Hangzhou Education Bureau: Suitable for elementary school students. Netizens suggest that Cao Wenxuan's works be moved out of the summer reading list and appear | Publishing House | Books | Activities | Works | Education Bureau | Cao Wenxuan | Hangzhou City
According to the Zhejiang Provincial Government website "Zhejiang Province People Call Me a Unified Platform", in response to the suggestion of netizens to remove Cao Wenxuan's works from the Hangzhou Reading Festival book list of "Tasting the Book Fragrance and Reciting Classics", the Hangzhou Education Bureau replied on July 13 that the two publishing houses believe that Cao Wenxuan's works "Suwu Shepherd" and "Pomegranate Boat", which were selected for the book list, have the correct content orientation and are suitable for the reading needs of primary school students.
On July 5th, a netizen left a message on the "Zhejiang Province People Call Me the Unified Platform" stating that students in Hangzhou have recently started their summer vacation. The Education Bureau organized the 19th "Tasting the Fragrance of Books, Reciting Classics" Reading and Writing Activity in Hangzhou. Among them, the recommended list of 40 classic books in primary school included two books authored by Cao Wenxuan. Last year's "toxic textbook" incident sparked attention to Cao Wenxuan's books. I hope the competent department can thoroughly investigate this matter and remove Cao Wenxuan's works from the recommended books for this event.
According to previous media reports, in May last year, writer Cao Wenxuan was accused of controversial content in extracurricular reading materials such as "Seven Colored Flowers" and "Big Chinese Language", which attracted public attention. Some netizens pointed out that the "Big Chinese Language" series includes "bare bones" folk songs, and in "Seven Colored Flowers", there is a scene of a girl eating "poppy seed" bread. According to media reports, from the context, "bare bones" folk songs are lyrics from a folk song in Wang Zengqi's novel "Taking the Precept"; Seven Colors of Flowers is a fairy tale created by a Soviet writer in 1940. Poppy seeds are used as spices abroad. Other versions are also literally translated as poppy seeds, and some versions are changed to "red beans" and "flower seeds".
Screenshot of Hangzhou Education Bureau website
Regarding the comments from the above netizens, the Hangzhou Education Bureau replied on July 13th that personnel from the relevant functional departments of the Hangzhou Education Bureau had contacted the reporter by phone on July 7th for communication.
![Hangzhou Education Bureau: Suitable for elementary school students. Netizens suggest that Cao Wenxuan's works be moved out of the summer reading list and appear | Publishing House | Books | Activities | Works | Education Bureau | Cao Wenxuan | Hangzhou City](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/e7d0dbf93f8f9805f12175a21fc8a2ab.jpg)
The 19th "Taste Books and Read Classics" reading and essay collection activity was organized by Hangzhou Xinhua Bookstore. From the list of national books selected at the National Reading Conference, such as the annual China Good Books, Wenjin Book Awards, and other national books, the recommended books for the "Good Books Grow with Me" reading activity sponsored by the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department, 150 books were selected from some of the lists recommended by many excellent publishers in the country. Experts such as senior editors in the industry from publishing institutions in the province were invited to further review the book list. Through the official WeChat official account of Hangzhou Xinhua Bookstore, comments and suggestions were collected from the community and primary and secondary school students, and 100 books were finally determined to be included in the recommended books of this year's "Bookstore Reading List".
Among them, Tiantian Publishing House and Jiangsu Phoenix Children's Publishing House have explained the publication of "Suwu Shepherd" and "Pomegranate Boat", believing that the content orientation of the two books is correct and suitable for the reading needs of primary school students.
The Hangzhou Education Bureau stated that staff consulted with experts such as teaching and research personnel to learn that Cao Wenxuan's work "Lonely Journey" is included in the People's Education Press junior high school Chinese textbook. In addition, Cao Wenxuan is one of the chief editors of the People's Education Press primary school Chinese textbook.
On July 10th, personnel from the relevant functional departments of the Hangzhou Education Bureau contacted the reporter again by phone to inform them of the relevant situation, and the other party expressed understanding.