In June this year, the 8th China Book Special Contribution Award Award, the highest foreign-related award in China's publishing industry, was held in Beijing, and 11 translators, publishers and writers who have made outstanding contributions to introducing China overseas and promoting Chinese culture were awarded this award, including French publisher Alain Lévy. As a veteran publisher with more than 6 years of experience in the French publishing industry, Li Wei is famous for publishing books on Chinese themes, including "Dream of Red Mansions" and "20 Years of Struggle of the Communist Party of China" (French version). Why would a Frenchman devote most of his life to publishing books related to China? The French newspaper Europe Times recently interviewed Li Wei to learn the story behind his publication of Chinese-themed books in France.

Origin: Charles de Gaulle's Minister of Culture inspired the young man who had studied in Hong Kong

Alain Lévy is French, tall, cheerful, and laughs everywhere he goes. When it comes to how to get involved with the publishing industry, Li Wei summarizes it in one sentence: the coincidence of life. In 1974, after graduating from the Institut des Oriental Languages and Cultures in Paris, the young Li Wei went to study at the University of Chinese in Hong Kong, his first trip to China. Needless for money, he got a job in a printing house, which paved the way for his entry into the publishing industry. After returning to France, he worked for other publishing houses before formally founding his own company in 1978. After that, he bought a publishing house called Charles Moreau and decided to start publishing books about China in addition to French literature.

At that time, very few private French publishers published books on China. Why was such a decision made? "Because I love China." Li Wei said with a smile.

French publisher Alain Lévy in Beijing. Photo by Qiu Tanuki, special correspondent of the European Times

His interest in China originated with the famous French writer Andre Malraux (1901-1976). The writer, who served as Minister of Culture in the de Gaulle government (and France's first Minister of Culture), visited China in the mid-60s and wrote a series of novels about the Chinese communist revolutionary movement. Among them, his famous work "The Value of Man" is set against the background of the "April 1927" incident in Shanghai in <>, and won the most prestigious Goncourt Literary Prize in France.

The novel made the young Li Wei interested in Chinese literature and culture. After living in Hong Kong for a while, he strengthened his conviction and resolved to follow Malraux's example and "share my knowledge and interest in China with others." ”

Over the next 40 years, he published a series of books on Chinese culture and art, covering topics such as Chinese calligraphy, painting, silk, porcelain, clothing, etc. So far, Moran Publishing House is still one of the largest, most complete and most influential Chinese books and periodicals published and sold in the French and even the whole European publishing industry.

Gao Guang: Introduce "Dream of the Red Mansion" to the French

Talking about the proudest book he has ever published, Li Wei did not hesitate to say that it was Sun Wen's illustrated version of "Dream of Red Mansions".

In 2017, Bibliothèque de l'Image, with Li Wei as its general manager, signed a cooperation agreement with Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, which was their first collaboration. The book contains 36 hand-brush paintings by Sun Wen, a famous master of Chinese painting in the Qing Dynasty, over a period of 230 years, which are finely brushed, coherent, and vivid.

"Dream of Red Mansions" (illustrated version) published by Li Wei. Photo courtesy of interviewee

Because of his study experience in Hong Kong, Li Wei knows the important position of "Dream of Red Mansions" in China. "But the French don't understand." He hopes to let more French people know about this famous book that is unknown in China. But as a publisher, his first consideration was how to get more French people to accept the tome.

An experience in Shanghai inspired him. "There is a big bookstore in Shanghai called Shanghai Book City, where I was very surprised to see that many people would sit and read books on the floor even though they didn't buy it," he said with interest. ”

Also interested him was the binding form of the book. "We call this form of binding a Chinese wire binding." "Simply put, it is to punch several holes (usually four, six or eight holes) on the edge of a stack of paper, and bind and fix them with a string between the holes, so that the two ends of the spine can be fixed better and will not fall apart easily. Li Wei especially pointed out that the form of the pages of this book is also unusual, each page is a piece of paper folded in half from the middle, when turning the page, what is touched in the hand is two layers of paper, very thick and different.

It is conceivable that bringing such an exotic book from its title, content to binding method to France and successfully publishing it was a challenge, but Li Wei did it.

"This book has been widely circulated." He said happily, "Because it's beautifully made and colored, people will give it to each other as a gift." ”

Li Wei admits that the book didn't make a lot of money numerically because the book itself was very expensive. In a bookstore, such a book sells for close to 50 euros, which is not the price that French people spend on their daily book purchases. "But it doesn't matter... Those who want to buy the book, they don't care about the price. ”

Perception: Let images cross the barriers of language

During the interview, Li Wei repeatedly emphasized the importance of "commodity form". "In publishing, the form of the commodity is the most important." He said, "If you want people to understand something from afar, it should first look good so that it can spread." Just like we have to look at the cover and back cover before buying a book. The form and packaging of a commodity must make people want it. ”

That's why he loves publishing art books and illustrated books. "In Dream of the Red Mansion, for example, people have difficulty understanding big, long stories, especially Chinese names that are difficult for the French to remember. They get lost as they read it. "And images can naturally cross language barriers. Li Wei cited as an example the Five Ox Drawings by Han Lu of the Tang Dynasty, the oldest surviving Chinese painting on paper. "This kind of work is really wonderful," he said, "without words, the power of images is enough."

Li Wei has published numerous books on Chinese themes, including "The 100-Year Struggle of the Communist Party of China" (pictured left). Photo courtesy of interviewee

In addition to art, he was also interested in history books. In 2021, he published the French edition of 100 Years of Struggle of the Communist Party of China, "an integral part of China's contemporary history," he said. "In the future, he also wants to publish historical photos of China." For example, photos about the Taiping Rebellion, and photos of old Beijing in the thirties of the last century... I want to publish photographic works that tell the story of China. ”

When it comes to the problem that contemporary people read less and less, Li Wei admitted that there are also some people in France who are addicted to electronic products and rarely read. "So we should make high-quality, personal, and recognized books." (Text/Qiu Tanuki)

Respondent Profile:

Alain Lévy is general manager of Bibliothèque de l'Image and general manager of Edition Charles Moreau. His published masterpieces include Sun Wen's illustrated version of "Dream of Red Mansions" and "100 Years of Struggle of the Communist Party of China" (French version) in the Qing Dynasty.