Several days ago, the news hit Chinese book lovers that Uchiyama Bookstore had returned to China and settled in Tianjin, on Jul 10, 2021. A multitude of distinguished guests attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches, including Zhou Lingfei (grandson of Lu Xun and secretary-general of Lu Xun Cultural Foundation), Guo Pingying (daughter of Guo Moruo, honorary president of Guo Moruo Research Society), Fumio Shimizu (ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Japanese Embassy in China), and Li Xuyan (vice minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Tianjin Committee and director of the Publishing Bureau). So, what is so legendary about this bookstore that it attracted so many important figures to its opening?
I believe that many people born in the 70s and 80s have read the text "Encounter" in their student days, and that the story of Lu Xun and Uchiyama Bookstore has left a deep impression on them. Uchiyama Kanzo was a close friend of Lu Xun and lived a legendary life.
Uchiyama Kanzo was born in 1885, a native of Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As a child, he was naughty and never liked school, and dropped out of school in year four. He joined the workforce when he was 12 as an apprentice in various shops in Osaka, Kyoto, and other places. After that, he worked as a worker, butler, deliveryman and in other occupations, and accumulated rich experience in the "University of Life."
Later, Uchiyama Kanzo met Pastor Makino Toruji, and under his influence, Uchiyama was baptized and became a Christian. Uchiyama had been an unscrupulous businessman who would deceive customers, but after accepting Christianity and with the guidance of Makino, he stopped his illegal activities and even started considering becoming a preacher.
Through the matchmaking of Pastor Makino, Uchiyama married Mikiko Inoue, and they came together to Shanghai, China. Uchiyama first worked in a pharmacy, before he and his wife opened the Uchiyama Bookstore in Weishengli, North Sichuan Road, Hongkou District (now No. 1881 North Sichuan Road) in 1917, and in 1929, they moved the bookstore to No.11 Shigaota Road at the bottom of North Sichuan Road (now Shanyin Road).
Due to the Christian faith of the shop owners, Uchiyama Bookstore sold mainly Christian books, and later extended to books on medicine and social sciences (including many books by Marx and Engels). According to Lu Xun's diaries, he first visited Uchiyama Bookstore on Oct 3, 1927, where he spent ten yuan and two jiao to buy four books. Since then, Lu Xun became a frequent visitor to the bookstore, totaling more than 500 visits before he died. Uchiyama and Lu Xun hit it off and soon became close friends.
At that time, the Chiang Kai-shek government persecuted Lu Xun and other left-wing writers. Not only were their books banned, even their lives were being threatened. Uchiyama Bookstore became the best place to sell Lu Xun’s and other "progressive intellectuals'" books because Kuomintang agents did not dare to confiscate property from this bookstore owned by Japanese. The article “Encounter”, which was included in some Chinese textbooks, describes this legendary history. In addition, Uchiyama Bookstore acted as a shelter for the leftists, including Tao Xingzhi and Guo Moruo.
Unsurprisingly, Uchiyama’s actions irritated certain forces. Rumors describing him as a "Japanese spy" began to circulate, and some We-medias nowadays, either being undiscerning or out of certain purposes, have been promulgating the claim that Uchiyama was a spy.
Nevertheless, as a Japanese in China, Uchiyama could hardly act beyond the historical environment, and he did do things unacceptable to Chinese people, against his will. For example, during the "January 28 Incident” (Anti-Japanese battle of Shanghai), Uchiyama Bookstore cooked meals for the Japanese invading soldiers; after the fall of Shanghai, Uchiyama attempted to introduce Lu Xun’s wife, Xu Guangping, to joining a treacherous cultural organization. According to Lu Xun's descendants, these things were not intentional but done with no other choice (see Lu Xun’s son Zhou Haiying’s article, "The Friendship between Uchiyama Kanzo and Lu Xun").
At the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan, Uchiyama returned to Japan but was soon arrested by the Secret Service Department in Kyoto, for his articles that were friendly to China. Later, he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo again for hiding Chinese and Japanese "progressive people" in his bookstore.
Yet both of these imprisonment experiences were more threatening than dangerous, and he returned to China in 1938. In Shanghai, he still held an anti-war stance and therefore became a frequent “guest” of the Japanese military.
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Uchiyama Bookstore was entirely confiscated by the Kuomintang government as part of the assets of the enemy and puppet government, and Uchiyama was also sent back to Japan. During the Japanese invasion of China, Uchiyama Kanzo had committed wrongful acts, either deliberately or unintentionally. Under the influence of his Christian faith, he came into deep repentance in his later years and decided to devote the rest of his life to the promotion of Chinese-Japanese friendship.
In 1950, Uchiyama Kanzo founded the first Japan-China Friendship Association. In 1954, he participated in the reception of the PRC’s first visiting delegation to Japan. On Nov 19, 1956, Uchiyama visited the Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Shanghai and left a dedication: "As a friend of the great Mr. Lu Xun, I am the most honored person in this world."
In 1959, he visited China as the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Association, but sadly died in Beijing due to cerebral hemorrhage. According to his will, the remains of Uchiyama were buried in Shanghai Wanguo Cemetery.
The original site of the Uchiyama Bookstore was listed as a municipal cultural relics protection site by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government in 1981. In 2019, Uchiyama's descendants visited Tianjin, hoping that the bookstore could return to China. And finally this July, the 104-year-old bookstore returned to her home country.
Note: This article is written by a special contributor / freelance writer. The author is a Christian in Xiamen. The opinions in the article represent the author's position and are for readers' reference. The Gospel Times remains neutral. Readers are welcome to leave comments!
- Translated by Grace Song
前几天，国内读书圈出现了一件事，2021年7月10日，内山书店回归中国，落户天津。鲁迅之孙、鲁迅文化基金会秘书长周令飞，郭沫若之女、中国郭沫若研究会名誉会长郭平英，日本国驻华大使馆特命全权公使志水史雄，天津市委宣传部副部长、出版局局长李旭炎等嘉宾到场并致辞。那么这家书店有何传奇？吸引了这些人物来为其捧场呢？
相信不少70、80后的人，在学生时代都读过《一面》这篇课文，对鲁迅与内山书店的故事印象深刻。而这家书店的主人叫内山完造，是鲁迅的挚友，其一生充满了传奇。
内山完造生于1885年，是日本冈山县人。从小是个熊孩子，不爱读书，小学四年级就辍学了。他在12岁时就踏入社会，到大阪、京都等地的商店当学徒，此后有相继从事了工人、管家、投递员等等职业，在“社会大学”中积累了丰厚经验。
内山完造结识了牧野虎次牧师，在他的影响下，受洗成为基督徒。内山原是个不法商人，经常坑骗消费者，但接受基督信仰后，在牧野循循善诱下，不再干这些违法勾当，甚至有了当传道人的想法。
在牧野牧师的介绍下，内山完造与井上美喜子结婚，并一起来到中国上海。内山先是在药房工作，后夫妻俩于1917年在虹口北四川路魏盛里（现四川北路1881弄）开设了内山书店，并于1929年迁至北四川路底施高塔路（今山阴路）11号。
出于店主人虔诚的信仰，内山书店主要以经营基督宗教书籍为主，后又拓展到医学以及社科等类书籍（其中包括不少马恩著作）。根据《鲁迅日记》，他最早光顾内山书店是在1927年10月3日，当时花费了十元二角，买了四本书。此后鲁迅成为书店的常客，到他去世前，一共去了500多次。内山与鲁迅一见如故，很快就成为了挚友。
当时蒋介石政府迫害鲁迅等左翼作家，他们的书籍成了禁书，个人生命也遭到威胁。而内山书店因为是日本人开的，国民党特务不敢查抄，于是这里就成了鲁迅以及其他“进步人士”代销书籍的最佳场所。《一面》这篇课文就描述了这段传奇历史。此外内山书店也是左翼人士的避难所，除了鲁迅之外，陶行知、郭沫若等人也都在此躲避追捕。
他的举动自然引起了某些势力的不满，关于他是“日本间谍”的谣传开始流传，而当代某些自媒体不察，或出于其他目的，就极力渲染内山完造是间谍的说法。
不过他作为在华日本人，很难超越历史的大环境，也违心地做过一些让国人无法接受的事。比如在“一二八”淞沪抗战时，内山书店就为侵华日军烧饭；而上海沦陷后，曾介绍许广平加入一个文化汉奸组织。当然根据鲁迅后人的说法，这些事情都是出于无奈，并非其有意为之（见周海婴《内山完造与鲁迅的友谊》一文）。
抗战爆发初期，内山完造曾回到日本，但很快就被京都的特务课逮捕，原因是他写过对华友好的文章。此后又在东京被警视厅逮捕，因其在书店窝藏了中日“进步人士”。
但这两次入狱都有惊无险，他在1938年又回到了中国。他在上海仍持反战立场，因而没少到日本军部的“做客”。
1945年日本投降后，内山书店被国民政府以敌伪资产被没收，而他也被遣送回国。在日本侵华期间，内山完造有意无意地做了一些不法的事，在信仰的作用下，他在晚年陷入深深的忏悔。决定把余生都投入到中日友好事业中。
内山完造与1950年创建了日中友好协会。1954年参加接待新中国第一个访日代表团。1956年11月19日，到上海鲁迅纪念馆参观并题词：“以伟大的鲁迅先生为友人的我是世界上最光荣的人。”
1959年，他以日中友好协会副会长身份来华访问，但不幸因脑溢血病逝于北京。根据他生前遗愿，内山完造遗骨安葬于上海万国公墓。
内山书店旧址，在1981年被上海市人民政府颁布为市级文物保护单位。而在2019年内山完造的后人访问天津，希望书店能够回归中国，终于在今年七月这家有着104年历史的老书店，再次回到了她的故乡。
注：本文为特约/自由撰稿人文章，作者系厦门一名基督徒，文中观点代表作者立场，供读者参考，福音时报保持中立。欢迎各位读者留言评论交流！
百年历史的内山书店回归中国，讲述她的传奇往事
Several days ago, the news hit Chinese book lovers that Uchiyama Bookstore had returned to China and settled in Tianjin, on Jul 10, 2021. A multitude of distinguished guests attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches, including Zhou Lingfei (grandson of Lu Xun and secretary-general of Lu Xun Cultural Foundation), Guo Pingying (daughter of Guo Moruo, honorary president of Guo Moruo Research Society), Fumio Shimizu (ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Japanese Embassy in China), and Li Xuyan (vice minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Tianjin Committee and director of the Publishing Bureau). So, what is so legendary about this bookstore that it attracted so many important figures to its opening?
I believe that many people born in the 70s and 80s have read the text "Encounter" in their student days, and that the story of Lu Xun and Uchiyama Bookstore has left a deep impression on them. Uchiyama Kanzo was a close friend of Lu Xun and lived a legendary life.
Uchiyama Kanzo was born in 1885, a native of Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As a child, he was naughty and never liked school, and dropped out of school in year four. He joined the workforce when he was 12 as an apprentice in various shops in Osaka, Kyoto, and other places. After that, he worked as a worker, butler, deliveryman and in other occupations, and accumulated rich experience in the "University of Life."
Later, Uchiyama Kanzo met Pastor Makino Toruji, and under his influence, Uchiyama was baptized and became a Christian. Uchiyama had been an unscrupulous businessman who would deceive customers, but after accepting Christianity and with the guidance of Makino, he stopped his illegal activities and even started considering becoming a preacher.
Through the matchmaking of Pastor Makino, Uchiyama married Mikiko Inoue, and they came together to Shanghai, China. Uchiyama first worked in a pharmacy, before he and his wife opened the Uchiyama Bookstore in Weishengli, North Sichuan Road, Hongkou District (now No. 1881 North Sichuan Road) in 1917, and in 1929, they moved the bookstore to No.11 Shigaota Road at the bottom of North Sichuan Road (now Shanyin Road).
Due to the Christian faith of the shop owners, Uchiyama Bookstore sold mainly Christian books, and later extended to books on medicine and social sciences (including many books by Marx and Engels). According to Lu Xun's diaries, he first visited Uchiyama Bookstore on Oct 3, 1927, where he spent ten yuan and two jiao to buy four books. Since then, Lu Xun became a frequent visitor to the bookstore, totaling more than 500 visits before he died. Uchiyama and Lu Xun hit it off and soon became close friends.
At that time, the Chiang Kai-shek government persecuted Lu Xun and other left-wing writers. Not only were their books banned, even their lives were being threatened. Uchiyama Bookstore became the best place to sell Lu Xun’s and other "progressive intellectuals'" books because Kuomintang agents did not dare to confiscate property from this bookstore owned by Japanese. The article “Encounter”, which was included in some Chinese textbooks, describes this legendary history. In addition, Uchiyama Bookstore acted as a shelter for the leftists, including Tao Xingzhi and Guo Moruo.
Unsurprisingly, Uchiyama’s actions irritated certain forces. Rumors describing him as a "Japanese spy" began to circulate, and some We-medias nowadays, either being undiscerning or out of certain purposes, have been promulgating the claim that Uchiyama was a spy.
Nevertheless, as a Japanese in China, Uchiyama could hardly act beyond the historical environment, and he did do things unacceptable to Chinese people, against his will. For example, during the "January 28 Incident” (Anti-Japanese battle of Shanghai), Uchiyama Bookstore cooked meals for the Japanese invading soldiers; after the fall of Shanghai, Uchiyama attempted to introduce Lu Xun’s wife, Xu Guangping, to joining a treacherous cultural organization. According to Lu Xun's descendants, these things were not intentional but done with no other choice (see Lu Xun’s son Zhou Haiying’s article, "The Friendship between Uchiyama Kanzo and Lu Xun").
At the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan, Uchiyama returned to Japan but was soon arrested by the Secret Service Department in Kyoto, for his articles that were friendly to China. Later, he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo again for hiding Chinese and Japanese "progressive people" in his bookstore.
Yet both of these imprisonment experiences were more threatening than dangerous, and he returned to China in 1938. In Shanghai, he still held an anti-war stance and therefore became a frequent “guest” of the Japanese military.
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Uchiyama Bookstore was entirely confiscated by the Kuomintang government as part of the assets of the enemy and puppet government, and Uchiyama was also sent back to Japan. During the Japanese invasion of China, Uchiyama Kanzo had committed wrongful acts, either deliberately or unintentionally. Under the influence of his Christian faith, he came into deep repentance in his later years and decided to devote the rest of his life to the promotion of Chinese-Japanese friendship.
In 1950, Uchiyama Kanzo founded the first Japan-China Friendship Association. In 1954, he participated in the reception of the PRC’s first visiting delegation to Japan. On Nov 19, 1956, Uchiyama visited the Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Shanghai and left a dedication: "As a friend of the great Mr. Lu Xun, I am the most honored person in this world."
In 1959, he visited China as the vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Association, but sadly died in Beijing due to cerebral hemorrhage. According to his will, the remains of Uchiyama were buried in Shanghai Wanguo Cemetery.
The original site of the Uchiyama Bookstore was listed as a municipal cultural relics protection site by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government in 1981. In 2019, Uchiyama's descendants visited Tianjin, hoping that the bookstore could return to China. And finally this July, the 104-year-old bookstore returned to her home country.
Note: This article is written by a special contributor / freelance writer. The author is a Christian in Xiamen. The opinions in the article represent the author's position and are for readers' reference. The Gospel Times remains neutral. Readers are welcome to leave comments!
- Translated by Grace Song
Famous 'Uchiyama Bookstore' Returns to China
