Books help turn a new page
Updated: 2013-03-06 07:02
By Tang Yue (China Daily)
|
|||||||||
Great works of literature guide officials in formulating policies for the future, reports Tang Yue in Beijing.
Among Beijing's 100-plus bookstores, one of the most important is also one of the smallest and least prepossessing.
In the rather shabby, old bungalow of around 60 square meters, there is no electronic signboard, so the "recommended" and "bestseller" lists are handwritten.
But located inside the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, where the country's leaders-in-waiting are trained, the bookstore helps to shape the minds of the political elite and therefore plays a part in determining the country's future.
There is no way visitors can miss a conspicuous advertisement at the entrance. The notice is written in the traditional style with a brush, and the large black characters on yellow paper proclaim: "The Old Regime and the Revolution, recommended by Wang Qishan, is on sale now."
It's been little more than three months since Wang, the new leader of China's top disciplinary watchdog and also one of the seven members of the nation's highest decision-making body, suggested that officials and experts read historian Alexis de Tocqueville's account of the French revolution of 1789-99, written some 50 years after the events it describes.
The book has become increasingly popular recently. Twenty different versions are available on Amazon's Chinese site, one of the country's most popular online bookstores, and 18 of them were published after Wang's recommendation. The bookshop also houses related works such as A Guide to Reading The Old Regime and the Revolution and Why Do We Read The Old Regime and the Revolution?
"It has been quite hot, but that came as no surprise. Any book recommended by the leadership is always very popular with the officials who study here," said a sales clerk at the store.
She cited the examples of The Meditations by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and The Theory of Moral Sentiments by the 18th-century Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith, both of which were endorsed by Premier Wen Jiabao.
Inside the bookshop of the CPC’s Party School. [Photo/WANG JING / CHINA DAILY] |
- Non-CPC members make up 60% of advisory body
- CPC Central Committee maintains frugality campaign
- Xi advocates study, practice among CPC members
- CPC solicits opinions on govt reform
- CPC Central Committee adopts state leadership candidates
- CPC adopts candidates for leadership positions
- CPC Central Committee discusses personnel, govt reshuffles
- CPC has duty to promote cross-Straits ties: Xi
- NW China work safety official expelled from CPC
- CPC official meets Portuguese Communist Party leader
- Li Na on Time cover, makes influential 100 list
- FBI releases photos of 2 Boston bombings suspects
- World's wackiest hairstyles
- Sandstorms strike Northwest China
- Never-seen photos of Madonna on display
- H7N9 outbreak linked to waterfowl migration
- Dozens feared dead in Texas plant blast
- Venezuelan court rules out manual votes counting
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
American abroad |
Industry savior: Big boys' toys |
New commissioner
|
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
TCM - Keeping healthy in Chinese way |
Poultry industry under pressure |
Today's Top News
Boston bombing suspect reported cornered on boat
7.0-magnitude quake hits Sichuan
Cross-talk artist helps to spread the word
'Green' awareness levels drop in Beijing
Palace Museum spruces up
First couple on Time's list of most influential
H7N9 flu transmission studied
Trading channels 'need to broaden'
US Weekly
Beyond Yao
|
Money power |