Toward a New Understanding of the Publishing Industry in Modern China

Two recent monographs address distinct but interrelated aspects of China’s modern publishing industry. The interplay between intellectuals and the state, the transformation of the publishing industry via foreign knowledge, and the modification of Chinese social, cultural, and legal practices by evolving approaches to the production and distribution of knowledge are among the themes of modern Chinese history common to both studies. Researchers of book culture, publishing and printing history, cultural history, the history of media and popular culture, or intellectual history will find these books valuable.

This essay discusses the following works. Robert Culp. The Power of Print in Modern China: Intellectuals and Industrial Publishing from the End of Empire to Maoist State Socialism. Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. 371 pp. $65.00 (cloth). | Fei-Hsien Wang. Pirates and Publishers: A Social History of Copyright in Modern China. Histories of Economic Life Series. Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. 350 pp. $39.95 (cloth).