Chinese Anarchism collection

by Jing Zhao

Since the great Chinese Democratic Movement in 1989 transformed me into an anarchist in Japan, I learnt more and more anarchism from Japanese and English resources. In 1992-95 when I worked in a company living under Fuji Maintain, I read Black Flag Front series in Numatsu Library. I was deeply moved when I realized that this great work was conducted by one Japanese anarchist in the 1920s, and I was delighted that Ba Jin had translated some of the material in this series into Chinese in the 1930s.

Unfortunately, in China, almost all books related to political thought, especially anarchism, were modified to fit the so-called Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. For example, Ba Jin’s Collected Works (published in 1993 by People’s Literature Press) did not include his “From Capitalism to Anarchism” (published in 1930 by Shanghai Liberty Press), and deleted the names of Chen Duxiu (Chinese Communist Party founder) and Emma Goldman (Ba Jin’s “spiritual mother”) in his “My Childhood.”

This make a Chinese anarchism collection edition important and urgent in this era of globalization. Since Confucians and Shima Qian, editing history has also made history in China.

All of these works are published in Chinese (and while some are translations, the collection includes much material not available in English, including information on the Soviet Union’s activities in China). Since 2008, the collection’s books have been published through lulu.com. They can also be downloaded for free from the US-Japan-China Comparative Policy Research Institute’s web site at http://cpri.tripod.com/. Following is a list of publications presently available:

A-1 Anarchists Vanzetti and Sacco, translated and written by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-16157-7

A-2 Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, by Berkman, translated by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-17172-9

A-3 The Chicago Anarchists, translated and written by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-24143-9

B-1: Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, by Godwin, translated by He Muli, edited by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 9780557327140

C-1 Chinese Anarchist Activities, edited by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-19209-0

F-1 What is Property, by Prodoun, translated by Sun Shubing.

G-1: The German Ideas Contributing to Anarchism, by Jing Zhao, ISBN: 9781257377718

J-1 Japanese Anarchism Material, translated and written by Ba Jin and Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-23538-4

R-1 Memoirs of a Revolutionary, by Kropotkin, translated by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-16157-7

R-2 The Conquest of Bread, by Kropotkin, translated by Ba Jin, edited by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-17173-6

R-3 Ethics, by Kropotkin, translated by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-17076-0

R-4 Russian Nihilist History, by Stepniak, translated by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-17077-7

R-5 Prison Memoirs of a Revolutionary, by Figner, translated by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-17175-0

R-6 State and Anarchy, by Bakunin, translated by Ma Rangcong.

R-7 Russian Revolutionary Pioneers, translated and written by Ba Jin. ISBN: 978-0-557-22345-9

R-8: The Unknown Russian Revolution, by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 9781458304117

S-1 The Anarchist Lesson from the Spanish Civil War, translated and written by Ba Jin and Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-17055-5

W-1 Anarchism: From Practice to Theory, by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-01635-8

W-2 State Forms and Social Order, by Jing Zhao. ISBN: 978-0-557-03086-6