Profile

ZHU Jinchuan, an EMBA alumni of Tongji University, is now Chairman of Shanghai Wenbai Cultural Communication Co., LTD.

Nearly 20 years’ professional foreign trade working experience, professional high-end beauty salon operation experience, holding the GIA diamond grading certificate, taking EMBA programme of Tongji University, experience of leading 33 share investors winning a misrepresentation case of a listed company, achieving the classic case of minority shareholder rights protection, becoming the first domestic batch of “offline stagging” individual investors, serving as the chairman of a culture company, for many years regularly leading volunteers to service for senior citizens in welfare house…Zhu Jinhuan, a CPPCC member of Huangpu District Shanghai, as a buzzword says, is a “slash youth” .  

Why Not Sing the Whistle and Walk Slow

In 2016, a well-known culture lecture brand of Shanghai-“Oriental Forum” joined hands with Tongji SEM and Shanghai Wenbai Cultural Communication Company, inviting 12 authors of the Series of Chinese History into Tongji campus, sharing the grand process of Chinese history with Tongji teachers and students, alumni and the Shanghai residents in a comprehensible way showing the unique charm of Chinese civilization. The theoretical edition of Liberation Daily published the contents of the lecture successively, and published in the WeChat official accounts of “Shanghai Observation”, which attracted great attention.

Cultural commonweal project has been one of the directions of Zhu Jinchuan’s enterprise. When talking about the series lectures of “Thoughts Light up Future” devised by his culture company, Zhu was very proud: “Our activity goes into 16 century-old high schools in Shanghai, which is unprecedented. Culture masters step into high school classes for students’ benefits, which is unfrequent but welcome in schools…Direct audience in all schools is close to 10,000, coupled with new media transmission via lecture videos, lecture record and broadcast by Talk on the sea programme of ERC News Station, lecture transcript excerpts published by Liberation Daily, and forwarding by well-known official accounts such as “Teachers Expo” and ” Shanghai Observation”, I believe that the influence of this activity has gone far beyond the high school campus through secondary and tertiary spread…” Once a friend who knows that he likes traditional culture forwarded him a lecture on Chinese culture made by the great master Bao Pengshan from “Lecture Room” for  his “learning”, Zhu told his friend “I organized the activity.”, which made his friend surprised while happy on him.

How to come up with stepping into high schools? How does the company make profit? Zhu Jinchuan quoted an ancient Chinese poet Su Shi’s poem Calming the Waves: “Why not sing the whistle and walk slow — taking the long view, I don’t think it is good to seek quick success and instant benefits when running a company, but take your time. On the one hand, I regard the cultural communication company as an extension of public welfare. After all, cultural communication is different from doing ordinary business, in which social benefits should be focused on. On the other hand, we are constantly developing other projects to ensure the sustainability of the company. But in terms of the lecture service for the young students, I don’t think profit should be the goal for it’s for students’ benefit, now that we have the capacity in contacting and organizing schools, and that getting the support of Publicity Department of Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Shanghai Social Association.”

In the opening ceremony of the activities, Yan Shuang, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Committee and Secretary of Party Committee and Full-time Vice Chairman of the Municipal Social Association, said that as a oriental platform of a famous brand programme, it invited 16 well-known experts of social science in Shanghai joining 16 century-old high schools, which is a beneficial trial and up to date exploration that will lead the students into the world of humanities and social science, feeling the power of thoughts. As reported, a strong team of experts participated in the series of 16 lectures, including but not limited to Ge Jianxiong, Xiong yuezhi, Zhao Changping, Shen Guoming, Su Zhiliang, Zhang Rulun, Bao Pengshan and Huang Yudeng, covering fields of philosophy, history, literature, economics, politics, education and folklore, etc…

XieChao, Full-time Vice Chairman of Shanghai Social Association said: “It is a beneficial move for the vast young students to have the good humanities and social science into century-old high schools, popularizing humanities and social science and delivering socialist core values.” The headmaster of Datong High School Sheng Yaping said: “These scholars are to lighten up the future path of life for the young students, moreover, they are to lighten up the future of our society through their thoughts. We high school students welcome and look forward to such lectures.” Zhu Jinchuan hopes that his company can organize such activities on a regular and sustainable basis, helping more teenagers to learn from social science and to broaden horizons.

Shall the Middle-aged Aim High

Zhu Jinchuan believes that culture is the ultimate foundation of everything. At the pioneering period of his company, he invited the administrator of Shanghai Literary and History Research Institute, the former Chief Editor of Shanghai People’s Publishing House, and the historian – Guo Zhikun as the editor in chief in consulting and scheming various cultural subjects.

When A Brief History of the Future blew up the reading circle, Zhu Jinchuan bought one at once and read eagerly. “The author, Yuval Noah Harari, tells us that ideology is presenting unprecedented power. He believes that with the gradual maturity of the development of science and technology that represented by big data and artificial intelligence, human beings will be faced with the biggest change since evolution to homo sapiens.” Referring to the view of the Israeli historian that human beings are to transformed “from homo sapiens to immortal”, Zhu said: “It is meaningful for a historian to become a futurologist. It cannot be clearer where to go unless we know where we come from.”

In January 2015, Series of China History (12 volumes) were published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House, having Li Xueqin and Guo Zhikun as the chief editors and Zhu Jinchuan participating in scheming and acting as executive producer. The series of books was funded by Shanghai Cultural Development Fund and Shanghai Literary and History Research Institute previously. In December 2015, it was selected in the first session of “List of National Recommendation of Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture Popularization Books” hosted by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). In February 2016, it won the first prize of the 14th Shanghai Book Award. Behind all of the honors is Zhu’s consideration on the historical education of teenagers.

During winter vacation in 2016, Zhu participated in scheming and organized a competition named ” Little History Talent”, instructed by Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Party Committee of Municipal Education Committee, Office of Municipal Language Committee and Office of Municipal Cyberspace Administration, and hosted by Shanghai Literary and History Research Institute and Yiban Net, having 210,000 primary and secondary students participation and more than 100,000 copies of valid testing paper. Main stream media including Xinhua Net, Dongfang Net, Xinmin Net, Oriental Education Times and Netease News reported that competition.

In August 2016, Confucius Story, the first book of the series of “Stories of the Ancient Chinese Philosophers” which was schemed and produced by Zhu’s company, edited by Shanghai Social Scientific Community League, and supported by Confucius Institute Headquarters and Shanghai Literary and History Research Institute was published by Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House. “The manuscripts of Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu, Mencius, Mo-tzu are to be completed this year. Our company integrate strength for these books, handing our youth the spiritual fortune of these ancient scholars of Chinese nation.”

“The poem of Li He said, ‘Shall the youth aim high’, I think in the era like nowadays,  ‘Shall middle-aged aim high’. It really delights me that I have done these things at this stage of my life that can benefit many people, can affect a group of them, and even affect their view of values.”

Behold the Mountain with Awe

Zhu Jinchuan said all that he did is inseparable with Chu Hsi, a scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. “It sometimes seems inconceivable that the ancient of  thousand years ago was my ancestor. Chu Hsi’ s knowledge affects the later generation so is his noble moral.” As the thirty-three generation of Chu Hsi, Zhu Jinchuan thought about what he could do for the people in his own capacity. “The Family Instruments of Zhu said: ‘ One must read, must learn etiquette, must teach children, must take care of servants, must respect gentlemen, must help people in adversity.’ The SIX MUST tell the essence of being human. All I do today, I can see the impact.”

As early as the end of 2011, Zhu proposed To Strengthen the Construction of Teenagers’ Learning Excellent Traditional Culture Project, published by the official website of Municipal Political Consultative Conference on January 21, 2012. This year, with the development of CCTV’s poetry conference, the enthusiasm for poetry lighted up in the whole society, and the learning of traditional culture became the hot spot. “That’s not my foresight. I always believe that the construction of traditional culture is indispensable to us. It is normal only when the society attention becoming ordinary state rather than hot spot.” At the same time, Zhu is actively involved in the planning and implementation of relevant projects in the city and district. Several articles on social conditions and public opinions like To Treasure Cultural Heritage and Repair the Big Four Academies were adopted by the Central Office of Agriculture and Industry. The article The Introduced Version of Series of Chinese History Seems Suspected of Willful Distortion was adopted by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, getting the attention of the central leadership, and SARFT leaders made a special trip to Shanghai for discussion.

Zhu constantly participates in public welfare activities. He has been scheming and organizing 10 to 15 entertainment performance to nursing homes every year with national first-rank or second-rank actors participation each time since 2009. He has donated in several activities of saving leukemia children, and begun to participate in the rescue of orphans with serious disease from 2011. From October 2012, Zhu leads volunteers to a love apartment in the outer suburbs to do haircut once a month for hundreds of disabled senior citizens. He also helped a disabled old teacher Li living in Huangpu District to take bath twice a month during 2013 to 2016, till the bath problem settled after Li recently moved to a new apartment… How could he have so much time to do all these things? “The family instrument does not specifically require public welfare activities — which is a modern concept — but the inner spirit is undoubtedly the same, namely ” To respect the old and love the young.”

To carry on the thousand-year-old family instruments, to shoulder something, to do something. In the whistle and slow progressing, Zhu Jinchuan looks forward to his new breakthrough.