This Institute | No genuine bestseller can escape Loudi, Hunan

A couple of days ago, I wanted to buy a set of “The Complete Works of Lu Xun”, so I opened Pinduoduo to take a look. I used to buy books on Dangdang. Later, it was too slow to buy books on Dangdang, so I switched to JD. But JD felt very expensive. Under the urging of a friend from JD, I used Pinduoduo. The friend from JD said that Pinduoduo is now offering preferential prices and is also very friendly to customers. It’s much better than JD. I believe that his recommendation is based on a simple friendship and a good user experience with Pinduoduo. This makes it impossible to refuse. I searched on Pinduoduo and found that the whole set of 18 books cost 180 yuan. This is really affordable. Of course, I didn’t compare prices on Dangdang and JD, and I don’t know the prices on other platforms. I thought this price might be on sale, but I didn’t expect it to be a pirated version. I placed an order for a set, and after a few days, I received the delivery, but I only received 4 books. I was wondering why there were so many missing. When I opened it and looked, I found that there was ink printed on the paper. It was then that I realized that I had bought a pirated version. I quickly asked the customer service: I received the book, why is it a pirated version? The customer service replied quickly, she said, what do you think of the quality? I felt like she was showing off, look, the quality of our pirated version, isn’t it amazing? I said, let’s not talk about the quality first, you are a pirated version, you should have told me in advance. She immediately sent a link for a refund. It seems that this is a set of processing procedures for them. I complained to my friend, and my friend said, then if you mind that it is a pirated version, just “refund without returning the goods”. Give them a lesson. Only then did I understand that they sent me four books first, just to be afraid that customers would refund without returning the goods, so that they could reduce some losses. My friend asked me confidently, did it ship from Loudi, Hunan? I opened my phone and saw that it was indeed the case.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍I asked, why do you know it was shipped from Loudi, Hunan?
He said, everyone in the publishing industry knows that Loudi, Hunan, is the national printing center. Many out-of-print books or banned books, or academic books from Hong Kong and Taiwan, can’t be found elsewhere, and Loudi is likely to have them for sale. I said, have you bought a pirated version from Loudi?‍‍‍He said, last time I bought a decryption of Chiang Ching-kuo’s diary. I didn’t look closely to see if it was a flagship store, anyway, it was very cheap. As soon as the merchant shipped it, the shipping address was Loudi, Hunan, and I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. I said, do you still mind that it’s a pirated version?‍‍He said, it depends on how you look at it. In a way, Loudi, Hunan, is like the Netherlands in the Middle Ages in Europe. Books that are not allowed to be published elsewhere, Loudi can get them for you. Loudi, far from the political and cultural center, has suddenly become a high ground for publishing freedom in the country. Thinking of this, I felt relieved, and I didn’t feel uneasy anymore. After saying that, he gave a sly smile and hid his merits and fame. I really didn’t expect that an unremarkable prefecture-level city would have such a symbolic meaning. Maybe if I were to write a history of contemporary publishing in the future, Loudi would definitely have a place. Second, just like Kong Yiji said, is stealing books considered stealing? Pirated versions, in the eyes of some Loudi customer service, are not pirated versions. Instead, they are original prints, original printing, high-definition versions…. If you are not good at Chinese, you will definitely fall into their language trap. This is the language wisdom of the people of Loudi. Of course, most customers understand, after all, they are all adults, life is not easy, and they have to give each other enough face and respect.‍

When some customers are straightforward and rashly ask, “So it’s not the genuine version?” the customer service will also act coquettishly and say, understand the literal meaning yourself. It’s like a cute girl, hinting at her feelings to you, and when asked what she means, she shyly covers her face with her hands and says, I’m embarrassed, you figure it out yourself. Of course, after a long illness, the customer also gained experience. When they asked if it was shipped from Loudi, they knew it was a pirated version.After being exposed, the customer service is also full of confidence, with the feeling of “if you don’t choose me, you have no vision”. This confidence is well-founded. Just like the fake shoes from Putian, the pirated books from Loudi, their quality has even surpassed the genuine books.Pirated books are even sewn with flat binding. Generally, only hardcover books will be sewn, but the pirated books from Loudi have completely subverted this practice. They have changed the rough image of pirated books and made other pirated books feel ashamed in front of Loudi’s pirated versions. It can be said that Loudi, with its own strength, has raised the standard of pirated books in the industry. From then on, pirated books can compete with genuine books. So the question is, why are high-quality pirated books all from Loudi? Not only me, but everyone has this question:Yes, why Loudi? Why not Lou Ye or Xiaolangdi? Third, after searching for information, I finally found the answer. Loudi, Hunan, a prefecture-level city far from Changsha. On the map, if you don’t zoom in, it’s easy to ignore its existence. In the past news, it has appeared many times. For example, someone in Loudi used PS to create some indecent photos and blackmailed local cadres, and a Loudi fake certificate den was shut down… If you pay a little attention, most of the bosses and employees of the printing shops across the country come from Xinhua, Loudi, Hunan. More than 200,000 people from Loudi run printing shops, and their business network covers the whole country. The history of the Loudi photocopying industry can be traced back to 1960. From then on, the Loudi photocopying industry has gone through the stages of repairing mechanical typewriters – repairing photocopying machines – selling used photocopying machines – opening photocopying shops and explosive development – manufacturing photocopying equipment. The evolution and development of each stage are inseparable from the huge market demand, the impulse of interests, and the hard work, daring to be the first of the people of Loudi. Now the Loudi piracy industry may be a new stage for the Loudi photocopying industry.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍In 1960, in Xinhua, Loudi, Hunan, there were two brothers, Yi Daixing and Yi Daiyu. In order to make a living, they moved around the country to repair steel plates. Later, they started to repair mechanical typewriters. The opportunity to repair mechanical typewriters was won by themselves. At that time, they were repairing steel plates at the People’s Bank of Fuling, Sichuan, and found that the printer in the office didn’t print the files neatly. He saw that a part was misaligned. While the staff was not paying attention, he tried it himself, and sure enough, that was the problem. He told the staff that we also repair printers, and we can help you fix it. After the staff agreed, he took the tools and poked and poked, just showing the staff the brush gun. Then he moved the part, and it was fixed. From then on, the two brothers added a new typewriter business. They repaired and learned in various units. They also bought broken printers and disassembled and assembled them repeatedly, and finally understood everything. In 1970, the apprentices of these two brothers passed on this skill to Zou Lianjing, a native of Xinhua. Zou Lianjing has carried forward the technology of repairing typewriters.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Zou Lianjing could repair pens, locks, flashlights, and sewing machines, and he moved around Xinhua County and the surrounding areas for repairs. After learning this skill, he repaired typewriters all over the country. Without a formal identity, he was often arrested and put in detention centers. Later, he also carved fake seals, opened fake letters of introduction, and pretended to be a public official, but he was often exposed and had to be arrested once a year. After being sent back, he continued to move around. The leaders of Xinhua County thought that Zou Lianjing’s skills were good. In 1979, they established the Xinhua County Typewriter Repair Factory, and Zou Lianjing became the business director. Since then, Xinhua County has started the industrialization of the printing industry. By 1990, the number of people in the industrial chain had reached 5,000. Of course, the era of the people of Loudi, Hunan, in the field of printing has not yet arrived.‍‍The times are changing. In the mid-1990s, mechanical typewriters were eliminated, and they began to move around to repair photocopying machines. The hard work of the people of Loudi has also made their repair technology constantly iterate.‍‍‍Long Sanyuan, Yang Guisong, and Zeng Qidong were the first to repair photocopying machines in Xinhua County. Long Sanyuan was very young at the time, and he accidentally met an engineer from Hanguang Photocopying Machine Factory and studied photocopying machine repair technology with him. Hanguang Photocopying Machine Factory is located in Handan, Hebei, and it is the birthplace of China’s first photocopying machine. The geographical community of Chinese rural society has made these technologies spread at an incredible speed. This characteristic is also reflected in other parts of the country. For example, Anhui has a begging village, where the locals went to big cities and accidentally found that begging was quite profitable. Begging quickly flourished in the local area. Some villages have all the villagers going out to beg. Some are villages that collect waste. In short, after a person makes money, this industry or technology will spread at an incredible speed, thereby driving the whole village to enter this field.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Long Sanyuan later went to Tibet to repair photocopying machines. He received full attention, and all the units drove to pick him up to repair, and they also provided cigarettes and alcohol, and the leaders accompanied him for meals. His honor and dignity were greatly satisfied, which strongly drove him to continue learning new technologies. At this time, Yang Guisong and Zeng Qidong both started to repair photocopying machines in Guangzhou. In 1996, Liu Hongyu, a native of Xinhua, repaired a color photocopying machine for the first time in a state organ. At that time, a fellow villager took the job. After the repair, people asked, there is a big one, can you repair it, it’s a color photocopying machine, and it costs 180,000 US dollars. Liu Hongyu was not sure, but he agreed. After a while, he actually fixed it. The times are constantly changing, and the people of Loudi are constantly adapting to the new environment. Later, photocopying machines began to be guaranteed, and they started to open photocopying shops. Fourth, Zou Lianjing was one of the first to open a photocopying shop. It was in 1986 that Zou Lianjing started photocopying in Changsha, which opened the history of Xinhua photocopying shops. In Lhasa, Long Sanyuan also started photocopying and typing business. Photocopying shops are blooming all over the country, which is related to the influx of second-hand photocopying machines from Taiwan. It was 1992, and Zou Lianmin opened a typewriter repair shop in Qingyuan, Guangdong. He found photocopying machine parts in Longtang, and he asked if there were any photocopying machines here. The other party told him that there were some from Taiwan. With their introduction, he got in touch with the Taiwanese. Some Taiwanese did not discover the commercial value of second-hand photocopying machines. They disassembled and classified second-hand photocopying machines from the United States, Japan, and other countries for sale. Yang Guisong and Zeng Qidong started buying old photocopying machines from the Taiwanese. The Taiwanese found that the old photocopying machines did not need to be disassembled and were bought by the people of Xinhua, which was also convenient. They began to import a large number of old photocopying machines. The Taiwanese and the people of Xinhua formed a community of interests. After the people of Xinhua had sufficient funds, they no longer purchased goods from the Taiwanese, but went directly to Japan and the United States to purchase, and then shipped them to China. From then on, a complete second-hand photocopying machine industrial chain was established.
The photocopying shops of the people of Xinhua, Loudi, expanded on a large scale throughout the country. Around 2000, they had opened almost all over China.
With strong strength to support them, after 2003, the people of Xinhua began to manufacture office equipment. Zeng Wenhui did a good job in this area. Since 1993, Zeng Wenhui, who has been opening photocopying shops in Dehong, Yunnan, once spent 20,000 yuan to buy a lettering machine that had just been launched and made a lot of money. Therefore, he was very sensitive to new technologies and new equipment, and he developed a photo machine with photo and drawing functions. This was the first in China, and it is now exported to more than 40 countries. Later, some people also started to manufacture office equipment, first assembling and then producing.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Many practitioners in the photocopying industry have experienced step-by-step development. For example, Zeng Wenhui. He has repaired typewriters, opened photocopying shops, repaired photocopying machines, sold second-hand photocopying machines, and now manufactures photo machines. Xinhua, Loudi, is a traditional Chinese rural society, where blood ties, geographical ties, and kinship are intertwined. Every printing technology will spread rapidly in this specific field. And now, they have strong strength, technical accumulation, equipment updates, and the pioneering spirit of daring to think and dare to do, the desire to learn hard, and the impulse of interests. It is not surprising that some people have started to make pirated books. The pirated books from Loudi are now popular all over the country. Of course, there is an important reason, which is that there is market demand. Yu Hua should be one of the most pirated writers. He never fights against piracy. He said that our social reality is like this. It mainly has such a poor consumer group, and they also want to read, so they buy a few cheap pirated books, and they may only be able to buy the cheapest ones. Such a writer really has a vision. A couple of days ago, I asked a writer friend, how do you view piracy, and he said, “Piracy is the highest affirmation of a writer. If a writer is not pirated, it means that you don’t have many readers.” In this way, Loudi piracy has also become a barometer of whether books are selling well.‍‍‍‍I asked him what his goals were for the new year, and he said seriously, write a book and strive to be pirated by Loudi. Reference materials: Feng Junqi’s “The Life History of Xinhua Photocopying Industry” For loss of contact or communication, please add WeChat: