On the afternoon of July 2, the Donation Ceremony and Seminar of Rare Published Historical Materials of the Commercial Press were held at the SIM.

People attended the donation ceremony and seminar were as followings:

Ping Wu, Vice President of Wuhan University,

Rong Lei, the donor, Executive Vice President and Chief Editor of the Straits Publishing Company,

Xin Li, Contributing Publishing Planner of the Commercial Press,

Zhiqiang Zhang, Professor at Nanjing University,

Jun Fan, Professor at Central China Normal University,

Pin Li, Professor at Communication University of China,

Pengfei Wang, Professor at Henan University,

Xingrong Fu, CPC Secretary of the School of Information Management, Wuhan University,

Wei Lu, Dean of the School of Information Management, Wuhan University.

Jie Xu, Director of the Department of Publishing Science, presided over the ceremony.

Ping Wu made a speech and expressed thanks to Rong Lei for his donation. Ping Wu pointed out that Rong Lei donated his precious private collection to his alma mater, which played a good alumni demonstration effect and also greatly supported and encouraged the cultivation of editing and publishing talents in Wuhan University. These precious historical materials entering the public sphere and public vision are conducive to promoting the teaching and research of the history of the Commercial Press and the publishing history of the Republic of China to a higher level.

Wei Lu accepted Rong Lei’s donation on behalf of the School of Information Management, Wuhan University, and issued a donation certificate to him.

Xingrong Fu expressed sincere thanks to Rong Lei for his donation. Xingrong Fu pointed out that Rong Lei's interest and expertise in publishing historical materials reflect his understanding of the publishing profession and his persistent love for the publishing industry. Rong Lei is an example for publishing students of our school. Xingrong Fu said that the school would pay equal attention to the collection and use of these historical materials and make rational use of them.

Rong Lei recalled his study experience in Wuhan University and expressed his gratitude to his alma mater. He said that the donation of historical materials is the inheritance of culture and the dissemination of context. The collection collected for more than 20 years would be donated to his alma mater to be grateful for her cultivation. The donation of historical materials is not the end, but the starting point. He would continue to do a good job in the collection in the future, and hoped that more people would participate in the work of collecting, sorting and studying historical materials.

Experts and scholars attending the meeting had a heated discussion. Jun Fan pointed out that the Commercial Press plays a very important role in modern publishing history, and it is of great significance to study history and look for historical materials. At present, the arrangement of historical materials of the Commercial Press itself is not sufficient, and it is very difficult for ordinary people to actively participate in this activity spontaneously. Only when we sink into history can we conduct better research and better serve today’s work.

"Books last longer than people, which is the value of publishing." Zhiqiang Zhang believed that the story behind books is also the fun of publishing history research. Historical materials are the basis of research. These historical materials donated by Rong Lei are unique and scarce. Wuhan University is an important publishing research base, these historical materials can play their due value here.

Pin Li pointed out that these rare historical materials have a large number, rich content, large time span and strong historical facts. They have high research value and collection value, and provide a good foundation for the study of China's publishing history. The discovery of new historical materials will also promote publishing research to a new level.

Xin Li believed that the Commercial Press has a history of 100 years. The sorting, collection and protection of its historical materials should be paid attention to by the publishing academic community, and the existing publishing historical materials need to be rescued and protected.

Pengfei Wang said that as an important base of publishing research, Wuhan University can also become an important base of publishing history research. This batch of published historical materials is of great significance. I hope Wuhan University can make good use of these historical materials and become the center of publishing history and publishing historical materials.

Zichu Luo, Professor atthe Department of Publishing Science of our school,pointed out that as the beginning of modern publishing industry, the Commercial Press has very high value in the history of cultural development and represents the development direction of publishing culture to some extent. Its relevant historical materials play a very important role in studying the development history of modern book publishing. He hoped that the school would continue to strengthen its ties with alumni and better explore and make use of alumni resources.

Rong Lei is a 1988 alumni majored in Publishing and Distribution of our school. After graduation, he has been engaged in editing and publishing, and was selected into the first batch of high-level talent projects in the new century in the press and publishing copyright industry of Fujian province. Many books he planned were selected into the national key book publishing planning projects of the 11th Five-year Plan and the 13th Five-year Plan and the original book publishing project, and were supported by the national publishing fund. Most of the 71 rare historical materials of the Commercial Press donated by him during the period of the Republic of China were disclosed for the first time. They are precious materials for understanding and studying the operation and management of the Commercial Press.