Bulletin Spring 1979

Q. Have you encountered any difficulties? A. W ell. . . , amedium-sized university press in the United States putting out 20 to 30 titles annually would have fifteen staff members, excluding those responsible for inventory control, and clerical and secretarial staff; but there are only eleven o f us, including five clerks/secretary and an office assistant, in the Chinese University Press. I am not suggesting that we should have the same establishment as theirs, but it is not d ifficu lt to see that we are very much short- handed. However, the greatest d ifficu lty lies in the lack o f understanding o f the nature o f the Press. It is a fact that even university presses w ith turnovers o f US$1m.-US$2m. s till have to be subsidized. This is because scholarly books, important though they are, do not sell well. We have published titles which managed to cover the cost or even make a p ro fit, like the Lin Yutang Chinese-English Dictionary o f Modern Usage, but such cases are, after all, rare. We feel that we are doing a job as important as, and more far-reaching than teaching and are making the University better known internationally, and that the value o f the Chinese University Press to the University cannot be measured in terms of revenue alone. Q. What are the development plans o f the Chinese University Press? A. Apart from putting out new scholarly publica­ tions, we plan to: (1) reprint the best-sellers. Some o f the best­ sellers such as Modem Biology and Hong Kong Taxation have already seen several printings. Recent reprints include Twelve Towers, Jade Flowers and Floral Patterns in Chinese Decorative A rt, A Golden Treasury o f Chinese Poetry, and A Pro nouncingDictionary o f Chinese Characters in Archaic and Ancient Chinese ， Mandarin and Cantonese. (2) publish the transcriptions o f Ch'ien Mu Lectures in History andCulture as a series. The first one, Chinese National Character and Culture in Historical Perspective, w ill be o ff the press soon. The second lecture, I understand, w ill be given by Professor Joseph Needham, the world-famous sino­ logist. (3) issue a series o f books consisting o f reprints o f scientific papers. We have invited some overseas scholars in various fields to select papers and write in-depth introductions for the books. Besides these, the Chinese University Press has also some long-term plans, the more important o f which include: (1) Publishing two titles of special signifi cance: The Four Books (English transla tion) by Professor D. C. Lau and Arch aeology in China by Professor T. K. Cheng, in celebration o f the twentieth anniversary o f The Chinese University in 1983. Pro­ fessor Lau has recently translated Mencius and Analects into English for the Penguin Classics Series, and he has agreed to proceed w ith the English translation of The Great Learning and The Doctrine o f the Mean. When completed, the new translations o f the Four Books w ill be published in one volume. Professor Cheng w ill complete his Archaeology in China, by revising and updating the first three volumes, Pre-historic China ， Shang China and Chou China, and writing the last volume, Han China. (2) Reprinting Lin Yutangs Chinese-English Dictionary o f Modern Usage, and issuing an enlarged edition and a concise edition o f the Dictionary. (3) Publishing an English Dictionary o f Chinese Idioms and Clich é s. Q. Finally, what has been your greatest satisfaction since you took up this job? A. We have made a start in putting the Chinese University Press on a business-like basis. On the whole, we have had a successful year because we have published more books and have bigger revenue than before andbecausewe are gradually putting everything in order. If things go as planned, I am pretty certain that in three years' time, the Chinese University Press w ill become one o f the better-known university presses in Southeast Asia. With the backing o f the whole University, I think nothing is impossible. 11