Book Launch and Symposium on How Zeon Fong,

Pioneer of Modern Chinese Publishing

(This event will be conducted in English. For a Chinese description of the event, please click here).

Founded in Shanghai in 1897, the Commercial Press is the longest-standing modern publishing house in China. Over the last 117 years, it has been in the forefront of fostering cultural enhancement and intellectual enlightenment. Its impact on the history of cultural and educational publishing in modern China has been profound and far-reaching. It remains today as the single most important publishing power house with independent operations in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Its success is largely attributable to its founder, How Zoen Fong (Xia Ruifang, in pinyin), who developed the Commercial Press into a thriving enterprise from a print shop with his diligence, vision and managerial skills. He died in his prime in 1914 as a victim of assassination.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the passing of Mr. How Zoen Fong and commemorate the extraordinary life and achievements of this preeminent pioneer of modern publishing in China, the Renwen Society at China Institute and the C.V. Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University will jointly hold a book launch of A Pioneer Remembered: A Biography of How Zoen Fong and symposium on October 4, 2014 at Columbia University. Speakers at the event include: Mr. Jim Cheng, Director of the Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University; Dr. Chi Wang, President of the US-China Policy Foundation and former head of the Chinese Section at the Library of Congress;Mr. Wang Chunshen, Board Chair of the Commercial Press in Taiwan;  Dr. Tai-lai Ma, Director of the East Asian Library at Princeton University; Mr. Julian Suez, grandson of How Zoen Fong; Mr. Ben Wang & Dr. Yong Ho, co-chairs of the Renwen Society and Mr. Chunmai Chao, author of the biography. Please see detailed bios of the speakers here. The Asia-Pacific Development Society at Columbia University is the co-sponsor of the event.

A Pioneer Remembered: A Biography of How Zoen Fong is bilingual in both Chinese and English. It was penned by Mr. Chunmai Chao, President of the North American Chinese Writers Association and former columnist with The World Journal, a Chinese-language newspaper based in the U.S. The translators of the book are Mr. Ben Wang, senior lecturer at China Institute and the United Nations and co-chair of the Renwen Society, and Prof. Yuan Xiaoning, Vice Dean of the Foreign Language School at the Southeast University in Nanjing, China. The book was published this past May by the Commercial Press in Taiwan. The renowned writer Kenneth Pai (Bai Xianyong, in pinyin) calls the book “one of the most outstanding and  the most fascinating biographies he has read in recent years and is a must-read book for anyone interested in the history of modern Chinese culture and education.”

The event will be followed by a book signing at the Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University, where a display of books published by the Commercial Press prior to 1914 will be in display for viewing.

Date: Saturday, October 4, 2014

Location: 301 Uris Hall (Business School), Columbia University. Click here to see a map.

2:30-5:00 Book launch and symposium

5:00-5:40 Viewing of publications by the Commercial Press prior to 1914, on display at the C.V. Starr East Asian Library