Does anyone know the history of Wenguang Bookstore?

World Bookstore (including books published in the name of Wenguang Bookstore and China No.1 Bookstore) was a private publishing enterprise during the Republic of China. 19 17 was founded by Shen Zhifang. 192 1 was changed into a joint-stock company, with editorial department, distribution office and printing plant, and more than 30 branches in major cities. Shen Zhifang is the general manager. Early mainly published novels. Starting from 1924, textbooks for primary and secondary schools began to be edited and published, which is in a tripartite confrontation with the textbooks published by the Commercial Press and Zhonghua Book Company. 1934, due to poor economic turnover, Shen Zhifang was forced to resign and appointed Lu Gaoyi as the general manager. During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Lin Handa's English Literature Reader was quite famous. From 65438 to 0946, Li Shi became the general manager. 1950 is over. * * * More than 5,000 books have been published.

World Bookstore, founded in 19 12, was originally a little-known bookstore, which developed by publishing popular books for ordinary citizens. The textbook was published only on 1924, which was recognized by the industry and society. At that time, it seemed that only publishing "authentic" textbooks could be regarded as an "authentic" bookstore, just like the Commercial Press and Zhonghua Book Company, otherwise it would not rank among peers. Since then, the world bookstore ranks third in the book industry, second only to Business and China.

The creation and development of the world bookstore can not be separated from one person, that is, Shen Zhifang, a native of Shaoxing. Besides being clever, Shen has great boldness of vision. 17 years old, apprenticed in an old bookstore in Yuyao. 1900, Xia Ruifang of the Commercial Press took a fancy to him and was hired as a "clerk". In fact, he is just a "running agent". Shen Zhifang started as a "running broker" at the bottom, and after accumulating experience, he founded several small bookstores. But he is still not satisfied and has been looking for opportunities to show his talents. On the eve of the Revolution of 1911, Shen Zhifang had a premonition that the Revolution of 1911 would be successful, so together with Lu Feikui and others, he prepared a new textbook for the secret editor of the Republic of China. As soon as the revolution was successful, in the early years of the Republic of China, Shen Zhifang also founded Zhonghua Book Company, and successively introduced new teaching materials to adapt to the situation, which became a bestseller and became famous. Shen Zhifang is very sensitive to realize that the name "World" has a global meaning, which is much bigger and more inclusive than "China". So he gave up other names and only published books in the name of the world bookstore, and the publishing logo of the world bookstore was born. Its publication logo is a very intuitive round earth, which means "the world". The earth is surrounded by clouds with the word "world" written vertically in the middle. The design of the logo is simple, but there is a sense of flying heroism, which is probably a realm that Shen Zhifang yearns for and pursues.

The birth of the world bookstore publishing logo is closely linked with the realization of Shen Zhifang's ideal. At first, I started from the bottom in a weak state. After several twists and turns, I actually got the result of "hitting the key" in the process of publishing speculative books, which was unexpected by Shen Zhifang. The name "World" seems to be Shen Zhifang's "amulet". Coupled with his business acumen, knowledge, skills and popularity, more importantly, he understood the reading needs of readers at that time, and new publications were placed in front of readers before they realized it. Among them, the most famous ones are Xun You edited by Li He and Zhang Yunshi, Red Magazine edited by Yan He and Shi Jiqun, Red Rose edited by Yan He and Zhao Xiangkuang, Family Magazine edited by Jiang, Detective edited by Shi Jiqun and Cheng Xiaoqing, and so on.

Although Shen Zhifang was full of talented people, there were "mistakes" after all ... Finally, it had to be occupied by the bureaucratic capital represented by Li Shizeng, one of the four old people in the Republic of China, thus taking control of the bookstore. At this point, Shen Zhifang also knew that his "fate" would be exhausted, so he had to resign as a manager and become a supervisor, giving way to Lv Gaoyi. Since then, Shen Zhifang has nowhere to display his talents. I had to open my own bookstore in Qi Ming, with my second son as the manager. Besides, I also set up my own "Cuifen Pavilion" library to comfort myself.

From growth to recession

Over the past 30 years, from the establishment of the joint-stock company of 192 1 to the government takeover of 1950, the world bookstores have experienced a period of naivety, prosperity, conservatism and finally chaos and decline. Its success or failure reflects the determination of private enterprises in modern China to survive in the competition, and it is doomed to a bleak fate in troubled times. Throughout the history of bookstores in the world, according to the different hosts, it can be roughly divided into three stages, which are briefly introduced below.

Growth and prosperity stage of free competition (192 1 ~ 1933)

Shen Zhifang (1882 ~ 1939), the founder of the world bookstore, was originally named Zhifang, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. 1897 years old, apprentice of Shaoxing Kuizhaolou Bookstore, Yuyao Yuhailou Bookstore, 1898. 190 1 Joined Lequn Bookstore, and Lequn was sued for infringement of commercial copyright of teaching materials. 1902 rejoined the business and took up the business post. With the accumulation of more than ten years of apprenticeship, young Shen Zhifang has a shrewd business mind and keen insight. At that time, when the building in the late Qing Dynasty was about to collapse and the revolutionary storm was coming, Shen Zhifang, Liu Feikui and others sized up the situation, and privately organized the compilation of new textbooks with Dykton and Chen Xiegong, and set about preparing for the establishment of Zhonghua Book Company. 19 12 New Year's Day With the founding of the Republic of China, Zhonghua Book Company came into being and issued a new version of Chinese textbooks, which became a prosperous time for a while. Shen Shi served as the deputy manager of China District, in charge of business and stock purchase. Later, due to the failure of speculation in buying a lot of paper with public funds, Zhonghua Book Company was in trouble. Coupled with the high cost of building a factory and purchasing equipment at that time, the capital turnover was ineffective and it was on the verge of bankruptcy at 19 17. Because of the debt dispute, Shen Zhifang had to leave China to make a living. 19 17, Shen Shi returned to his old bank in Shanghai, and rented a room as a business base in the inner seven hotels opposite to Yipinli in Zhabei, Shanghai and Qingliange Teahouse in Fuzhou Road. Publishing books, more formal, using the name of Wenguang Bookstore; If it is speculative, because there is no facade, it will be issued by Dadong Bookstore in the name of World Bookstore or China No.1 Bookstore. Later, books named "World" sold best, so only one name "World" was used instead of the other two names. The number of world bookstores operated by Shen Zhifang (including books published in the name of Wenguang Bookstore and China No.1 Bookstore) has increased year by year from 19 17 to 1920, and the funds are not enough. Shen was reorganized into a joint-stock company in the summer of 192 1, and its address is Shouhuai, Shandong Road West, Fuzhou Road. At that time, the bookstore had published more than 200 kinds of books (including those marked with the names of Wenguang Bookstore and China No.1 Bookstore), and sold other books, promoting major events by giving them away cheaply, and the business was booming for a while. From 192 1 to 1923, there are more than 100 employees worldwide, with editorial departments and printing plants in Xiangshan Road and Qiu Jiang Road in Zhabei, and branches in Guangzhou, Beijing, Hankou and Fengtian. When the company was reorganized, the capital was 25,000 silver coins. Five directors, including Shen Zhifang, were selected to supervise two people, one of whom was the owner of Guangyi Bookstore and the other two were the owners of paper numbers. Visible Shen Shi fund-raising. The person in charge of the business is Shen Zhifang, the general manager, with sales department, trust department, accounting department, sub-bureau affairs department, retail department, wholesale department, correspondence and purchase department, editorial department and printing factory. Each department has a special person in charge, which can be described as taking shape.

At the beginning of the world bookstore, its strength was weak, and making money was its first purpose. Therefore, in the first year or two, most of its publications were social news reports catering to the low tastes of ordinary citizens, sad novels of Saturday school, martial arts shady novels and books superstitious about fate. Later, a number of books, such as China's View on Ancient Literature, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Students' Compositions, Letters and Public Documents, were published in order to meet the needs of promoting vernacular Chinese after the May 4th Movement, which was very popular among students. In addition, some biographies of celebrities at that time were published, such as The Complete Biography of Sun Yat-sen, Feng Yuxiang, a Model Soldier, and Anecdotes of Contemporary Celebrities. It sold well and made a fortune. At that time, the editorial department set up by World Bookstore, from 192 1 to 1937, mainly edited textbooks and reference books and compiled some ancient books, while other books were assembled outside the bureau, among which popular novels had the most extensive influence. These popular novels mainly refer to the publications of Mandarin ducks and butterflies, martial arts and detective novels, some of which are arranged by old sayings, printed with new punctuation, hard-faced dresses and sold at low prices; The other part is writers who specialize in writing Zhang Hui, such as Yan, Bu, Shi Jiqun, Jiang, Wang, Cheng Xiaoqing and Li. , and published novels, including Zhang Henshui's social romance novels (such as History of Spring and Ming Dynasty, Golden Powder Family, Lonely Sunset, Manjianghong, etc.). While publishing books, World Bookstore also published a large number of regular publications to cooperate with publicity and expand its influence. Early releases included Red Magazine (Weekly) edited by Yan and Zhang Jiqun, Happiness (Search) edited by Li, Red Rose (Weekly) edited by Yan and Zhao Yao Kuang, Family Magazine (Monthly) edited by Jiang, Detective World edited by Zhang Jiqun and Cheng Xiaoqing. These five publications, which are deeply loved by ordinary people, are Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School. In addition to short stories, there must be two or three novels, each of which is serialized, just like a series. Novels are published in periodicals by stages, and then published in singles, which promote and promote each other and have far-reaching influence. Take Zhang Henshui's novels as an example. They are not only loved by young men and women in towns such as Lu Xun, but also bought for their mothers to read [1].

In the early years of the Republic of China, the textbook market was almost monopolized by China and commerce. Shen Zhifang will naturally not let go of this huge potential market. 1924, World Bookstore began to publish primary school textbooks. At that time, except for Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary regime, other provinces and regions in Guangdong were still under the rule of Beiyang warlords, and the publication of textbooks had to be sent to the Ministry of Education of Beiyang Government for examination and approval, which had appeal and legitimacy in distribution and promotion. For the convenience of examination and approval, the World Bookstore invited Hu Renyuan, the former president of Peking University, as a textbook reviser, published his name in the textbook, and won the sponsorship of famous people in Beijing education at that time, such as Ma Linyi and li jinxi, so as to submit it to the Ministry of Education of Beiyang Government. This is the earliest publication of textbooks for the new academic system. Because the world bookstore published textbooks, which changed the monopoly situation of commerce and China and became the trend of competition among them, the content of textbooks was constantly innovated and the price was relatively low, which was recognized by the education and society at that time.

1924 After the first cooperation between China and the United States, Sun Yat-sen led the Guangdong Revolutionary Army to launch the Northern Expedition. In view of the excellent revolutionary situation, Guangzhou Branch collected propaganda pamphlets, sent them to Shanghai for editing and processing in batches, and published them in large quantities in the name of Guangzhou World Bookstore, such as Questions and Answers on National Affairs, Questions and Answers on Farmers' Associations, Questions and Answers on Unequal Treaties, and Three People. Before the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived in the Yangtze River valley and Shanghai, the reason why the World Bookstore dared to publish propaganda books in line with the Great Revolution was that Shen Zhifang was a businessman and felt that such books could gain fame and fortune; Second, the head office can rely on the concession as a talisman in the concession. After the victory of the Northern Expedition, Nanjing established the National Government. The World Bookstore not only adapted primary school textbooks, but also increased junior and senior high school textbooks, and also paid attention to the publication of general new books. Among them, there are more than 100 ABC series edited by Xu Weinan and written by progressive writers such as Shen Yanbing, Yang Xianjiang, Chen Wangdao, Xia Mianzun and Hong Shen, which are all the rage. At that time, Shen Yanbing and Yang Xianjiang were exiled to Japan because of the persecution of Kuomintang reactionaries, and their lives could not be self-sustaining. The World Bookstore accepted Xu Weinan's 14 manuscripts, which relieved the worries of people in the progressive cultural circles and was passed down as a story in the book world. This is a period of development and prosperity of bookstores in the world.

* * * Going to the national disaster and struggling to maintain the stage (1934 ~ 1945)

193 1 year, the northeast fell under the iron hoof of the Japanese invaders. 1932, the Japanese invaded Shanghai. Because the World Bookstore Hongkou Dalian Bay Road General Factory is in the Japanese occupation area, the comprehensive management office and editorial department are temporarily moved to Fuzhou Road Publishing House, and the printing house is shut down. At the head of the national disaster, people in the progressive cultural circles are clamoring for anti-Japanese aggression, and the world bookstore has also made its own voice. 193 1 year, in the fifth issue of World Magazine, Volume 2, published by World Bookstore, Ma's article "Warn the People for Japan's Disaster" was published, calling on * * * to go to the national disaster and resist Japanese violence, and printed photos of Japanese aggression, and then published "The History of Japanese Aggression in Manchuria" and

1937 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out and the Anti-Japanese War began in Shanghai in August. The World Bookstore General Factory was occupied by the Japanese army as a military camp, and the property loss in the factory was huge. A large number of textbooks were confiscated and sent back to paper mills for recycling as raw materials; Classics and historical subsets, China classics and novels, etc. Robbed to Japan; The metal back cover of the book was melted into a weapon, and the photocopied zinc and copper plates such as Notes of Thirteen Classics, Kangxi Dictionary on Copper Plate, Shangshu, Hanshu and The History of the Three Kingdoms were destroyed. During the occupation, Shen Zhifang, who had retired from the background, was approached by the Japanese puppet government and asked for Shen Zhifang's cooperation, but he flatly refused. The Japanese puppet government hated this. 1938165438+1October, the Japanese army entered the World Bookstore Press in Fuzhou Road, the concession at that time, and the bomb exploded, causing one death and one injury to the staff. At that time, Shen Zhifang was still ill, so he made a will in advance, which read "near national disaster, not for inducement, not for threat", reflecting his national integrity. In September of the following year, Shen Shi died of illness.

The host of the world bookstore in this period was Lu Gaoyi. Lu Gaoyi, 1898, born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. She 1924 graduated from the Chinese Department of Zhijiang University. She was the first female normal school principal in Henan Province and the principal of the middle school affiliated to Zhijiang University. 1933 joined the world bookstore, first as the secretary of the general management office, then as the manager. After Shen Zhifang resigned as general manager on 1934, Lu Gaoyi took charge of the overall situation. Lu has no contact with, so he entered the World Bookstore because of his introduction. Lin Handa and Lu Gaoyi are classmates of Hangzhou Zhijiang University. Before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Lin Handa was the director of English editorial department and publishing department of World Bookstore. During the period of 1933, Shen Zhifang's former secretary died and asked Lin Handa to take over the post of secretary. He is a scholar, good at editing, writing and teaching, and unwilling to engage in administrative work, so he recommended his classmate Lu Gaoyi to Shen. After entering the World Bookstore, Lu first served as the secretary of the comprehensive management office, and soon showed his ability in administrative management and communication, and was soon promoted to manager.

Among the books published by bookstores in the middle of the world, Lin Handa has the largest number of English literature readers and the greatest influence. For example, there are two sets of English literature reading materials, including detailed Chinese annotations and a collection of world modern English classics, including Selected Fairy Tales by Andersen and Manlang Lansk annotated by Jin Zhonghua. In addition, reference books such as The English-Chinese Dictionary and The World Standard English-Chinese Dictionary, edited by Lin Handa and others, sell well and play an intermediary role in the introduction of western literature. Before the Anti-Japanese War, the world bookstore published a large number of ancient books with a subset of classics and history. Photocopying of Notes to Thirteen Classics, Classic Compilation, Exegesis, Zi Tongzhi Jian and Zhuzi Jijie is very popular, and most of the rare books are selected by punctuation, collation or annotation. Lu Gaoyi also actively approached some progressive intellectuals and Democrats, and published a set of flexible teaching materials for middle schools, several new may fourth movement series, five volumes of loyalty and righteousness in the next season edited by Hu Shanyuan, one set of self-study series for young people edited by Pei, one set of great times literature and art series edited by Zheng Zhenduo and Kong Yijing and one set of script series edited by Kong Yijing. These books tend to be progressive, or instill national anti-Japanese war consciousness, or although they are classic literature and art, they are of high quality and positive in Shanghai during the isolated island period of anti-Japanese war. During the Anti-Japanese War, there were more than 20 Latin New Characters and Pictures edited by Chen Heqin, and more than 0/0 series of Latin New Characters edited by Lin Dieken (pen name), such as The Way Out of China Pinyin Characters, China Pinyin Characters Arrangement, Putonghua Pinyin Textbook, and Lianlianzi Annotation Department. These books are progressive and belong to China.

However, the world bookstore is a private enterprise after all. No matter who presides over it, keeping pace with the times and making money by publishing books is its main purpose, so some bad books were also published in its middle period, such as Mussolini's biography of Hitler. At that time, in order to cater to Chiang Kai-shek's psychology, some Kuomintang politicians compiled Zeng Guofan's works they admired in the Qing Dynasty into The Complete Works of Zeng Zheng Wen, which was published by the world bookstore and sold well. In addition, the so-called "Youth Success Series" was published to instill an individualistic philosophy of life. He also accepted the "Speech Collection of President Jiang's Youth Issues" compiled by the Third Youth League, which opened the eyes of Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary thoughts and had a very bad influence.

The stage of bureaucratic capital invasion and gradual decline (1946 ~ 1949)

1In August, 945, the Japanese officially surrendered, and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression won after eight years. The people of China, suffering from war, hope for peace and tranquility. However, the Kuomintang reactionaries, headed by Chiang Kai-shek, have already broken the contract with the China Producer Party and launched a civil war against the people. From 1946 to 1949 and 10, the new democratic revolution led by China's * * * production party finally won. Taking this opportunity, China's politics, economy and culture also began to undergo fundamental changes.

1In July, 945, Lu Gaoyi, general manager of World Bookstore, resigned and left Shanghai, and was represented by Lu Zhongliang. Soon after, the old board of directors who returned to the mainland in name only during the Anti-Japanese War was demobilized to Shanghai, and the board of directors elected in Shanghai during the Anti-Japanese War was cancelled. The original board of directors was re-listed as directors, Du, Qian Xinzhi, Lu Gaoyi, Cui Zhuxi, Lu Zhongliang, Hu, Wei and supervisors Wu Zhihui, Qi Yunqing. From 1946 to 1, Sok Li was the general manager and Li was the manager, almost all of them were from Li Shiceng Group. Lee Group brings a lot of capital, and its shares account for about half of all the shares. Li Shi used to be a member of the Central Supervision Committee of the Kuomintang, engaged in foreign affairs during the Anti-Japanese War, and 1948 served as senior minister of the Presidential Palace. The invasion of bureaucratic capital eventually led the world bookstore into a dead end and was finally taken over by the people.

There are 292 kinds of books published by bookstores in the world in the later period, including 72 kinds of 1946, 57 kinds of 1947, 1948, 109, and 1949. Among them, the best-selling is the English-Chinese Dictionary for Four Uses. This book is printed in Hong Kong and then shipped to the mainland for binding and sales. It was printed in Hong Kong because at that time, the customs tariff stipulated that imported paper should be taxed, while imported books and printed pictures and texts were tax-free. In order to reduce the printing cost, World Bookstore sent staff to Hong Kong in the winter of 1947 to entrust Jiahua Printing Company to print a book, printed tens of thousands of pages in 1948 and shipped them to Shanghai for binding. At that time, this book was so popular that almost all college students had one. Some colleagues saved this book as a means to avoid the loss of counterfeit currency depreciation, and the world bookstore benefited a lot from it. 1947, Yang Jialuo's Sikuquanshu Dictionary was published, which was an adaptation of Sikuquanshu Dictionary, with an English preface written by Li Shizeng in front. This book is the first time to observe Sikuquanshu from the knowledge system of the whole world and compare it with the encyclopedia compiled by18th century French Diderot. Under the background of world culture, sorting out Sikuquanshu and its catalogue has contributed to spreading China's scholarship and strengthening cultural exchanges between China and the West. 1947, World Bookstore also published 27 * * 3 series of The Complete Works of Shakespeare translated by Zhu Shenghao, which was the first time that China comprehensively translated and introduced Shakespeare's works, causing a sensation all over the world. Zhu Shenghao himself was a staff member of the World Bookstore. Because of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he returned to his hometown to work as a translator, and made a living by the remuneration paid by the world bookstore on time. At that time, the price of the puppet regime soared, and it was difficult to make a living on a little remuneration. The conditions are extremely difficult. Despite the poverty and illness, Zhu Shenghao devoted himself to translation until his death, leaving the world with 3 1 translations of Shakespeare's plays and only 6 untranslated historical plays. Zhu's plays were included in 1950 Complete Works of Shakespeare and published by People's Literature Publishing House. Today, we can still appreciate the elegance of translator Zhu Shenghao from the clear and fluent words.

Later, the World Bookstore also published some books with good quality, such as Selected Works of Zola translated by Bi Xiushao, Juvenile Science Library edited by Maktan and Li Qingquan of China Children's Education Society, and Juvenile Applied Science Series edited by Li Ximou. At that time, World Monthly, World Rural Monthly and World Traffic Monthly, which were edited by the World Publishing Association [2], were also printed and distributed by the World Bookstore. Among them, Ba Jin, Cao Weifeng, Shen, Zhao, Zhu, Fu Baoshi and others were influential figures in the cultural circles at that time.

Due to the invasion of bureaucratic capital, many books published by World Bookstore in the later period were aimed at Kuomintang reactionaries.

Triangular confrontation

World Bookstore was originally operated by Shen Zhifang, and was reorganized into a joint-stock company in 192 1. At the beginning, I made money by publishing some social news reports, romance novels and martial arts novels that cater to the low tastes of ordinary citizens, and there is no place in the eyes of the world. After the publication of 1924 textbook, its social influence and economic strength have been rapidly improved, and it has gradually become the third largest private publishing industry in China after the Commercial Press and Zhonghua Book Company. Here, we might as well make a slight comparison from the aspects of manpower, financial resources, institutions, production equipment and publishing varieties.

In terms of manpower and financial resources, Shen Zhifang, the founder of the World Bookstore, was an early senior staff member of the Commercial Press. During the Revolution of 1911, he co-founded the China Bookstore with Lu Feikui until 19 17, when he left China and founded the World Bookstore. Shen Zhifang, who was an apprentice in an old bookstore in the late Qing Dynasty, turned into a new book industry and became a capitalist publisher, which was inseparable from his business and China's training. 192 1 year, when the world bookstore was reorganized, Shen Shi also hired many business and Chinese staff to strengthen its strength. Most of these people have some advantages in business and have made great contributions to the world bookstore from the beginning. It can be said that at the beginning of the establishment of the World Bookstore, from the general manager to the staff of various departments, there was a close relationship with business and China. In this way, the management of the world bookstore can't escape the shadow of business and China. The working hours of the staff in the business establishment institute are six hours, and only four hours in the morning when it is hot in summer, which is the same in China and the world. Business has run several cram schools and trained many people in the book industry. In the early days, the world bookstore also recruited several trainees, about seventy or eighty people, most of whom became the backbone of the book industry. The World Bookstore has three offices (General Affairs Office, Editorial Department, Printing Office and Publishing Office) in Shanghai, and the internal staffing office is divided into branches, departments and units, which is roughly the same as that of business and China. World Bookstore has the largest number of employees in Shanghai, with 1000, so it is considered to be the third after Shang and China. As far as financial resources are concerned, when the World Bookstore was founded, its capital was only 250,000 yuan, which was gradually increased, reaching 730,000 yuan before the Anti-Japanese War. During the Anti-Japanese War, Shanghai became an isolated island with abnormal development and abundant hot money. World Bookstore took the opportunity to absorb social hot money, and its issued shares could be traded in the stock market of the stock exchange, becoming active stocks in the cultural industry of the stock exchange at that time, and increased its capital from 1948 to 6 billion yuan of counterfeit money (this book capital with Li Shizeng's bureaucrats was worthless because of the stock price drop, and the actual property was not as strong as that of Shanghua). Businesses and China have also increased their capital many times, and stocks can be bought and sold, but it is not as easy to buy and sell as the stocks of world bookstores are manipulated by speculators.

In terms of organizational structure, Shang, China and the world are all joint-stock companies. The shareholders' meeting elects directors and supervisors, and then the board of directors elects the managing director as the chairman and appoints the general manager to lead the company's business. It has a comprehensive management office (formerly General Affairs Office), editing room, printing house and Shanghai Publishing House, and various departments and correspondence agencies. World Bookstore has two departments owned by the same industry, namely, Reading Savings Department (hereinafter referred to as Fan Savings Department) and Real Estate Department. All provinces and cities have branches. The World Bookstore has set up more than 30 branches, and Suzhou and Hangzhou have also set up editing branches, but their branches are not as many as those in commercial and China.

In terms of production equipment, all three companies have established their own printing plants, including commercial and Chinese factories, with complete facilities such as lead printing and offset printing. China factories often print notes and bonds of the Kuomintang government. The printing houses of the World Bookstore only have complete lead printing. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, they suffered serious losses, and their production strength was not as good as that of the first two.

In terms of published varieties, these three bookstores are more comprehensive. All primary and secondary school textbooks, college textbooks, university textbooks, reference books, extracurricular books, children's books, social sciences, natural sciences, Chinese and foreign ancient and modern literary masterpieces, applied scientific academic masterpieces, etc. And published some periodical publications.

In the early days, the world bookstore published many low-level popular books, which were ignored by the world. Later, it competed with business studies and China, for example, the four series published by business studies, the four notes published by China, and the classic series of Chinese studies published by the world bookstore, including photocopying notes of the thirteen classics, compilation of classics, exegetical notes, exegetical notes, and four books. Or add collating notes, or add notes, so that the voluminous thread-bound book becomes a popular version of the dress, which is convenient to read and carry, low in price and quite popular with readers. Lu Gaoyi, the mid-term general manager of the bookstore, had a good comparison. Business and China are like "full tables", and the world bookstore is like "ordering famous dishes". Zheng Zhenduo praised China's classic books in World Bookstore as "cheap, convenient and useful".

Another example is the commercial publication "Everything Library", and the world published "ABC Series", which can also be popular for a while. The source of business words and China's Ci Hai are indispensable for reading the world. The World Bookstore set up an editorial department in Suzhou and hired many editors to compile Linz. However, due to the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the editors were scattered and did not compile it. English reference books and business English-Chinese model dictionaries are necessary for college and middle school students. The English-Chinese Dictionary for Four Uses published by the World Bookstore is also very popular among college students and middle school students, and is hoarded by traders as a means of maintaining value.

In the early days of commerce and China, except books, everything used in schools was sold, such as pen and ink books, sporting goods, music supplies, art supplies, biological specimens, chemical and physical utensils and so on. , and set up counters for sale. The World Bookstore Shanghai Publishing House has also set up a world educational supplies store at 1932, which once exclusively distributed stationery such as German Yashi brand gold pens and domestic Guanghua brand harmonicas, and once exclusively distributed ball running shoes made of rubber products of Singapore Chen Jiageng Company.

In order to adapt to the trend and cope with the environment, the private book industry in the Republic of China used various brands to publish books in addition to the official store name. For example, when the National Revolutionary Army set out for the Northern Expedition, Shanghai was still under the rule of imperialism and northern warlords, and the World Bookstore published pamphlets to oppose imperialism and publicize the national revolution. Although it was printed in Shanghai, it was published in the name of Guangzhou * * * Bookstore and Guangzhou World Bookstore to prevent any accidents from being investigated. At that time, business used the name of "New Era Education Society", while China used the name of "New China Bookstore". In the early stage, World Bookstore also printed popular books in the name of Wenguang Bookstore and Puyi Bookstore, and occupied a distribution position in the name of World Bookstore to show that it is a decent bookseller who publishes textbooks.

In order to use foreign printing technology to deal with Japanese fake characters, the Commercial Press took over the printing bureau of Japanese merchants in the early years and hired technicians from Japan, the United States and Germany. World Bookstore took over the printing equipment of Siberian publishing house in the early years, and retained Russian technicians. Compared with the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Book Company is the same in actively using foreign printing technology to improve its own production capacity.