Beyond Publishing

By Chen Ran

Beyond Publishing

By Chen Ran

The largest cooperative publishing project betw een China and the United States aims to promote mutual understanding

Joseph Verner Reed

A seething mass of bicycles flooding the streets left the biggest impression on Joseph Verner Reed during his first visit to Beijing in 1973, a year after the then-U.S. President Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to China that concluded w ith a rapprochement between the two countries.Reed, a self-proclaimed “great admirer of China,” has been com ing to the world’s most populous country frequently ever since in his various roles as a U.S. government official,United Nations official and private citizen.

His most recent Beijing tour put him into the spotlight. On August 28, in a ceremony tied to the 19th Beijing International Book Fair, the incumbent under-secretary-general of the UN won the Special Book Award of China along w ith five others from Germany,Spain, South Korea and Cambodia. The national award, introduced in 2005, is given to foreign w riters, translators and publishers w ith outstanding contributions to the promotion of Chinese culture and publications to the world.

The project that Reed has been involved w ith since 1990 is entitledthe Culture and Civilization of China, hailed as the largest cooperative publishing effort between China and the United States and initiated by Yale University Press and China International Publishing Group (CIPG). The planned series ranges from painting, architecture, ancient philosophy, sculpture, calligraphy, ceramics and silks.

CIPG was founded in 1949 in Beijing w ith a m ission to introduce China to foreign countries through books, magazines and websites. It has over 20 subsidiaries as well as 12 overseas branches located across the world,constituting a conglomerate of foreign language publishing and marketing.

“I am delighted to be back in Beijing. It is a great honor to w in the award. The ceremony was beautifully organized and absolutely sensational,” Reed toldBeijing Review. “I was so pleased to be a recipient of the award along w ith my friend and colleague President Richard Levin of Yale University, who could not come because it is now the beginning of the school year.”

A b reak th rough

Born in 1937 in the United States, Reed was a graduate of Deerfield Academy and Yale University, class of 1961. In 1987, he was appointed under-secretary-general of the UN for political and general assembly affairs. In early 1989, the then-U..S. President George H.W. Bush appointed Ambassador Reed the chief of protocol of the White House, where he served until late 1991.

In late 1980s and early 1990s, distribution of CIPG’s multi-lingual publications was halted due to political reasons; several cooperative publishing projects between China and the United States were forced to stop.

However, Reed showed enthusiasm for the project and helped raise funds w ith his connections and influence in political and business circles in the United States.

M ore than 300 scholars from the two countries have been involved since 1990.Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was the project’s chairman. Eight of Kissinger’s successors were among members of the consultant committee. In addition,George H.W. Bush accepted Reed’s offer as the project’s honorary chairman.

“To do it jointly is not w ithout difficulties,” Reed recalled. “We had long discussions and negotiations.”

“There were different opinions and interpretations on the subject, but they were all about solving problems through diplomacy and cooperation, and spiritual cooperation,”he continued.

“It was a real breakthrough in public diplomacy and cross-cultural communication,which reached far beyond publishing,” Huang Youyi, Vice President of CIPG and one of the project’s initiators, toldBeijing Review.

BOOK SHOW: Some o f the books o f the Culture and Civilization of China series are on disp lay at the 19th Beijing International Book Fair in August 2012

The fi rst volume,Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, w ritten in both Chinese and English, was published in 1997.

The then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin brought it as the state gift to President Bill Clinton during his state visit to the United States later that year. The English edition won the Hawkins Award, the highest publishing award presented by the Association of American Publishers. So far, the volume has published five editions in simplified and traditional Chinese, English, French and Korean.In April 2006, President Hu Jintao donatedChinese Sculptureto the Yale University library as a gift during his visit to the United States.

“CIPG and Yale University Press did not look it w ith difficulties, but only look forward to further cooperation,” Reed said. “The project went far beyond my expectations. If it was scored from one to 10, I think it is 11.”

Eyeing the fu tu re

On August 10, 2008, the Truce Foundation of the United States, a non-profit organization,granted the Open Fields Awards to CIPG and Yale University Press for the project.

“They have overcome cultural, business,political, academ ic, linguistic, and other obstacles in the process of revealing the many pathways of Chinese civilization,” the foundation commented.

According to Reed,Chinese Silkswas just published in the United States in m id-August.A Chinese edition w ill be published later this year.

“Chinese Scu lptureandThe Art of Chinese Calligraphyare my favorites,” Reed said. “We conclude w ith theSilksand see further cooperation in many areas as we move forward.”

The series are available to all public libraries and universities’ libraries, as well as to the private sector. It has a broad range of participation and readership both nationally and internationally. “We have literally over 100 countries for copies of our publications for their national libraries,” he continued.

According to Huang, the current project that CIPG is working on with Yale University Press is a Chinese language-learning textbook entitledI Speak Chinese.

According to China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters, also known as the Hanban, as of 2010 nearly 40 m illion foreigners were learning Chinese and over 2,500 universities in 100 countries were offering Chinese courses. The number of foreign students coming to China has increased by 20 percent in the past five years.

“When working on the eighth and ninth volumes of theCulture and Civilization of China, we realized that a Chinese-language learning textbook probably was the most needed p roduct in the market,” Huang toldBeijing Review. “W e should carry out different cooperative projects at different times.”

Currently, the initial stage that involved teaching material video production, compilation and website design and setup was finished. The fi rst volume has hit the market.

“The project is the platform for both countries to seek out further cultural exchange, p rom ote peace and harm ony,strengthen relationships, and improve understanding between the two countries. This series w ill benefi t generations in understanding the civilization and culture of China,”Reed said.