Foreword and Regulations for the Publication of the *Xinmin Society Members’ Correspondence Collection*
(November 1920)

Most of the letters included in the first collection date back one or two years; however, they are of considerable importance to the Society, as many concern the conduct and development of group undertakings. Regarding the work-study movement in France,[1] this collection can only carry letters from Comrade Cai[2] to various society members. As for the letters from society members to Comrade Cai, it is hoped that Comrade Cai will send over the important ones for selection and printing.

The correspondence collection is published in order to unite the spirit of like-minded comrades and to discuss methods of pursuing learning, conducting oneself in life, and transforming the world. Publication is irregular; roughly one volume may appear every two months. While it is certainly proper to adopt an attitude of absolute openness regarding the personal integrity of comrades and the affairs of the Society, one should not engage in self-promotion. Hence, distribution of the correspondence collection is primarily limited to one copy per society member, with several dozen extra copies printed for interested comrades outside the Society to obtain. Because the Society is extremely poor, whether society members or non-members, all must contribute a small printing fee. For all letters within the collection that discuss problems, it is always hoped that after each volume is published, society members will offer further criticism and discussion, so that the correspondence collection may become a forum for society members, with each volume richer, more profound, and more advanced than the last. That would be excellent indeed.

[1] The work-study movement in France refers to the work-study program in France. It was proposed in 1912 by Li Shizeng, Wu Yuzhang, Wu Zhihui, and others, and received support from Cai Yuanpei, then Minister of Education of the Nanjing Provisional Government. In 1915, Cai Yuanpei, Wu Yuzhang, and others organized the Work-Study Society, whose aim was “diligent in work, frugal in study,” calling on young people to go to France to work and study part-time, and established the Sino-French Education Society to oversee the program. After the October Revolution in Russia, influenced by progressive currents of thought worldwide, many young people in China went to France for work and study, thus forming a movement. After 1919, communist intellectuals represented by Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and others actively promoted and led this movement, bringing it to an unprecedented scale.

[2] Cai refers to Cai Hesen.