A CHINESE EDUCATIONAL FORCE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1336, 13 January 1912, Page 7

A CHINESE EDUCATIONAL FORCE.

STORY OF THE COMMERCIAL . PRESS. The Shanghai correspondent of "Tho Times" writes:— Among tho ma.ny forces' which have helped, to transform Chinese ideas, and of which we aro now witnessing tho resuits, .none is, perhaps, more powerful— assuredly none is more interesting—than tho Commercial Press (Ltd.). It is a common cause of complaint against China to-day that, while no business men surpass her in honourable dealing, so long as they deal and can be dealt with individually—there havo been some unfortunato exceptions in recent years, but not enough to reverse this noble tradition— the Chinese do, not combine well in jointatock companies; that such institutions seldom -pay, and aro frequently open to charges of fraud. I am not a shareholder in the "Commercial Press." But as a purely native-run concern, and judged by its annual turnover, tho enormous output, and variety of its publications, and' tho multiplicity of its branches and subagencies, which extend all over China, it a (lords 'an eloquent ■ contradiction'of tho ohargo. -'When'we further consider that it is now only in its fifteenth year of existence, this tremendous orgaaiisation may faarly bo regarded 6's one Of the' marvels of modern China. Humble Beginnings. Born in the first moon of the twentythird year of Kuang Hsu, i.e., 1897, tho "Commercial Press", began life in a very humble way, with a.couplo of printing machines, in a throe-roomed house situated in an alley-way _ off the TCiangsi Road. At that time, it should be remembered, ideas of Western education (indeed, of Western knowledge generally) were in a very rudimontary condition. $omo few modern schools there' were; but these were 'exclusively supplied: by tho - mission pfess. By the middle '.of 1898. tho company was able to remove to a , twelve-roomed houso in a- far more aristooratic thoroughfare, the Peking Road, where it assumed a dignity pro--portionate to its growing business. This house was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1902; but now printing works wero installed in North Fukien Road, a separate shop was opened in Honan Road, a very busy thoroughfare, and in 1903 ail office for editing and translation work was established in Boono Road. Varied Activities. The continued growth of the business pointed to the wisdom of centralisation, and in 1905 buildings were orected near the North Honan Road to houk) all departments of tho business, with a shop fronting on the road itself. These headquarters, with wa rehouses, cover twentynine . Chinese, or a little under five English, acres. The buildings are in Europeon style, lighted by gas and electricity,. and connected bv telephones and a light rail. Over and above tho ordinary supply of school books, tho company undertakes fancy binding, eleqtro-typing, photogravure work,, lithographing, collotyping, three-colour printing, and zinc etching. Die-stamping and map-making also form important branches of the work, .which altogether employs abqut 1000 persons, including one American and ueveral Japanese artists, and some of the best Chinese scholars of tho day. There is also a special school for tho training, of young men to take charge of the* branch offices of the firm. At the close of tho year 1905 the "Commercial Press," in accordance with the Commercial Law of, China, applied for rospstration as a limited company; being one. of the first- of such institutions in China,; and early in 1906 its patent was duly issued by the Board of Commerce. Its. capital was nominally 1,000,000' dollars Mex. (inoo.oao), of which, however, only half was paid up. New extensionshave since demanded new capital, .and the amount now paid np is'Boo,ooo''dollars. The. management consists of a board, of of- frhopi tho chief, is Mr.'.ch'au;g wolfknown in educational circles as vice-president of the., Central Education Board of Peking, and,' president of the lately-formed National Education Society,,two auditors! a general..manager and assistant manager, and, of course, -a superintendent for each of tho principal .departments, viz., print-' ing, publishing, editorial,' and translation. The volnme of business handled during last'"year amounted to nearly 2,000.000 dollars, or (with allowance for loss on exchange) lx-tween ,£190,000 and £200,000;. and the reports proudly record, not only a gold medal at the Simgkiang Exhibition, but a special recommendation to the Throne for some mark of recognition by the Nanking Exhibition held last year, a distinction that soars far above mere ' precious metals. ■ Thero are-! 20 branches, at Fengtein, "Peking, Tientsin,'Taiynari, Sianfu.' Hankan (this was the site of tho first branch), Canton, Changsha. Kaifeng, Chehsrtu, Shungking, Tsinau, , Hangeliau,' Nanohang, Luchau, Chaochau. noar Swatau, Changteh in Hunan, Wuhu, Lungkiang, and Fuchan. In fact, not a province is left uncovered; • apart from the,main branches, there are over 1000 .aseneies, extending far into tho South Sea' Isles. Educational Work.' It is difficult to ascertain how far the publications of the "Commercial Press" Lave penetrated into tho countryside. In all estimates of the awakening'of China, of domooratic tendencies at work, it is necessary to draw a sharp lino between town and country, and the proportion of tho nation that can bo influenced by Western thought is still, and must for nmuy years to come continue to be, trivial, compared 'with tho millions, even hundreds of millions, outside tho towns. But in tho long run they aro the real problem of China. As regards itseducational series, it has m- unnaturally, modelled itself oil tiw staniard examples of foreign firms. In addition to its own publications, it acts as egjnt for two or three well-kioivn American and . five English publishing firms. . Its educational series in English contains in a graduated sca.lo grammars, phrase books, easy readers, composition and conversation, letter writers, and translations of the classics of English ■literature. Copious not(;s and commentaries aro included, exercises to illustrate special points of stylo or syntax, and'glossaries. The same sort; of instruction is to bo had in French, German, and Japanese. In addition to this there is. an enormous series of publications !in Chinese. Ethics, history, geography, mathematics, science, drawing, musk, physical culture, and commercial practice are but a. few of the subjects treated; and this series is specially valuable in view of tho.common eompiiv.nt that tho rago for Western learning i as le' l to deplorable neglect of. the nul"'vo tongue, and that tho modern student ematters everything and is proficiont at none. The prices aro extremely moder-ate—-from 2d. to -Id. a volume—whilo a whole series of oight or ten hooks on a single subjeet may be. purchased for lialf-a-crown. Tho binding is, of course, of paper only in such cheap editions—a deficiency, however, that matters companitively 'little in view of tho respect traditionally entertained for hooks in China —but the printing and general mako-up are surprisingly good. To sum up, the work of tho '.'Commercial Press" gives evidence of an attention to detail and a broad, 'progressive spirit in matters of enterprise that have already carried it far from a very lowly origin, and will carry it further yet. Giro must be taken that, its enterprise docs not impel it beyond the bounds of fair dealing. One action for breach of copyright, brought against it by tho New York firm of Ciinn and Co., has liceii heard litis year in the United States Court, and "is now under discussion at Peking, with, it must bo confessed, somewhat dubious prospects of satisfactory results. But a fault of this kind does not necessarily vitiato the whole character of the undertaking, nor the good work which tho "Commercial Press" is accomplishing as an oducativo force.