


































Communication, Society and Media 
ISSN 2576-5388 (Print) ISSN 2576-5396 (Online) 

Vol. 7, No. 1, 2024 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/csm 

37 

 

Original Paper 

The Social Technology of the Book Publishing in Modern 

Chinese Libraries: Taking the Laws and Regulations at That 

Time as an Example 

Wang Xirong
1* 

& Yi Yu Tongxin
2
 

1 
Library, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China 

2 
College of Publishing, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China 

* 
Wang Xirong, Library, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China 

 

Received: May 12, 2024           Accepted: May 20, 2024        Online Published: May 28, 2024 

doi:10.22158/csm.v7n1p37                       URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/csm.v7n1p37 

 

Abstract 

The book publishing of modern Chinese libraries is a Socio-Technical Interaction Network (STIN), 

which, together with other STIN, forms a larger STIN. On the basis of describing the laws and 

regulations related to libraries and publishing in modern China, this paper constructs and analyzes the 

STIN of book publishing in modern Chinese libraries, and point out that these laws and regulations are 

a kind of “social technology”, that is, the social elements of this network; it, along with other social 

elements and various natural technological elements, constitutes the “broad technology” of book 

publishing in modern Chinese libraries. 

Keywords 

modern Chinese libraries, social technology, broad technology, book publishing, Socio-Technical 

Interaction Network (STIN) 

 

1. Introduction 

“Broad technology” refers to the collective of various methods that are effective in all human activities, 

including “natural technology” and “social technology” (Shen, 2015, p. 34). Natural technology, also 

known as narrow technology, is a technology that people usually understand; social technology 

involves fields such as politics, economy, law, management, military, discipline, and governance in 

human society (Yang & Wang, 2003; Leibetseder, 2011). “Library Publishing” is a new type of service 

launched by domestic and foreign libraries or intelligence agencies in recent years. It is an open access 

publishing model based on academic exchange, knowledge sharing, and innovative development as 



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philosophies, using relevant technological means and library network platforms. However, in the long 

history of human libraries, the publication of paper books in libraries has been around for a long time. 

For example, the Library of the British Museum (now the main predecessor of the British Library) has 

published a collection of books, news announcements, internal documents and other paper materials for 

over 420 years. The earliest publication of libraries in the United States can be traced back to the late 

19th or early 20th century, when the earliest academic publishing departments were established in 

university libraries in the United States, and later, many of them developed into university publishers. 

Book publishing in the history of Chinese library industry is no exception, and there is also a tradition 

of paper book printing. Before modern times, some literati in China tried their best to publish their 

manuscripts or rare classics by spreading culture and preserving literature (Wang, 1991). In modern 

times, from the beginning of the 20th century to the establishment of the People‟s Republic of China, 

libraries not only provided conventional circulation, reading and other services, but also inherited the 

business of printing and publishing books from the past. That is to say, libraries also used their own 

advantages to carry out unique book publishing activities. The literature search results also confirmed 

that a considerable number of various books were published in modern Chinese libraries between 1900 

and 1949, with at least 1700 records retrieved (excluding the records of the Hanfen Building/涵芬楼 

attached to the Commercial Press). The book publishing of modern Chinese libraries and the digital 

publishing launched by libraries today are both services. Both publishing and service cannot do without 

broad technology: natural technology and social technology. After briefly introducing the laws and 

regulations at that time, based on the conceptual model of the Socio-Technical Interaction Network 

(STIN), we will construct and analyze the book publishing of modern Chinese libraries. 

 

2. Laws and Regulations Related to Libraries in Modern China 

In the second year of the Xuantong (宣统) reign (1910), the Qing government promulgated the first law 

of the Chinese library industry, “The Ministry of Education drafted the regulations for the circulation of 

libraries in the capital and various provinces” (《学部奏拟定京师及各省图书馆通行章程折》) (Article 

19). Although this charter is far from the spirit of modern Western public libraries, its content almost 

covers all aspects of the library, such as book acquisition, book cataloging, reading management, 

library architecture, and publication of collection resources. Articles 8, 12, and 15 respectively stipulate 

that “if there is an invention that is worthy of academic qualification examination, it shall be 

photographed, printed, and recorded by the library”; “the Beijing and provincial libraries may have 

printing and printing offices attached. If there are isolated collections of secret books, they should be 

copied and distributed at any time”; “the testament and version... if the private owner refuses to sell it, 

it should also be lent out, printed, photographed, and recorded separately (Department of Library 

Science in Hebei University, 1985, pp. 3-4). The books publication of library in this regulation was the 



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main legal basis for the publishing books in library at that time. 

After entering the Republic of China, on October 23, 1915, the Ministry of Education requested the 

President of the Republic of China to publish the “Library Regulation” (《图书馆规程》) (11 articles) 

and the “Popular Library Regulation” (《通俗图书馆规程》) (11 articles). These two regulations were 

the guidelines for establishing libraries in various regions at that time and had a great impact on the 

modern library industry in China (Jin, 1928). After the Nanjing National Government came to power, it 

also successively promulgated laws and regulations related to libraries, including “Library Rule” (图书

馆条例》) (15 articles) and “Rule on the Submission of Newly Issued Books” (《新出图书呈缴条例》) 

(4 articles) announced by the University Institute (大学院) on December 20, 1927, “Regulation on the 

Submission of Newly Issued Books” (《新出图书呈缴规程》) (6 articles), “Library Regulation” (《图

书馆规程》) (14 articles), and “Measures for the Registration of Private Libraries” (《私立图书馆立案

办法》) (3 articles) announced by the Ministry of Education on March 28, May 10, and October 16, 

1930, as well as the “Revised Library Regulation” (《修正图书馆规程》) (33 articles), “Outline of 

Library Work” (《图书馆工作大纲》) (18 articles) and “Outline of Measures for Library Guidance on 

Book Education in Local Social Education Institutions” (《图书馆辅导各地社会教育机关图书教育办

法大纲》) (15 articles), announced by the Ministry of Education on July 22, July 24, and November 4, 

1939, successively. “The Organizational Rule of the National Central Library” (《国立中央图书馆组织

条例》) (14 articles, revised in October 1945) promulgated by the National Government on October 16, 

1940, and On February 24, June 3 and December 15, 1941, the Ministry of Education successively 

issued the “Measures for Popularizing National Library Education” (《普及全国图书馆教育办法》) (15 

articles, revised twice on December 21, 1943 and November 22, 1944), “Measures for Setting up 

Libraries (Rooms) for Public Reading in Schools and Organs at All Levels” (《各级学校及各机关设置

图书馆（室）供应民众阅览办法》) (9 articles), “Measures for Setting up Patrol Libraries in County 

(City) Libraries” (《县（市）立图书馆设置巡回文库办法》) (16 articles), “Implementation Measures 

for Library Work” (《图书馆工作实施办法》) (11 articles) issued by the Ministry of Education on 

March 10, 1944, and “Library Regulations” (《图书馆规程》) (34 articles) announced by the Ministry of 

Education on April 1, 1947. 

In addition, there are also some indirect laws related to the libraries. For example, in 1920, the Ministry 

of Internal Affairs of the Beijing Government instructed all county libraries to “search for all public and 

private collections, as well as old engraved books, plates, and printed materials...” The main purpose of 

this law by the Ministry of Internal Affairs was to revitalize China‟s culture (Yang, 1923, pp. 464-465). 

During the period of the Republic of China, some local governments actively promoted legislation and 

promulgated some local laws and regulations on library, such as “Regulation on Popular Libraries” 

(《通俗图书馆章程》) formulated by Zhili Province, “Organizational Guidelines and Work Outline of 

Henan Provincial Libraries” (《河南省图书馆组织简则暨工作大纲》), “Regulation on Fujian 



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Provincial Library” (《福建省立图书馆规程》), “Measures for Setting up County Libraries in Guangxi” 

(《广西各县设置县立图书馆办法》), and “Organizational Regulation on Tianjin Municipal Library” 

(《天津市立图书馆组织规程》). 

 

3. The Laws and Regulations Related to Publishing in Modern China 

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were no separate laws and regulations for publication, only 

involving other laws and regulations. For example, in August 1902, “The Ordination of the Imperial 

Rule of the Imperial University of Peking” (《钦定京师大学堂章程》) were promulgated, which 

stipulated that each school should review, compile and print textbooks and lecture notes; “Special Law 

on Printing Objects of the Qing Dynasty” (《大清印刷物件专律》) promulgated in July 1906, and “Law 

on Newspapers of the Qing Dynasty” (《大清报律》) promulgated in March 1908 (revised and renamed 

as the “the Authorized Regulations for Newspaper”/《钦定报律》 in January 1911). 

After entering the Republic of China, laws and regulations related to publishing emerged. On 

December 4, 1914, the Beijing Government promulgated a total of 23 articles of “Publishing Law” 

(《出版法》). This is the first official “Publishing Law” in Chinese history, which stipulates that 

textbooks of each school should be uniformly printed by the national publishing agency and implement 

a “centralized purchase and sales of books and periodicals” (书刊统购统销) system. This law greatly 

limits the development of the traditional book publishing industry. In addition, the essence of the 

content of the publication law is no different from the relevant laws and regulations formulated by the 

Qing Dynasty, which cannot be tolerated by the Chinese people. The call to abolish the law has never 

stopped. Finally, on January 27, 1926, the Beijing Government passed a resolution to abolish the 

publication law at the State Council. 

On March 6, 1916, the Ministry of Education submitted a document in accordance with the 

requirements of Capital Library (then the National Library), requesting that a book registered for 

publication by the Ministry of Internal Affairs be submitted to Capital Library for collection. Two days 

later, the Beijing Government issued China‟s first book submission law, which greatly benefited the 

collection construction of Capital Library. On November 20, 1916, the Ministry of Education of the 

Beijing Government issued a decree on “provincial and county libraries should pay attention to 

collecting local art and literature”, requiring them to “collect books, in addition to collecting domestic 

and foreign illustrations, especially pay attention to the writings of local people” (Ma, 2019, p. 124). In 

1926, the Beijing Government revised the first law on the submission of books, stipulating that “all 

books published in stores and written by individuals should be sent in four copies to the provincial 

education bureaus for allocation by the departments. One copy should be forwarded to the National 

Capital Library, one copy should be directly sent to the National Compilation and Translation Library 

(国立编译馆), and the other copy should be stored in various provincial library and local library” (Jin, 



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1928). 

During the period of Nanjing National Government, three publishing laws were successively 

promulgated, namely the first “Publishing Law” (44 articles) promulgated in December 1930, the 

second revised version of the “Publishing Law” (54 articles, unimplemented) promulgated in July 1937, 

and the third “Draft Amendment to the Publishing Law” (《出版法修正草案》) (46 articles, Not actually 

implemented) passed in October 1947. The publication laws promulgated by Nanjing National 

Government aim to “safeguard freedom of publication and prevent the spread of inappropriate 

publications”, but in reality, it suppresses speech under the banner of safeguarding people‟s freedom of 

speech and publication (Ding, 2014, p. 49). During the Anti Japanese War, the Japanese puppet 

government also promulgated several publishing laws in the occupied areas, such as the “Publishing 

Law” promulgated by Puppet Regime of Reform Government on July 15, 1938, the “Publishing Law” 

promulgated by Wang Puppet Government on January 24, 1941, and the “Revised War Time Publishing 

Law” (《修正战时出版法》) promulgated by the propaganda department of Wang Puppet Government 

in June 1942 (Wu, 2008, pp. 332-336). 

Of course, in addition to the formulation of the “Publication Law” mentioned above, there were also 

other relevant publishing laws, regulations, and articles promulgated during various periods of the 

Republic of China. For example, “Newspaper Regulations” (《报纸条例》) promulgated by the Beijing 

Government in 1914, “Revised Newspaper Regulations” (《修正报纸条例》 ) in 1915, and 

“Management of Printing Business Rule” (《管理印刷营业规则》) in 1919; During the period of the 

Nanjing National Government, a considerable number of laws and regulations related to publishing 

were promulgated. According to Compilation of Modern and Contemporary Laws & Regulations of 

Publishing & News (《近现代出版新闻法规汇编》), from 1927 to 1949, there were a total of 26 

publishing laws and their rules for implementation, 56 laws or regulations on book submission and 

review, and 24 laws or regulations on news censorship and ban (Wu, 2008, p. 336). Among them, some 

of the more important ones were the “Implementation Rules of the Publishing Law” (《出版法施行细

则》) (25 articles) established by the Ministry of the Interior and the Central Propaganda Department of 

the Kuomintang in October 1931, “Measures for Prohibiting the Sales of Publications after 

Investigation” (《取缔发售业经查禁出版品办法》) announced by the Ministry of the Interior on July 

17, 1934, and “Revised Measures for the Review of Books and Magazines” (《修正图书杂志审查办

法》) formulated by the Central Propaganda Committee of the Kuomintang in June 1934, which were 

first implemented in Shanghai, On July 28, 1937, the Nanjing National Government promulgated 

“implementation Rules for the Revision of the Publishing Law” (《修正出版法实施细则》) (28 articles, 

not truly implemented), and on July 21, 1938, “Review Measures for Original Manuscripts of War 

Books and Magazines” (《战时图书杂志原稿审查办法》) passed at the 86th Executive Meeting of the 

Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang. 



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4. The Construction and Analysis of the Socio-Technical Interaction Network for Book 

Publishing in Modern Chinese Libraries 

The STIN model was proposed by Rob Kling et al, who are Americans and pioneers of social 

informatics. This model also provides a suitable tool for people to correctly construct and analyze the 

book publishing network of modern Chinese libraries. As the saying goes, “the use of the term 

„Socio-Technical Interaction Network‟ is to understand the complex system of social technology, 

emphasizing the interactive characteristics that exist between people, people and devices, and even 

between technological structural units and political trends” (Wang, 2007). The book publishing network 

of modern Chinese libraries constructed based on the STIN model is easily understood as a 

socio-technical interaction network. This STIN includes heterogeneous social elements—social 

technology and technological components—natural technology. The STIN of modern Chinese libraries‟ 

book publishing has connected authors, readers, libraries, librarians, commercial printing institutions or 

academic groups, and other relevant personnel through relevant natural and social technologies. 

According to the STIN model, the construction of the book publishing network in modern Chinese 

libraries can be represented by Figure 1. 

 

 

Figure 1. The Construction of Book Publishing Network in Modern Chinese Libraries Based on 

STIN Model 

 

At the same time, the network also forms a larger STIN with other STINs such as library societies or 

associations, private libraries, etc. The nodes and their relationships in this STIN are shown in Figure 2. 

 

Author 

Readers of the library 

Modern Chinese Library 

Collection resources 

C
o

m
m

ercial 

p
rin

tin
g

 

in
stitu

tio
n
s 

P
rin

tin
g

 

d
ep

artm
en

t 

w
ith

in
 th

e lib
rary

 
Publishing Technology 

S
eco

n
d

ary
 literatu

re to
o
ls 

Library catalog 

Index/Abstract of 

library collection 

books 

Expert 

Learned society 

A
b

stract an
d
 in

d
ex

 serv
ice 

in
stitu

tio
n
s o

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m

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ercial 

p
u
b
lish

in
g

 in
stitu

tio
n
s 

Resources that 

can be turned into 

books 

Employees as 

participants 

Free giver 

The book publishing 

department within 

the library 

Related technologies 

Librarian 



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Figure 2. A Large STIN that Includes Socio-Technical Interaction Network Nodes such as the 

Book Publishing Network of Modern Chinese Libraries 

 

Due to the fact that both STINs mentioned above contain heterogeneous social and natural 

technological elements, the book publishing network of modern Chinese libraries cannot be simplified 

into a separate social determinism or technological determinism. As long as people recognize this, the 

interaction of various elements in the book publishing network of modern Chinese libraries can truly 

exert its effects and achieve the expected effects of literature dissemination and knowledge exchange. If 

there is a lack of understanding of the STIN, the combination of natural technology and social 

technology in the book publishing network of modern Chinese libraries would be like a lack of 

appropriate lubricants or adhesives, which would not appear so harmonious and stable, achieving the 

expected effect of literature dissemination and knowledge exchange. 

 

5. Conclusion 

The laws and regulations on library & publication issued in modern China, especially the registration 

and filing system, only involved the publication access system and publication distribution system, and 

did not involve publishing units, providing legal basis for libraries to carry out book publishing at that 

time. In modern China, the admission targets, admission conditions, and admission procedures for 

publications, as well as the postal and international exchange systems for publications, were important 

standards for the management of the book industry at that time, and library book publishing naturally 

had to comply with them. These laws and regulations are a kind of “social technology” and a social 

element in the modern Chinese library book publishing STIN. It, along with other social elements and 

The Book Publishing Network 

of A Modern Chinese Library 

Full text 

resources 
Search tool 

Private Library 

(including its 

collection and 

catalog, et al) 

Other Libraries 
Donation 

institution 

Host 

organization 

Reade 

Reader 

R
ead

er S
T

IN
 

Author Author 

 

Author STIN 
Library Society 

or Association 

Commercial book 

publishing institu- 

tions in society 

Technology, 

protocols, and 

standards for 

book publishing 

Book submission 

institutions 

assigned by nation 



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various natural technological elements, constitutes the “broad technology” of the book publishing 

network in modern Chinese libraries. The publication of STIN in modern Chinese libraries, along with 

other STINs, constitutes a larger STIN. 

 

Acknowledgement 

This paper is supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Planning Fund Project of the Ministry of 

Education of P. R. China, titled “Research on the Books Publishing of Modern Chinese Libraries from 

the Perspective of Generalized Technology” (广义技术视域下中国近代图书馆图书出版研究) 

(19YJA870014). 

 

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