What kind of Shanghai do you see, with the fragrance of books and the new atmosphere of Shanghai ⑥ | The Sea of Books and the Sea of People | Book Exhibition | Shanghai
More than 20 publishing groups, about 350 publishing houses, and over 180000 high-quality books from across the country have gathered at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, with approximately 850 different types of reading activities covering the main venue and one district and one characteristic sub venue. Today, the 7-day 2023 Shanghai Book Fair and "Bookish China" Shanghai Week will come to an end.
Whether it's weekends or weekdays, day or night, this week, the Shanghai Book Fair has always ignited the enthusiasm for reading, making the fragrance of books permeate the entire city.
The bustling Shanghai Book Fair has returned, with readers, authors, and publishers from all over the country depicting this long scroll titled "I Love Reading, I Love Life". In the sea of books and people, we witness what the Shanghai Book Fair is, what the "National Book Fair held in Shanghai" is, and what Shanghai is.
Here, knowledge flows and interests intersect, people meet books, people know each other, and with the harvest from the sea of books, self reflection and reflection, we strive to create a better city and life.
Refreshing the cultural memory of the city
For nearly 20 years, the Shanghai Book Fair has become a cultural symbol and lifestyle habit in Shanghai and even surrounding areas. Perhaps only the Shanghai Book Fair can allow you to plan your summer plans in advance. It will always wait for you on the second or third Wednesday of August, and for the following week, live under the name of a book.
"When reading, if you have been to a book exhibition, you should prepare for the start of the school year. As a Shanghai citizen, book exhibitions and film exhibitions run through cultural memories from childhood to adulthood." On Monday, Meng Jianxin, who once again walked into the Shanghai Exhibition Center, restored his reader identity. During her college years, she volunteered for a book fair and brought her new book "Walking through Light and Shadow: Watching Movies Like a Film Critic" as an author for the first time this year. "Watching movies at the Shanghai International Film Festival and participating in the Citizen Film Critics Competition allowed me, as a science major, to become a film critic. Now, I can communicate with more people at the Shanghai Book Fair. This book is also a record of how a city's cultural festival exhibition affects an ordinary person."
Another year, the Shanghai Book Fair, which returns to the old times and places, refreshes the cultural memory of this city, giving the imagination about books and reading a real appearance.
It is a peak and plateau, the "Revival Library" of the imperial family, and the "Century Fine Exhibition of Chinese Classic Literature" surrounded by three walls, telling the story of the long history of Chinese civilization. Dunhuang literature scattered around the world gathers here, and the latest achievements in the sorting of bamboo slips are presented. Breakthroughs have been made in the sorting of art related ancient literature, represented by calligraphy, painting, seal carving, etc. The large-scale art ancient literature sorting project "Integration of Chinese Art Literature" will create a new type of Chinese art literature system that integrates traditional literature and modern disciplines, filling the gap in the lack of large-scale integrated literature achievements in the art field.
It is a fusion and trend, leading the market in the sea of new books, and having fun on old book stalls. You can flip books, listen to books, exchange books, borrow books, and unlock different ways of reading. There are both exhibitions with publishing houses as the main body and shining "listings" of publishing brands. Cultural and creative products with publishing IP as the element have gone from being "budding" to becoming a "standard" booth this year and even having independent space, witnessing the innovative development of publishers and the new momentum of cultural consumption.
When young people gather and check-in in front of various publishing house booths, curious old readers join in to "play together"; When readers of different ages and backgrounds stop in front of the same book, what can be expected at a book fair is to understand through understanding, understand through communication, and generate new common cultural pursuits due to shared cultural memories.
The touchstone for the construction of a scholarly society
"The flowers were bought at the Lingshi Road Flower and Bird Market the night before, and the editors packed them themselves." On the evening of the 18th, at the sharing meeting of Elegant Centenary: The Complete Biography of Yang Jiang, the editors of the Chinese language publishing house handed out sunflowers to the readers at the door. Zhang Lu, the brand director, planned to "The last day of the book fair is Qixi, how can we surprise the readers?" This year, the Chinese language publishing house under the China Publishing Group held 10 new book activities in the main and sub venues. In Zhang Lu's words, "We will soon catch up with the big club", and "Several books on the booth were almost sold out in the first few days. Editors like to hold events in Shanghai, tired but happy."
From a label, we can see the popularity of the Shanghai Book Fair. In the "Century Brand Avenue", the new brand of humanities and social science books "Yeren" established by Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House for two years has gained many acquaintances. The editors shared a set of photos with handwritten recommendation tags for the new book "Patriarchy and Capital Accumulation", which went from brand new to curled up. After a few rewrites, the book sold out, leaving only the tags.
"Visiting the Shanghai Book Fair, what impressed me the most was the editor's handwritten recommendation." The author's dedication allowed readers to see the recommendation card from East China Normal University Press, accompanied by a small picture, and feel the editor's love for the book; The recommendation language of Mingshi is rough and humorous, making people laugh uncontrollably; In the exhibition area of Guangxi Normal University Press, recommendation notes jump around, with different fonts and sizes, and some even stick them up in various directions. However, these seemingly casual words and phrases seem like a friend recommending this book to you, and a sense of familiarity hits your face
Readers also recorded the touching scene they saw. The book fair was crowded with people. Suddenly, they heard lightning, thunder, wind and rain outside. They were glad that they could hide in this shelter for a whole day. When they looked back, they saw an old woman in a poncho turning books in her wheelchair. "Being among so many book lovers, it seems like one can feel a sense of atmosphere 'charging'," said a reader. Some readers also say, "The book fair provides a way to place small individuals in the ocean of knowledge, with endless and unexpected surprises." "Being able to buy out the book fair tickets, Shanghai people love reading too much, right?" An editor from a foreign publishing house sighed.
Li Kui, a reader who works as a doctor, completed a 12 meter scroll colored lead artwork titled "Shanghai Book Fair 20 Years" in three nights. Tickets for previous Shanghai Book Fair events are the main elements in the artwork, and this year it is an electronic ticket voucher. He deliberately reserved a space of about 1 meter for the 20th Shanghai Book Fair next year to continue depicting.
"But seeing the flow of people and the abundance of good books is surprising but without any suspense," Xu Hai, the editor in chief of Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing Media, described what he saw as the "Shanghai Book Exhibition" by the Shanghai People's Office. "It is not a local book exhibition in Shanghai, but a grand event for publishers across the country, and also a touchstone for the construction of Shanghai's urban civilization and bookish society."
