The Research On Shanghai Native Publishers' Association (1930-1937)

The Shanghai Native Publishers' Association was the native publishing same line organization based on the Publishing Guild, the Publishing Chamber of Commerce and the New Publishers' Association in 1930. The basic objective of the association was to safeguard the publishing public interest and correction the publishing fault. From 1930 to 1937, just when "the golden ten-year"of publishing development, the Shanghai Native Publishers'Association consummated its organization system gradually, displayed its function continually and strengthened its social impact. All this made the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association become an important industry trade organization of Shanghai and the leader of the publishing associations in China. However, this positive development tendency was interrupted when the Sino-Japanese War erupted comprehensively. At that time, Shanghai fell to the enemy very quick, the massive publishing enterprise moved to the interland, the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association experienced an affairs halt.This article takes the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association (from 1930 to 1937) as the object of study, uses the rich primitive file in Shanghai Municipal Archives, introduces the modernization theory of the industry trade organization, analyzes its historical process, system construction and function, discusses its evolution path from tradition to modern, summaries its successful experience and beneficial procedure in servicing the same publishing corporation, expects to provide reference for the construction and development of the present industry associations.From 1930 to 1937, according to legal requirements and the need of publishing development, the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association constructed and consummated its organization system unceasingly, the affairs operation achieved standardization, institution and modernization gradually, laid a solid foundation for displaying the economy, cultural and social function. Different with the traditional guild which was compulsion and closed, the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association carried out the principle of non-compulsion to join and non-limit to quit on the basis of examining strictly. Different with the traditional guild which had simple organization and lacked the supervising mechanism, the Shanghai Native Publishers'Association established finally the executive and supervisory commission system, and formed a power structure in which the member congress, the executive commission and the supervisory commission both kept in balance and maintained coordination mutually. The Shanghai Native Publishers'Association also established many specialized offices, and formed a bureaucratic management system with clear division of labor and highly effective movement. Needless to say, its organization system had been very mature, and its modernized level enhanced gradually.The modernized process of the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association not only manifested in the organization system, but also reflects in the function. From 1930 to 1937, the Shanghai Native Publishers' Association always followed the service concept to safeguard publishing interests and promote publishing, and devoted in realizing its economy, cultural and social function which had broader scope, deeper degree and greater impact than the traditional guild. The economic function was to establish the market environment with fair competition, safeguard the same publishers' economic interests and carry out careful and thorough publishing investigation. The cultural function was to maintain the freedom of the press, promote culture and investigate the unhealthy books. The social function was to support public welfare widely, coordinate the disputes inside and outside diligently and participate in the public activities positively. The realization of these functions showed the interactive relations between the government and it, between the chamber of commerce and it, between other social groups and it. At the same time, the realization of these functions contributed much to the prosperous of the publishing, the consolidation of the status of Shanghai as national publishing center and the progress in education and culture.