Notes on Publishing in China 1976 to 1979

Abstract

Chinese publishers declare that following ten years of cultural revolution China was suffering from a severe 'book drought' (shuhuang) at the end of 1976. Now, four years later, the State Publishing Bureau has realized that providing reading material for the world's largest literate population is not merely a matter of politics, but also requires vast numbers of trained editors, huge printing presses, a steady supply of paper and an efficient distribution network. Although the main cities are now well on the way to satisfying the diverse tastes of their readers, country areas are rarely supplied with firstrelease books and in many cases have to be satisfied with old stocks. It is still fashionable to see the Cultural Revolution period (1966-76) as having been a cultural void. Officially, apart from a few months in 1975 when Deng and the three Hus were in power, the Cultural Revolution was uproductive and even highly damaging. Nevertheless, the 'drought conditions' now so readily bemoaned by even the most enthusiastic supporters of the then publishing policies were not as absolute or as devastating as suggested. Apart from the millions of copies of Mao's Selected Works printed in the late 60s, the political movements that occupied the country's interest from 1973-6 did demand the printing of numerous classicial works covering literature, philosophy and history. Apart from a spate of short story collections during the anti-Deng campaign of 1976, however, books of a more contemporary interest were few. A popular joke of the time saw the situation in the following way, Why are there only thirty novels printed every year? Because Yao Wenyuan can't read any faster. The fear of the Gang of Four's new 'literarary prisons' was so great that nearly all publishing houses sought high-level approval before printing a book.