Yunfei Ran
The presses in democratic countries are mostly private owned, belonging to virtually commercial activities. Consequently and naturally, the book numbers are not under control, only a system of registration is adopted. That is to say, you don’t need an approval to publish a book, nor need you purchase book numbers from somewhere. Book numbers are not monopolized by anyone; you can access it without authorization or purchasing. While clauses such as the freedom of the press are documented in Chinese constitution, existing of the national Press and Publications Administration (PPA) is basically for violation of this clause. The so-called irregular publishers that have been investigated and turned down by PPA are actually those having published books whose thoughts are not aligned or in violation with the official ideology. In fact, such investigations are openly interferences of the freedom of speech and press.
The harms of book numbers control have been clearly depicted in an article by Dong Ding called Why should we lift the ban on book numbers? The institution of controlling book numbers is like the rules in any sector, severing or privileging the “big boss” of the sector like the national PPA. The effects of such controlling consist of 1) providing a room of rent-seeking for officials who take the reins of these book numbers—it is well known that many officials in charge of publishing have reaped benefits; 2) aggravating the burden on readers since expensive paying for books numbers will be part of cost and ultimately be shouldered by readers. In addition, due to the costly paying for book numbers, the books of small circulation are likely to lose the chance of being published, drastically devastating the cultural diversity as well as some unpopular researches. But what is more critical is that book numbers control has been the incinerator of diverse cultures, expressions and thoughts, leaving the press many times a tool of confusing right and wrong and a sycophant of the government.
None of the press in China is private owned, all of them are so-called communal publishers supervised by the government, causing this industry to be in a state of deformed development, and inflicting its socioeconomic benefit as well. Many problems of China’s economy in the backdrop of the unprecedented global economic crisis are created by our institutions. For instance, the stagnancy of book industry in which audience could barely afford to purchase, and the resultant low consumption in cultural products, are majorly ascribable to the supervision of book numbers which has been persistently fueling a series of high costs of publishing. If access to book numbers is unleashed, not only will the publishing industry be thriving, and cultural consumption be increasing, but also relevant industries will be galvanized, thus, in a sense, helping Chinese people weather though the current economic recession. Just as the system of controlling over book numbers hinders consumption and inflicts the publishing, there are also many other industries suffering because of the administrators in pursuit of their own interests. All these generate enormously negative impact on the economy and people’s lives.
We are surprised at the academic and ideological proliferation during the period of the republic of China, that were rendered by an education of liberation, multivariation, tolerance and an education not “partied” or “partinized” (it got a little severer after the War of Resistance, but not as bad as today that the Communist Party officials predominate almost everything). But another point, which we might not remember, free establishment of press and competition between publishers were also an important reason for the thriving academic and ideological achievement at the time. The authors then not only ran peer journals, such as Xin Yue (New Moon), Xian Dai (Modernity), Wen Xue (Literature), Wen Yi Zhen Xian (the Frontier of Literature and Art), but also opened many peer presses to an extent of countlessness, like Shui Mo Press publishing leftist books. As a result of peer presses and peer journals, the triggered competition and diversification furnished the audience with a large room of choices, and a colorful variety of literatures were achieved as well. Without the freedom of the press, no original thoughts could be given birth; without the naissance of original thoughts, it is of no difference with empty talk of paper to realize the so-called social progress or national rejuvenation, not to speak of acquisition of personal dignity.
The system of book numbers control was not initiated until 1990s, such system of administration has imposed great harm to this country both implicitly and explicitly. After 1949 the press in China had many forbidden regions where many volumes were taken as prohibited and reactionary books. Besides, hierarchical divisions existed in the tunnels to information and accesses to books. Before the Cultural Revolution, for instance, only could people in upper class touch yellow and gray books (said to include 1041 types), these were all for the reading of leaders and cadres, not for that of unqualified ordinary people. To read the interior version of these books, references and relations were needed to get into Xinhua bookstore. As Mr. Yu Haocheng has recalled, the year when Public Publishing House printed The Gulag Archipelago in original Russian (Архипелаг ГУЛаг) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, purchasers were required to write down their family, employer and address by high-ranking official Hu Qiaomu in charge of propaganda and news media at the time. It seems that nowadays there have been few interior published books, and it looks like a progress has been made. Actually it is not so; previously books divergent from the main-stream ideology could be distributed through such interior publishing, but today as long as it’s marked as a prohibited book there is no chance for it appearance. How can we hope a country to be resuscitated and to grow up if its clamping down on publishing to such an extent that good books cannot be published. In this country, people could not reflect freely, people could not speak freely, people’s expressions and works could not be freely published; they are derived of dignity, but also of creativeness. That no real vitality exists in this country is the inevitable consequence.
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