Yesterday the world celebrated World Book Day. For China with its complex language system reading and literacy are especially hot topics, even more so considering the country’s turbulent history throughout the 20th century.
Chinese Literacy in the 20th Century
Up until the establishment of the Communist Party in 1949 illiteracy in China was incredibly high, as much as an estimated 85 percent of the Chinese population did not qualify as literate.
Enter Mao. The communist leader decided to clean up the Chinese language system focusing on standardisation and simplicity for the sake of increasing efficiency of communication, albeit at the cost of diversity. The simplified character system replaced the traditional one, which can today only be found in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, or in many overseas Chinatowns. The pinyin system was developed and although this was never instated, there was an on-going discussion on whether to do away with characters altogether. Finally, Mandarin, also known as Putonghua, became the standard language of communication throughout the Middle Kingdom in an effort to provide the country with a singular language system, which would make the written language more accessible.
According to China’s national census of 1964, Mao’s efforts had been fruitful as the illiteracy rate dropped from over 80 percent to 33.58 percent in the space of less than 15 years. However, the leader would set fire to his own work as the Cultural Revolution, which saw the closure of secondary schools ad higher-education institutions, lead to a renewed increase in illiteracy among the Chinese people.
Chinese literacy today
Following the end of this tumultuous period, the country got back on track. Latest estimates from 2010 place current Chinese literacy at 95.1 percent, compared with 96.9 percent in the US. The modern standard for literacy is based on character recognition, people in urban surroundings need to recognise 2000 characters while inhabitants of rural areas need only know 1500 characters, illustrating the large literacy gap between the city and the countryside. Census data of 2000 states that 75 percent of the country’s illiterates hail from rural China.
Another issue is the gender gap, which becomes most obvious when measuring literacy rates. While it has undoubtedly shrunk over the last years, women are still falling short of receiving the necessary education to make the cut. 97.5 percent of the male population and only 92.7 percent of the female population qualify as literate.
World Book Day and State of the Reading Nation
While China is undoubtedly measuring up well on an international level, it seems Book Day as well as recent survey results have kicked off a round of discussion on whether the country is reading enough. Although the emergence of the ebook culture brings more accessibility and mobility to would-be readers, reports indicate the reading rate for books in China seems to have dropped by about 5 percent over the last 12 years.
One survey conducted in 2013 by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication has grabbed the nation’s attention as it revealed that Chinese read on average less than five books a year, compared to reading leader Israel where the average is almost 13 times as high at 64 books per year. The survey further indicated that Chinese people spend about 13 minutes per day on reading compared to 51 minutes per day of surfing the internet, awakening concern especially among Chinese media outlets. CCTV launched a reactionary campaign on Weibo, often dubbed Chinese Twitter, attempting to encourage the public to read for at least half an hour per day.
In Beijing, the first 24-hour bookstore has opened its doors to the public in order to fit in with the young generation’s hectic lifestyles and long office hours. Sanlian Bookstores invested ¥3 million on the trial 24-hour operation of the store, and has been received very positively as an attempt to move readers back from their devices into the world of printed books.
Nanjing has taken the route of combining reading with one of China’s most popular pastimes; food. Jinling Book Park is but one of many establishments offering dining and literary works rolled into one.
World Book Day is seen by many as yet another opportunity to increase awareness of and passion for reading.
Chen Jing, online editor for the Yangtse Evening Post, believes in the power of Book Day as an opportunity for reflection and communication. “I think it’s quite important and meaningful to establish the day. It reminds us to remember to read at least to have a glimpse at some books. It gives people a chance to open a book. especially in these days where people seldom read or even forget totally about their spiritual needs.It gives us an opportunity to reflect on ourselves, to examine ourselves about what you read, what you need to read, how far you have been away from a time of quiet reading and thinking. Finally, it is a day for sharing, people are talking about the same thing, which creates a chance to communicate.”
Chloe Partridge, a British journalist and Fulbright scholar living in Nanjing, is fully convinced of the importance of such an event to further excitement for reading. “It is incredibly important for China to celebrate World Book Day. This day celebrates some of the best authors of our time, and times past. It is a celebration of language and the diversity of telling a story, whether that’s in a world of truth or a land of imagination. All countries should embrace this day, for language makes the world go round.”
Doug Hughes, writer for The Nanjinger expat magazine, sees Book Day as an indispensible event in our modern age. “I think international book day is more important in today’s electronic environment than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Our world is filled so many wired and wireless distractions, book day is a chance to take time to get lost in stories and our own imagination.”
However, not everyone is in agreement of whether one single day can have a lasting effect on people’s minds. Joseph Wang, a Nanjing-based writer, believes that a longer-term improvement of the quality of Chinese writing needs to improve in order to draw in more readers. “We have got enough different days to celebrate already; people who like reading, will just read, the people who still haven’t realized the magic power of books may celebrate Book Day simply to show off. Book Day has never encouraged people of this country to read successfully, we need more good books and writers, that is the only way to cure the nation’s empty brain.”
Whether World Book Day is bringing Chinese readers back to books or not, one must argue that it is an impressive achievement, bringingg illiteracy down to less than 5 percent, considering only 65 years ago over 4 in 5 people was unable to read 1000 or more characters. It seems that, for now, Chinese readers are doing rather well.
