Toward the Future Series

Toward the Future Series
Original title
走向未来丛书
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
DisciplineSocial science and natural science
PublisherSichuan People's Publishing House[1]

Toward the Future Series[2] (traditional Chinese: 走向未來叢書;[3] simplified Chinese: 走向未来丛书), also translated into English as Walking Towards The Future Series[4] or Toward the Future Book Series[5] or Moving Toward the Future Series,[6] is a set of books created in 1984 by Jin Guantao, Bao Zunxin, and others,[7] and first published and printed by the Sichuan People's Publishing House in early 1984.[8][9] In the late 1980s, Wang Qishan served as an editorial board member of the book series.[10]

Toward the Future Series is the first popular series of Western new thoughts that had a widespread impact in the Mainland China.[11] During the New Enlightenment movement in mainland China, the book series was dedicated to introducing Western thought and promoting science as a remedy for China's impeded modernization.[9][12] It was of great significance to the enlightenment of Chinese thought in the 1980s.[13]

Toward the Future Series was once banned by the Chinese Government, and was suspended after only 74 copies (planned to publish 100).[14] After Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992, the ban was lifted. The publication of the series began in 1984 and ended in 1988. This series of books involved various aspects of social science and natural science, including foreign language translations and original works.[15]

The authors of the Toward the Future Series gathered a group of independent thinking intellectuals in China in the 1980s,[16] representing the frontier thinking of China's ideological emancipation (思想解放) at that time.[17] The series was quite popular when it was first published, and the People's Daily, the official media of Chinese Communist Party, also gave words of praise.[18]

Criticism

Some Chinese academics criticized that the Editorial Board of Toward the Future Series had a very close relationship with the official Reformational Faction (改革派) of the CCP at that time. They wanted to influence policies and were always debating with the authority, so the language they discussed was always semi-official. Moreover, because of the emphasis on practical function and popularity, the series of books later gradually appeared to be shoddy, which affected its influence.[19]

References

  1. ^ Professionalizing Resrch in Post-mao Chi. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 125–. ISBN 978-0-7656-1916-7.
  2. ^ C.H. Keyser (23 July 2019). Professionalizing Research in Post-Mao China: The System Reform Institute and Policy Making: The System Reform Institute and Policy Making. Taylor & Francis. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-1-315-49891-1.
  3. ^ "Where will China go from here?". The New York Times. 9 July 2013.
  4. ^ Naoki Sakai; Yukiko Hanawa (1 January 2001). Specters of the West and the Politics of Translation. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 292–. ISBN 978-962-209-560-1.
  5. ^ Yarong Jiang; David Ashley (8 October 2013). Mao's Children in the New China: Voices From the Red Guard Generation. Routledge. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-1-136-35753-4.
  6. ^ Alexander F. Day (18 July 2013). The Peasant in Postsocialist China: History, Politics, and Capitalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-1-107-43529-2.
  7. ^ Joseph Fewsmith (30 July 2001). China Since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-0-521-00105-2.
  8. ^ Gloria Davies; Gloria L. Davies; Geremie R. Barmé (2001). Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-7425-0934-4.
  9. ^ a b Bartel, David (30 July 2011). "No Forbidden Zone in 21st Century". China Perspectives. 2011 (2): 66‑73. doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.5576. ISSN 2070-3449.
  10. ^ "Four gentlemen of Reform". BBC.com. 16 July 2013.
  11. ^ From May Fourth to Heshang. Storm and Stress Publishing. 1992. ISBN 978 -957-645-183-6.
  12. ^ Xiao Liu (19 February 2019). Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-1-4529-5949-8.
  13. ^ "April Day in Spring". The New York Times. 12 August 2014.
  14. ^ Chinese Book Dictionary: 1949–1992. Hubei People's Publishing House. 1997.
  15. ^ "Chen Pingyuan: Restoring a 1980s that did not exude beauty and hide evil". Boxun.com. 1 May 2016.
  16. ^ Huang Xiaoshi; Foreign Reference Publishing House (18 February 2014). "Central Commission for Discipline Inspection". Waican Publishing House. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-1-63032-508-4.
  17. ^ Yan Huai; Ming Jing Publishing House (4 December 2017). In and Out of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party: An Alternative Life of a Red Second Agency Thinkingist. Mirror Publishing House. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-1-63032-065-2.
  18. ^ "1984: "Towards the Future Series" comes out". Southern Education Times. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Why did the editorial board of "Towards the Future" that were popular in the 1980s disbanded in the same year?". Phoenix Television. 11 December 2012.