the journey to the 'glorious peak' of Marxism."
The class is bigger than the sky, and there is faith and happiness for a lifetime
"If we choose the profession that best works for the welfare of mankind, then the burden cannot overwhelm us, for it is dedicated for humanity."
The School of Journalism of Fudan University is known for its teaching and research tradition of "Ma Xinguan". In 1920, Chen Wangdao, the head of the old department, translated the first full translation of the Communist Manifesto Chinese, which became the theoretical guide for future generations of scholars in Fudan. Since the 1950s, "two canons and one stroke" have become the teaching characteristics of the School of Journalism, and one of the "classics" refers to the classic treatises of Marne. In 2001, after the child soldiers returned to their alma mater, they led the formation of a high-quality, capable and well-structured "Marxist Journalism Thought" course team. At one point, when similar courses were nearly extinct in the domestic undergraduate curriculum, his team made this course the most popular platform course for the whole school. At its peak, the team needed to open 6 classes at the same time to meet the demand for course selection, and the largest number of course students in one class reached more than 400 people. In 2009, this course was rated as a fine course of Fudan University and a fine course of Shanghai, in 2010 it was rated as a national excellent course, and in 2014, it was rated as a national excellent resource sharing course.
After more than 40 years of teaching career, the deepest impression left by the child soldiers on the younger generations is that the class is bigger than the sky and there is no shelf. In this regard, Mrs. Lin Han has a deep feeling, "He is better than his two daughters to the students, to the undergraduate students at 8 o'clock in the morning class, he must appear in the classroom at 7:30, he likes to chat with the students." From 2012 to 2019, he also served as the dean of Zhide College of Fudan University, devoting himself to the work of the college, not only arranging the college's professors' luncheon, so that undergraduate students can communicate with the old professors face-to-face, but also personally came forward to recruit various tutors from the academic and industry for the college, and won various resources for the development of the college and the employment of students. Liu Shengnan is a "post-90s" doctoral student recruited by child soldiers, she was most touched by the frugality and kindness of the tutor, "the teacher often carries a black school bag, is a souvenir of the meeting, has been used for many years, sometimes also advised him to change a new bag, he did not think that the bag is not broken, it is very good to use." Later, Liu Shengnan unexpectedly found that his mentor had an "iron brother" in the journalism school - security guard Master Jiang, who was a doorman who loved the courtyard like home, and every time they met, the two greeted loudly, and their faces smiled and squinted, feeling that the relationship between the two was particularly good. As Professor Zhang Taofu, executive dean of the School of Journalism and secretary of the Party Committee of Fudan University, said, although Mr. Tong is a great professor admired by later generations of scholars academically, his sincere and equal style can make all the people who interact with him without pressure, even if it is a one-sided fate, people can feel the "steaming" of him and life.
For many years, Tong Bing has maintained the habit of writing articles by hand, but he laughs at himself for not learning to write by computer because he has a super capable free academic secretary, Mrs. Lin Han. Over the years, almost all the articles and works published by the child soldiers have been entered and proofread by the hands of their wives. For more than fifty years, boy soldiers confessed that more than half of their academic achievements were due to their happy marriage. After retirement, the child soldiers and their wives had more leisure time, and the two traveled the world together, going to Antarctica, climbing the 5013-meter Mira Pass in Tibet, visiting the mysterious Inca civilization, and the life of the old couple in their later years was simple, happy and beautiful.
Looking back on the road of life, Tong Bing once said that although he "did not dare to waste a day", he also had some regrets. When he was studying at Chinese Min University, Gan Xifen offered to open a bibliography of traditional Chinese culture for him, but at that time, he felt that he did not have time, and now that he looks back, it is a pity. Especially in his latest research, traditional Chinese culture, as the composition and source of the "Ma Xinguan" with Chinese characteristics and news discourse, needs to be fully developed. But when I reached eighty, I still had a dream, and the boy soldier had the confidence to make up for this regret, and he sincerely said, "I have a period of academic depression, but I have never had a period of academic loneliness; I have little pain in my heart, and every day is very fulfilling, and Marxism is both my faith and my academic pursuit."
(Author Affilications:School of Humanities, Donghua University)
Edit: Qi Zeyao