Toward the Future Series explained

Toward the Future Series
Publisher:Sichuan People's Publishing House[1]
Release Date:1984-1988

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 (金观涛), Bao Zunxin, and others,[7] and first published and printed by the Sichuan People's Publishing House in early 1984.[8] In the late 1980s, Wang Qishan served as an editorial board member of the book series.[9]

Toward the Future Series is the first popular series of Western new thoughts that had a widespread impact in the Mainland China.[10] It is dedicated to introducing Western thought and promoting science as a remedy for China's impeded modernization.[11] It was of great significance to the enlightenment of Chinese thought in the 1980s.[12]

Toward the Future Series was once banned by the Chinese Government, and was suspended after only 74 copies (planned to publish 100).[13] In 1992, after Deng Xiaoping published the "Southern Talk" (南方谈话), it 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.[14]

The authors of the Toward the Future Series gathered a group of independent thinking intellectuals in China in the 1980s,[15] representing the frontier thinking of China's ideological emancipation (思想解放) at that time.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Professionalizing Resrch in Post-mao Chi. M.E. Sharpe. 978-0-7656-1916-7. 125–.
  2. Book: C.H. Keyser. Professionalizing Research in Post-Mao China: The System Reform Institute and Policy Making: The System Reform Institute and Policy Making. 23 July 2019. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-315-49891-1. 139–.
  3. Web site: Where will China go from here?. 9 July 2013. The New York Times.
  4. Book: Naoki Sakai. Yukiko Hanawa. Specters of the West and the Politics of Translation. 1 January 2001. Hong Kong University Press. 978-962-209-560-1. 292–.
  5. Book: Yarong Jiang. David Ashley. Mao's Children in the New China: Voices From the Red Guard Generation. 8 October 2013. Routledge. 978-1-136-35753-4. 16–.
  6. Book: Alexander F. Day. The Peasant in Postsocialist China: History, Politics, and Capitalism. 18 July 2013. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-43529-2. 44–.
  7. Book: Joseph Fewsmith. China Since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition. 30 July 2001. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-00105-2. 12–.
  8. Book: Gloria Davies. Gloria L. Davies. Geremie R. Barmé. Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry. 2001. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-0-7425-0934-4. 72–.
  9. Web site: Four gentlemen of Reform. 16 July 2013. BBC.com.
  10. Book: From May Fourth to Heshang. 1992. Storm and Stress Publishing. 978 -957-645-183-6.
  11. Book: Xiao Liu. Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China. 19 February 2019. University of Minnesota Press. 978-1-4529-5949-8. 123–.
  12. Web site: April Day in Spring. 12 August 2014. The New York Times.
  13. Book: Chinese Book Dictionary: 1949–1992. 1997. Hubei People's Publishing House.
  14. Web site: Chen Pingyuan: Restoring a 1980s that did not exude beauty and hide evil. 1 May 2016. Boxun.com.
  15. Book: Huang Xiaoshi. Foreign Reference Publishing House. "Central Commission for Discipline Inspection". 18 February 2014. Waican Publishing House. 978-1-63032-508-4. 41–.
  16. Book: Yan Huai. Ming Jing Publishing House. In and Out of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party: An Alternative Life of a Red Second Agency Thinkingist. 4 December 2017. Mirror Publishing House. 978-1-63032-065-2. 139–.
  17. News: 1984: "Towards the Future Series" comes out. 9 January 2015. Southern Education Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20170618125902/http://szjy.sznews.com/html/2015-01/09/content_3118502.htm. 2017-06-18.
  18. Web site: Why did the editorial board of "Towards the Future" that were popular in the 1980s disbanded in the same year?. 11 December 2012. Phoenix Television.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Toward the Future Series".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.