190 1, Zhang Yuanji Investment Commercial Press. On behalf of Zhang Yuanji and Cai Yuanpei, Foreign Affairs was published. Book and sell Chinese-English phonetic dictionaries. Fu Yuan translated by Yan Fu (by Adam Smith) was published by Nanyang Public College (later published by the Commercial Press).
1903, Hankou set up its first branch. 10, Commercial Press Co., Ltd. was formally established to absorb Japanese capital and improve printing. First use of copyright printing. Compile the "latest teaching materials" for primary schools. Xiu Xiang's novels are published bimonthly and edited by Li Boyuan. Translate and print the series of divination. 1907, the address of the newly-built printing house and compilation office on Baoshan Road, Zhabei, Shanghai. Zhabei Baoshan Road printing plant and compilation office were completed. It was originally printed in type. The primary school teachers' workshop was closed, the affiliated primary school was reorganized into a working primary school, and Jiang Weiqiao was the principal. Yu Houpei went to Japan to study photographic plate-making technology. Cai Yuanpei was employed to compile books for the Commercial Press. Published 80 Chinese versions of Japanese laws and regulations, with introduction 1 volume, translated by Nanyang Institute of Translation. Published 32 volumes of "dignitaries of various countries" (the Qing court compiled, translated and inspected the political information of various countries).
1909, the library compiling rare books and reference books was named Hanfen Building, and later renamed Oriental Library, which was opened to the public. Improve copper-zinc plate, trial-produce tricolor copper plate, and hire American technicians to guide. The Board of Directors of the Commercial Press held its first meeting on March 8, with seven directors present and Zhang Jusheng as the chairman. Run a business counseling school, the first principal of Zhang Yuanji. Run an art school. Start an educational magazine. Publish one or two episodes of Sun's fairy tales (the earliest fairy tale published in China). Published the Chinese translation of Japanese Dictionary of Law and Economy (the earliest encyclopedia dictionary translated and printed in China). A General History of the World (the first attempt of cooperation between Chinese publishing houses and foreign countries) was published under the agreement with the British Times.
19 14, the board of directors withdrew its shares in Japan. Set up a branch library in Hong Kong. Make educational slides. Founded Student magazine, edited by Zhu,, and successively (closed 1947). Kant's Theory of Human Mind Ability: On the Control of Diseases by Will was published and translated by German and sinologists Wei Lixian and Zhou Xian.
1932, "1.28" Incident, two major battles of Japanese imperialism's occupation of Shanghai. The General Management Office of the Commercial Press, the General Factory and Compilation Institute, the Oriental Library and Shanggong Primary School were bombed and burned, resulting in huge losses, and they were forced to suspend business and lay off all their employees. Business resumed on August 1 day, and new books were published at sunrise. 10, the Oriental Magazine, edited by Hu Yuzhi, was reissued (Volume 29, No.4 to Volume 30, No.6).
1932,65438+1On October 28th, the Japanese Marine Corps suddenly attacked Zhabei, Shanghai, and the incident broke out on October 28th. The next morning, Japanese planes bombed the business, and the general management office, compilation office, four printing houses, warehouses and Shanggong primary school on Baoshan Road were all shot and caught fire, and all of them were burned down. 1 February, 9321day, Japanese ronin sneaked into the undamaged Oriental Library of the Commercial Press and set it on fire, all the books were reduced to ashes. The five-story building became an empty shell with a terrible shape.
According to statistics, the assets loss of the Commercial Press exceeded16.3 million yuan, accounting for 80% of the total assets. The saddest thing is that the Oriental Library has a total collection of 460,000 books, including more than 3,700 kinds of rare ancient books, totaling more than 35,000 books. There are more than 2,600 kinds of local chronicles in China, with a total of 25,000 volumes, all of which were burned. At that time, the so-called number one library in East Asia suddenly disappeared overnight, and priceless rare books disappeared from the world, which was a great disaster in the cultural history of China. Some scholars believe that the burning of Yuanmingyuan and the bombing of the Commercial Press are the most distressing civilization tragedies in China's modern history.
When the Japanese army wanted to bomb the Commercial Press, the commander of the Japanese Marine Corps, Yukichi Iwasawa, made it very clear: "Burning down several streets in Zhabei can be restored in a year and a half. Only by burning the Commercial Press, the most important cultural institution in China, will it never recover. " 1933, the merchant received a threatening letter from the Japanese ronin, which wrote: "China failed to establish a school, read the Three People's Principles of Mandarin to establish a republic, overthrow imperialism, and ruin the world ... Our library sells school books and prints some corrupt things. Shanghai destroyed the library, but the library still maintained its bad habits, and still printed books of the Three People's Principles and the language of the Party Department. China couldn't stand it, so he destroyed his library. If we don't change our bad habits as soon as possible, our army will burn everywhere, especially the Commercial Press. " This passage even tells the story of the Japanese bombing the Commercial Press.
During the period of 1934, the Renaissance Committee of the Oriental Library accepted more than 3,000 books donated by the German Consul General in Shanghai on behalf of famous German academic groups. The new Hong Kong Branch of the Commercial Press was built in North Point. Four series of sequels, 8 1 books, 1438 volumes, were printed. Printing the first rare edition of Sikuquanshu. Compile the second episode of The Library of Everything. Edit and publish Children's Library. Li jinxi's Outline of the History of Mandarin Sports was published. Wu Bannong's translation of Das Kapital (by Marx) was published. Photocopy of Jiaqing Reconstruction Unified Record. Copies of the chronicles of six provinces (Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Kyrgyzstan, Hubei and Shandong).
194 1 year, the general administration moved to Chongqing. The warehouses and printing houses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were hijacked by the Japanese army, and Oriental Magazine was forced to stop publishing. 1944, Chongqing Branch of Oriental Library opened. 1946, the general administration office moved back to Shanghai from Chongqing. 1948 establishment of Taiwan Province branch. 1950 The Commercial Press, Sanlian Bookstore, Zhonghua Bookstore, Ming Kai Bookstore and their affiliated bookstores jointly established China Book Distribution Company, which is the second distribution system in China except Xinhua Bookstore. 195 1 Establishment of Beijing Office of the General Office of the General Administration. The editorial department moved to Beijing. 1954 the general management office moved to Beijing and implemented a public-private partnership. The Commercial Press merged with Higher Education Press. 1957 separated from the higher education press and resumed the independent establishment of the Commercial Press. Time Publishing House (including11950 publishing house merged into the agency) was revoked and merged into the Commercial Press. Set up a Hong Kong office. Hold the 60th anniversary meeting in Hong Kong. Publish Xinhua Dictionary (new edition). During the period of 1958, the business department of China Publishing House undertook the publishing tasks of translating and publishing foreign philosophy and social sciences and compiling and publishing Chinese and foreign dictionaries, and gradually formed a publishing pattern with Chinese and foreign dictionaries as the main pillars, such as "Chinese translations of world academic masterpieces" and "biographies of world celebrities".