Month: July 2024

Internal Book

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In the past, book publishing censorship was very strict, but it was still necessary to study foreign knowledge, or use it as critical material. As a result, there were special “internal books” for sale, which only officials or scholars could buy and read. The purpose was to control the publication and circulation of these books.

These internal books usually had words like “Internal distribution, for research only” or “Internal reading material” on them. They required a letter of introduction and a special book purchase certificate, and were purchased at Xinhua Bookstore and registered. The covers of these internal books were special. Yellow covers were for literary content, and gray covers were for political content.

However, during the Cultural Revolution, internal books encountered difficulties. First, because the relevant distribution personnel were convicted of “engaging in revisionism”, the distribution organization was still paralyzed. As a result, the visiting delegation of the “Japan-China Friendship Association” could not see 《Tanaka Kakuei Den》 (Biography of Kakuei Tanaka). Then, some officials’ homes were raided, university libraries were stolen, and grassroots bookstores sold them without authorization, which led to internal books beginning to flow into society.

This had a complex impact on the ideological transformation after the Cultural Revolution. For example, the materials originally used to criticize “Soviet revisionism” made people aware of the similar drawbacks of China and the Soviet Union, guided people to reflect on the Cultural Revolution and the social system, and played a lubricating role in social reform.

Addendum 1: In 1974, Xu Ben, who worked in an electronic instrument factory, read the internally distributed Soviet novel 《The Snowy Winter》. However, he was discovered by Secretary Pan of the superior level, and Xu Ben lost his job. This shows that holding “internal books” without permission was usually not a serious crime, but could be punished.

Addendum 2: Internal books still existed at least in 2010, so some people would use words such as “internal reference” and “reference” as a gimmick to sell books. Therefore, the General Administration of Press and Publication required that the publication of internal books must have a 《Permit for Internal Informational Publications》, and if the rules were violated and distributed to the public, the 《Permit》 would be revoked. This is somewhat similar to the special action notice in 2020 to prohibit “specially supplied” and “exclusively supplied” labeled commodities.

Source, can go to ggame view.

Reference Material Film

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Films that are not publicly screened, not publicly promoted, and only provided to a small number of high-ranking officials (and their families) are called “Reference Material Films”. As the name suggests, they are films for internal reference only. A few “Reference Material Films” are open to people in the arts for study.

“Reference Material Films” are specifically divided into imported films, dubbed films, and “transit films”. The difference between imported films and dubbed films is small; it’s just that imported films usually don’t have translations and require real-time interpretation, so the audience is very small. Transit films are film reels that are borrowed without being purchased and are returned after being watched. Usually, they are escorted by special personnel, but the confidentiality work doesn’t seem good enough, so film workers can watch the films.

Ji Pomin, the eldest son of Ji DengKui (former Executive Vice Premier of the State Council), mentioned in the Oriental Outlook Weekly that the films were borrowed from foreign embassies through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel translated them live for the audience. In addition to officials, there were also family members in the audience, including Deng XiaoPing’s family.

During the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing planned to use films to popularize model operas. Jiang Qing summoned Li Wenhua, the cinematographer of the film Early Spring in February, and many film workers, and said to them:

I believe you will definitely be able to make good films. Before filming, I will personally take you to see some American films; we will not learn the content and ideology of these American films; we will mainly learn its techniques and technologies, such as styling, lighting, mise-en-scène, and scenes, for our proletarian films. We must also accumulate some strength and use the good techniques of others for our own purposes.

For sources, please visit ggame to view.

Xinhua News Agency’s “Internal Reference” Publications

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Xinhua News Agency’s former publications such as “Reference News” and “Internal Reference” would publish party and government information that other media were not allowed to report, and were only available for subscription by officials of a certain level.

“Internal Reference” has a high level of confidentiality, classified as “secret”, which may be why each issue has a (unique) number on the masthead that can be used for tracking. The main content is major domestic events, such as after the implementation of the unified purchase and sale in November 1953, the “Situation of Unified Purchase and Sale of Grain in Various Regions of the Country” was published on December 3, introducing the implementation in various regions.

“Reference News” was later gradually allowed to be subscribed to by college students, workers, and everyone, and the content review gradually aligned with ordinary newspapers and periodicals, so it is no longer considered to have reference value.

There are rumors that some old publications will be recycled and then destroyed. Perhaps that’s why it’s difficult to see these internal reference publications.

Source: You can go to ggame to view.

The Censorship of Express Delivery Games

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On July 8, 2019, someone was asked by a courier to pay a 5 yuan inspection fee for the disc and USB when sending a Switch game cartridge by express delivery. After communicating with online customer service, the person involved learned that this was not in compliance with regulations, and therefore believed that the courier was making illegal profits.

On January 4, 2020, an NGA user stated that several courier shops did not accept PS4 game discs, and the courier shop required the user to obtain a certificate from the Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Television. However, changing to SF Express allowed normal delivery. The location was a small county in Sichuan.

On September 7, 2021, the Baidu PS4 forum discussed the possibility that game discs might be difficult to mail:

  • Merchants have registered, so they can send discs, USB flash drives, storage cards and other storage devices by express delivery.
  • SF Express can send these items, but the person must take a photo with their ID card and sign to ensure that the content of the disc is not illegal.
  • STO Express, YTO Express and ZTO Express are more likely to refuse to mail these items.
  • Beijing and Shanghai are more strict.
  • The strictest situation is that even a “translation pen” cannot be mailed because it contains storage function.
  • China Post does not seem to refuse to mail storage devices.

On July 19, 2024, a Baidu Tieba user stated that ZTO Express refused to send PS5 game discs. The reason was that discs were not allowed to be sent, and foreign ones were even more unacceptable.

Book situation: Possibly around June 2009, someone discovered that SF Express from Hong Kong to the mainland no longer accepted book packages, and SF Express from Taiwan to the mainland began to limit book packages to 2 kilograms.

On January 13, 2019, Leung Man-tao stated that his express delivery from Taiwan to Hong Kong was inspected by SF Express, and three books were rejected. They were: 《Rolling out of China》, 《The Great Debate》 and 《A History of Thought》. Leung Man-tao said that he understood the rejection of the first book, but the other books should be fine, such as 《The Great Debate》, which had previously been published in simplified Chinese in mainland China as 《大争论》, and the content was mainly related to the French Revolution.

Unknown time, someone planned to send a magazine published in Taiwan called 《思想》through a mainland express delivery service. Then the express delivery staff said that they needed to ask the company, and then said that it could not be mailed.

In July 2024, a Sina Weibo user planned to send some books from Hong Kong to the mainland using Hong Kong SF Express, but two books were returned. The cover of one book wrote “Triggered a revolution in the calligraphy world”, and was told that the word “revolution” was too sensitive. The user asked: “This book is about the revolution in the calligraphy world of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, what is sensitive about it?” The reply was: “Yes, but you can’t have a revolution here no matter what dynasty.”

Another book was 《Mingyi Daifang Lu》, because the introduction on the cover had “a profound impact on the Xinhai Revolution”. Later, the user put it in his luggage and carried it directly back to the mainland.

Source: You can visit ggame to view.

The Risks of Microwaving Plastic Containers

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Microwave-safe plastic containers with vented tops were once popular. These plastic boxes often use polypropylene (PP), mainly because PP does not require the addition of Bisphenol A (BPA) plasticizers. The reason is that BPA has estrogenic effects and is harmful to humans, especially infants and young children.

However, relevant regulations only have strict requirements for BPA. Other endocrine disruptors (for example) still exist in these plastics and will transfer to food as long as they are microwaved. Chun Z. Yang studied a large number of plastic containers at the time in a 2011 study and found that most of them released estrogen. (In addition, there is a risk of microplastics)

For the time being, no risks have been found with ceramic and glass containers. It’s just that glass containers that are not marked as “microwave safe” may break due to being unable to withstand high temperatures.

Cow Brushes

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Imagine having to walk on all fours your entire life. You have an itch on your back you can’t scratch, until these furry things exist. Must be such a relief to get scratched.

That’s the top comment of this cow brush video. It’s slightly incorrect though, because cows can scratch themselves against trees and bushes. But these automatic mechanical cow brushes are obviously more efficient and make the cows happier.

Dairy farmers may not necessarily be happy though, because a set of automatic mechanical cow brushes costs around $1000, which is not a device that can be easily provided to cows. Fortunately, a win-win method has been found.

Research has found that this increases milk production and reduces the incidence of mastitis. Although it is temporarily impossible to fully recover the cost, as long as the cost decreases and consumers support it, it can still be promoted.