 Reading into the future of the written word
By Zhu Linyong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-25 07:29 The number of people in the country reading books has risen from two years earlier, reversing a decade-long decline, a biennial nationwide survey has found. The percentage of those polled who read books rose from 48.7 percent in 2005 to 48.8 percent last year, results from the survey released on Wednesday showed. The figures came from a poll conducted by the National Research Institute of Publishing Science that began last July and involved 20,800 Chinese readers from 56 cities in 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Chinese readers also read 4.58 books on average last year, against 4.50 by those polled in the 2005 survey. "China publishes more than 300,000 new titles a year. With such a huge population, the Chinese book market has much potential," said Xu Shenghuo, an expert in the publishing industry from Beijing. "But that all depends on Chinese people's interest in reading," Xu said. "In recent years, a large number of people, especially urbanites living and working under great pressure, have distanced themselves from reading," said Liu Suli, who runs All Sages Bookstore, one of the country's leading private bookstore chains. "China is a nation with a rich history and a long tradition of reading. A declining reading rate goes against that tradition," Liu said. Reading also has a proven, far-reaching effect on human development, Liu added. "Facing a world of uncertainty and complexity, one has to try to enrich his knowledge to survive in today's world reading is the best way to achieve that. It may also give one inner peace that forms of entertainment cannot provide," Liu said. While the declining trend in book readership has been stemmed as seen in the latest survey findings, there is a constant need to promote good habits, particularly among the young, Nie Zhenning, president of the China Publishing Group, said at Wednesday's press conference on the survey findings. Nie added that the reading habits of many of today's Chinese readers were "shallow, fragmented and incomplete" due to the emergence of new media and new information sources such as the mobile phone, e-book and the Internet. "These new reading modes hinder the reader in getting a systematic grasp of knowledge Readers may also become passive and unwilling to think independently," he said. Fostering good reading habits among young Chinese has become imperative, said Huang Guorong, deputy secretary-general of Chinese Publishers Association. "In doing so, we will cultivate quality readers for China's growing book market," he said. "A healthy circle can then take shape in the publishing sector." Huang attributed the decline in reading to people's utilitarian attitude toward the activity. "Rote learning and cramming for exams discourage Chinese students from enjoying reading, since most read to prepare for exams," Huang said. In the case of adults, instead of reading for "pure intellectual satisfaction or inner peace", many Chinese today read books to improve professional skills, the skills to excel in office politics, and to increase their "material pleasure", Huang said. Marking another emerging trend, the survey showed that Chinese readers ranked young contemporary writers such as Guo Jingming and Han Han higher than renowned authors such as Cao Xueqin (c1724-c1763) and Bing Xin (1900-99), on a Top 10 List of the Most Popular Writers. Hong Kong writer Louis Cha, widely known as Jin Yong among readers of Chinese wuxia (martial arts) novels, topped the list as he did in 2005. "Being absent from the Top 10 List does not negate the literary achievements of writers such as Bing Xin and Cao Xueqin," Guo said yesterday in response to the survey. Still, the 25-year-old author said he felt "greatly honored" by the results of the ranking and to be put side by side with such literary giants as Lu Xun (1881-1936). Guo also said he took the ranking seriously, which showed "how the readers love reading my works and support me". Those polled also picked newspapers as their first choice for reading material, the survey showed. More than 70 percent of respondents chose to read newspapers first, the survey revealed. Those who picked magazines as their first choice stood at 58.4 percent, while those who chose the Internet formed 44.9 percent, 17.1 percent higher than the figure shown in the 2005 survey. These findings emerged amid a dramatic increase in readers who preferred reading online or reading e-books on handheld devices, to reading print media such as books, newspapers and magazines. The survey showed that reading online topped digital formats, with 80 percent of those polled choosing this option. About 20 percent of those polled had also read books in digital format. In urban centers, the reading rate of digital format books was 24.8 percent, while the rate was 14.7 percent in rural areas. The survey also showed that the country currently has more than 2.51 million registered cell phone users who choose to read newspapers on the go. Those who opt for accessing news and other content through news portals have reached 206 million, statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center showed yesterday. "Reading in the digital format is an unstoppable trend," said Yu Guoming, a media researcher with Renmin University of China. In Yu's view, people choose not to read or read less partly because books are "too expensive". With new media and new technologies emerging, people could now have easier access to knowledge and information while having to pay less, Yu said. "As the survey has shown, readers are shifting their attention from print media to digital media. The traditional publishers have to adapt to these changes," Yu said. Yu added that people in future may only need to pay a fraction of the fees for books to read novels or other types of books. "Traditional media forms such as books may not die easily but they will certainly shrink quickly," Yu said. (China Daily 07/25/2008 page7) |
