How to carry forward the spiritual outlook of the older generation of publishers, and do a good job in cultural publishing with vision, mind, character and responsibility? Jiang Zengpei, an 88-year-old publisher in Shanghai, recently published his latest collection of essays, "Literature and Character: Notes of a Editor-in-Chief", which has a lot of inspiration for the present.
The book contains more than 50 essays on Huairen narratives, including sincere recollections of ba jin, Wang Daohan, Lin Fang, Ke Ling, Wang Yuanhua, Zhao Jiabi, Luo Zhufeng, Qian Junzao, Huang Zongying, Ding Jingtang and other writers and scholars of the older generation, as well as affectionate accounts of friends and colleagues such as Li Ruqing, Lu Wenfu, Lu Yanzhou, Li Guowen, Shi Tiesheng, Xie Quanming, Zou Jiali, Guo Zhikun, and Hao Mingjian. The whole book condenses the bits and pieces of literary history and cultural history in the new period, outlines the development of the old literary and art publishing house, and also shows the cultural character of passing on the torch.
As Wang Weisong, president of the Shanghai People's Publishing House, commented in the preface to the book, "Literature and Character" "partially depicts the cultural group portrait of a period." For example, the book writes about Ke Ling, and in early 1992 planned to publish the "Sixty Years of Ke Ling Anthology", and the manuscript was compiled and selected by Ke Lao himself. At that time, Elder Ke was 83 years old, and at first he was worried about whether Elder Ke would have the energy and time to complete this rather vast and cumbersome compilation work, but a few months later, Elder Ke handed over several manuscripts contained in several large envelope bags to Chen Xianfa. All the manuscripts were neatly organized and neatly arranged, with a long catalogue attached to the front, each bag in one roll. When I opened it, the corner of each manuscript was written with a red pen in order, which was orderly and not chaotic.
Jiang Zengpei sighed: All the editors who have met and intersected with Ke Lao are glad that they have met a literary predecessor whose literary products and personalities complement each other. Ke Ling humbled himself that he was "powerless to point out the country", but "he would not miss cangsheng, but he could strive to be humble and feel at ease" in his heart. In fact, Ke Lao, who perfectly combines "literary" and "character" and complements each other, is of great benefit to "Cangsheng", purifying life with his beautiful writing, and also washing "Jiangshan".
In his long career, he has also been good at extracting the details of life that best reflect the spiritual characteristics of the characters to portray the objects. For example, it is written about Ba Jin: "On Ba Lao's desk, in addition to a stack of proofs, there is a magnifying glass and a modern Chinese dictionary. This is because "When Ba Lao encountered some uncertain words and words, he had to turn over this dictionary."
"The important thing about Lao Jiang's experience is that there is an original intention that cannot be forgotten. The original intention is based on humanistic and cultural character. There must be a humanistic concept, which is the core content of Lao Jiang's character or the character of his predecessors. At the publishing symposium of Duoyun Academy and Drama Shop, literary and art critic Li Guoyi commented. Zhao Shulei, director of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary China Press and Publication, said that the historical materials of "Literature and Character" are clear and rich, allowing people to experience the cultural character of the publishing predecessors with vision and responsibility. The words, which are imbued with life and wisdom, show Mr. Jiang's ideals, moral sentiments and value orientation.
Since joining the publishing house in the 1970s, Jiang Zengpei has planned to launch a large number of excellent books with far-reaching influence, from large-scale books such as "Contemporary Literary Library", "Novel Industry Library" and "Literary exploration book series", to single-line books such as "Replayed Flowers", "Speculative Essays", and "Automobile City", writing a strong and colorful stroke for the history of contemporary Chinese literary publishing. "Most of the literary artists and editorial colleagues I have met in my literary and art publishing work are written in the book "Literature and Character"." Jiang Zengpei wrote: "In the process of organizing and compiling the manuscript, I had more contact and interaction with them, which allowed me to read 'people' at the same time in the process of reading 'text'. To read the work in depth, you also need to read good character. ”
In the view of Hu Guoqiang, chairman of the Municipal Publishing Association, Jiang Zengpei's spirit of working tirelessly in his late nineties and living to learn from the old is admirable. Cao Peilei, deputy editor-in-chief of Shanghai People's Publishing House, believes that "literature and character" is an important theme that every publisher has to face, and from the book, he can learn how to form friendships with many cultural masters, and also show how to create high-quality books as a publisher, so as to learn from valuable experience and spur a new generation of publishers to better complete their cultural mission.
Author: Xu Yang
Editor: Zhou Minxian
Image source: Publisher