In August, it was announced that he was "fully responsible for the company's editorial work and leading the editorial committee to carry out its work." He suddenly lost contact in September, and in October he was officially investigated. In the past three months, 58-year-old Yao

html was announced in August to be "fully responsible for the company's editorial work and leading the editorial committee to carry out its work." He suddenly lost contact in September and was officially investigated in October. In the past three months, 58-year-old Yao Haijun, director and deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd., has experienced ups and downs like a roller coaster.

On the evening of October 23, the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Yao Haijun was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. The Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision in the Department of Science and Technology is currently conducting a disciplinary review on him. The Sichuan Provincial Supervisory Commission designated Luzhou City Supervisor. The Luzhou Municipal Supervisory Committee is under the jurisdiction of the Luzhou Municipal Supervisory Committee and is conducting supervision and investigation.

Many people in the science fiction circle interviewed said that Yao Haijun has contributed to the development of Chinese science fiction literature. He participated in the publication of outstanding works such as "The Three-Body Problem" by science fiction writer Liu Cixin, and also promoted the publication of the "Chinese Science Fiction Cornerstone Series" Compilation and publication have gradually attracted outside attention to the niche science fiction circle. But at the same time, in recent years, doubts have emerged about Yao Haijun's disregard for copyright and private publishing for profit. Before he was about to retire, he was investigated for "suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law", which is saddening.

Sun Jianing (pseudonym), a veteran in the Chinese science fiction circle who has known Yao Haijun for many years, told China News Weekly that in recent years, Yao Haijun has been reported many times, but later everything went fine. "On September 12, Yao Haijun was taken away from his work unit for investigation."

(data picture) Yao Haijun. Picture/ic

A lumberjack’s sci-fi road

“The process of Yao Haijun embarking on the road of science fiction is very legendary.” Wang Cheng (pseudonym), a well-known figure in the Chinese science fiction industry who has known Yao Haijun for more than 20 years, told China News Weekly 》.

In May 1966, Yao Haijun was born in a remote mountain village in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province. His father is a forestry worker and his mother is a housewife. He is the eldest in the family, with three younger brothers.

Yao Haijun once said on a podcast that he became obsessed with science fiction. When he was in junior high school, he got a science fiction work called "Strange Robot Dog" from a mathematics teacher. "The story of this book is probably that a dog was run over and killed while crossing the road. In the end, scientists resurrected the dog through dog head transplantation. After I finished reading, I fell into the world of science fiction and couldn't extricate myself."

Yao Haijun said , when he just entered high school, he suddenly suffered from acute nephritis, which later turned into chronic nephritis, resulting in physical weakness. He was hospitalized for two years. The doctor thought it was difficult to cure, and then asked his parents to take him home.

"It seems to be a common disease now, but the medical treatment methods at that time were very limited. The patients who were still playing with me yesterday may not be there the next day. My patients in the same ward seemed to have left in the end." Yao Haijun He said that more than a year later, he miraculously recovered, but after returning to school, he found that he could not find his high school student status, so he had to return to junior high school to repeat his studies. Later, he was admitted to Heilongjiang Province Cuiluan Secondary Vocational and Technical School.

In 1986, Yao Haijun, who was still a student at a technical school, founded the science fiction publication "Nebula". ""Nebula" relies on donations from science fiction fans. It may be the earliest crowdfunding magazine." Yao Haijun once said.

After graduating from a technical school in 1988, Yao Haijun was assigned to work as a worker at Yimin Forest Farm in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, responsible for transporting materials, selecting materials, logging and other tasks. Some media once said that during that time, Yao Haijun "cut down trees during the day and went all out to publish the "Nebula" publication at night. Manuscripts were provided by science fiction writers and publisher editors across the country, and an issue was published every two to three months, and he was alone. Completed editing, proofreading, typesetting, and printing. Initially, "Nebula" was hand-engraved on wax paper, and later turned into mimeograph and printing. It was sent by post to science fiction fans across the country, with up to 1,200 copies sent in one issue."

Science fiction writer Zheng Jun wrote in "The Road to Chinese Science Fiction": ""Nebula" has become a bridge between authors, editors, researchers, It is the most important channel for readers to form a cohesion and indirectly promotes the formation of the Chinese science fiction circle. "

Because of the publication of "Nebula" magazine, Yao Haijun has established close ties with science fiction authors, editors, and readers from all over the world. In 1997, the World Science Fiction Conference was held in Beijing. Yao Haijun, whose main job was a forestry worker, was invited to attend the conference. At the conference, he met Wu Yan, Han Song, Liu Cixin and other science fiction writers, and also met the then Shanxi "Science Fiction King" Deputy editor Ma Junying had in-depth exchanges. At the latter's invitation, he resigned from his job as a forest farm worker and went to Taiyuan to serve as the editor of the magazine.

After Yao Haijun joined "Science Fiction King", he helped Ma Junying change the magazine's style from comics to novels.

A year later, under the recommendation of some science fiction writers, Yao Haijun went to Chengdu, Sichuan to join the magazine "Science Fiction World". "Science Fiction World" is a publication under the jurisdiction of the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology. It was founded in 1979 and was named "Science Literature and Art" at the time. When Yao Haijun joined, the publication already had a certain influence in the science fiction circle.

Yao Haijun started from the grassroots readers club of "Science Fiction World". His main task was to contact science fiction fans on campus and develop science fiction fan organizations. The following year, he was transferred to the editorial department as an editor.

Resume shows that since 2002, Yao Haijun has served as assistant editor, deputy editor, and deputy editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World" magazine.

On April 27, the cover of "Science Fiction World" magazine was displayed at the "Capital Youth Science Fiction Education Space" themed exhibition at the Beijing Science Center. Picture/China News

In May 2006, "Science Fiction World" began to serialize Liu Cixin's novel "The Three-Body Problem". When Yao Haijun was later a guest on a TV talk show, he said that as an editor and reader of "The Three-Body Problem", he was very excited and deeply attracted when he first saw the work. "The Three-Body Problem" embodies what only science fiction can do. Some beauty. "The circulation rate of our magazine is one to four, which means that each issue of the magazine is usually read by four people. Based on the sales volume at that time, each issue was read by more than one million readers." Yao Haijun believes that this number of more than one million readers Readers will be the most stable readers of the "Three-Body" trilogy in the future.

"The Three-Body Problem" became the only full-text work in the history of "Science Fiction World" that was serialized for a full 8 months. Sun Jianing said that at that time, science fiction literature was very small in my country, and it was very difficult to publish science fiction novels through publishing houses. Yao Haijun decided to test the waters by serializing it first, which was a pioneering work for "Science Fiction World".

This work was very sensational when it was serialized. When the release of any issue was slightly delayed, science fiction fans "wrote letters to complain." Liu Cixin and his "Three-Body World" are also well-known to science fiction fans. "Three-Body" won the Hugo Award "Best Long Story Award" in 2015, known as the "Nobel Prize" in the science fiction world. It is the first time an Asian has won the award.

On August 8, 2010, the first Global Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Awards ceremony was held in Chengdu, and Yao Haijun won the Best Editor Award. When Liu Cixin presented the award to him, he did not hesitate to praise him, saying that "Yao Haijun is China's Campbell." Campbell is the most famous science fiction editor in the United States. He is known as the founder of the "Golden Age" of American science fiction. The "Thrilling Science Fiction" magazine edited by him has cultivated many writers including Asimov, the author of "Galaxy Empire". Many science fiction writers have made important contributions to the development of science fiction literature.

Wang Cheng said that someone once called Yao Haijun "the father of "Three-Body Problem"". After hearing this, Yao did not recognize this praise. He said that the influence of "Three-Body Problem" was not due to him.However, Wang Cheng believes that "Yao Haijun has a unique vision. When he was an editor of "Science Fiction World", he did discover many excellent works."

Cultural and creative products with the theme of "Three Body". Picture/Visual China

In December 2018, during the process of transforming public institutions into state-owned enterprises, the original "Science Fiction World" magazine was restructured into Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd., and Yao Haijun served as the company's director and deputy editor-in-chief.

On August 19, 2024, Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd. issued an announcement to adjust the division of labor among team members. The announcement stated: "In order to better adapt to the current changes in my country's science fiction market and promote the prosperity and development of science fiction, after research and decision, Science Fiction World has made the following adjustments to the responsibilities of some leadership team members: Deputy Editor-in-Chief Comrade Yao Haijun is fully responsible for the company's editorial work and leadership The editorial board started working. A new person in charge of the editorial department of "Science Fiction World" was added. The book department, translation editorial department, and "Sichuan Science and Technology News" remain unchanged. This work adjustment has been interpreted by industry insiders as a further improvement of Yao Haijun's career path. What is unexpected is that his fate is about to usher in a greater turning point.

was taken away from the work unit and was officially investigated 41 days later.

One day in late September this year, Sun Jianing realized that Yao Haijun "may have had an accident."

On that day, he heard several people in the science fiction circle discussing that Yao Haijun had been out of contact for more than ten days and his whereabouts were still unknown. One of the people in the science fiction circle also said that he called Yao Haijun a few days ago, but no one answered, and he couldn't receive a reply even after sending a WeChat message.

Previously, Yao Haijun’s Weibo and WeChat updates were very frequent, but they stopped updating after he forwarded a piece of science fiction news in Moments on September 11. His Weibo has nearly 460,000 fans. After September 9 It is also in a suspended state.

Sun Jianing told China News Weekly that on the evening of September 11, Yao Haijun participated in an invited preview screening of "The Wandering Earth 2: Adventure Again" with some science fiction fans in Chengdu. According to his understanding, this was also Yao's last public appearance before losing contact.

Many people in the science fiction circle confirmed to China News Weekly that on September 12, Yao Haijun was taken away from his work unit for investigation.

On September 28, the 35th China Science Fiction Galaxy Awards Ceremony was held in Chengdu. From October 18th to 19th, the "Tianwen" Chinese Science Fiction Literature Competition series of activities kicked off in Chengdu. Yao Haijun was absent from these two important events in the science fiction world, further deepening the outside world's speculation that Yao Haijun was under investigation.

On October 23, 41 days after Yao Haijun was taken away, his boots fell to the ground. The Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Yao Haijun was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was under supervision and investigation.

It is worth noting that several interviewees told "China News Weekly" that for many years, "Science Fiction World" has had serious internal conflicts, and the relationship between Yao Haijun and some colleagues has not been harmonious. "Internal conflicts and conflicts have been long-standing and the relationship is complicated." . In recent years, Yao Haijun has been reported many times, and relevant departments have also talked to Yao Haijun, but until now, Yao Haijun was fine.

"Science Fiction World" has had two famous "President Fall Incidents". On March 21, 2010, an open letter signed "All Staff of "Science Fiction World"" was circulated on the Internet. It stated: "After Li Chang, the then president and editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World" magazine, took office, this book Originally very ambitious and visionary The magazine has quickly become a frog in the well, short-sighted. If Li Chang continues to tolerate his incompetence, inaction, and even reckless behavior, "Science Fiction World" will soon be completely different. This is not only a tragedy for readers, but also for Chinese science fiction. of sorrow."

This letter lists various "crimes" of Li Chang, such as "Yi Yan Tang", requiring the editor to write novels on behalf of the author, reducing the author's royalties, turning the cover into a campus advertisement, and publicly selling the issues of the magazine "Science Fiction World" , rented out to companies and individuals who have no publishing qualifications, extremely damaging the magazine's brand image, etc.

"One way is that Li Chang is dismissed, and we stay and continue to do science fiction; the other is that he is not dismissed, and we. All editors resigned en masse. There are only two outcomes. "Zhang Chenggang, the art director of "Science Fiction World" at the time, publicly stated at the time.

On September 26, 2010, the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology announced the decision made by the Provincial Science and Technology Association Party Group: Li Chang was officially dismissed from the magazine "Science Fiction World" The duties of president and editor-in-chief are fully presided over by deputy president Liu Chengshu. After Li Chang was dismissed, his successor was Wan Shihong in August 2014. In the name of a retired employee, an open letter was issued to report Wan Shihong to the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee. The letter stated that Wan Shihong had multiple problems, such as drinking hundreds of thousands and purchasing official cars that seriously exceeded the standard. , defaulting on payments to printing companies and author fees, using the name of "Science Fiction Industrial Park" to acquire real estate, etc.

After this incident, Wan Shihong was suspended, and the then deputy president Liu Chengshu took charge of the 2015 issue of "Science Fiction World". In the first issue, Wan Shihong's name disappeared from the copyright page

On January 8, 2015, the Sichuan Provincial Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Bureau and the Sichuan Provincial Copyright Administration released the "2014 News and Newspaper Administrative Penalty Cases (11)", saying that in September 2012. From September to April 2014, "Science Fiction World" magazine, in the name of "Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine", signed agreements with 4 units including Chengdu Hanchang Advertising Co., Ltd. to transfer the issue number of the periodical "Fly". For violating relevant regulations, "Science Fiction World" magazine and Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine were given a warning and a fine of 985,600 yuan, and "Fly" was ordered to suspend publication for 4 months for rectification. Yao Haijun publicly stated at the time that "(the above punishment) was" "The biggest shame since the founding of Science Fiction World". But he still believes that with the close ties between the magazine and science fiction authors and fans accumulated over more than 30 years, as well as the efforts of more than 50 editorial staff with idealistic temperament throughout the magazine, "Science Fiction World" will not decline.

Behind the surge in the science fiction industry

Many interviewees said that with development and exploration, my country's science fiction industry is not only limited to literature, but also involves publishing, film and television, games, animation, etc. The entire industry chain within the science fiction circle is becoming increasingly commercialized.

In April this year, the "2024 China Science Fiction Industry Report" jointly released by the China Science Fiction Research Center and the Science and Human Imagination Research Center of Southern University of Science and Technology showed that the total revenue of China's science fiction industry in 2023 exceeded 100 billion yuan (113.29 billion yuan). , of which the science fiction film and television industry revenue was 11.59 billion yuan, the science fiction game industry revenue was 65.19 billion yuan, and the proportion of computer and console science fiction game revenue increased significantly.

It is reported that Yao Haijun has established an industry chain integrating editing, publishing and operation through "Science Fiction World", and has also used his personal influence to dominate the operation of multiple science fiction awards and important events, including founding the Chinese science fiction "Nebula" award".

Yao Haijun once mentioned that "The Wandering Earth" provides a paradigm for Chinese science fiction creation. "Even if science fiction creation cannot be appreciated by both refined and popular people, it must be expressed in the 'vulgar'. As long as it has combat effectiveness in the market, Chinese science fiction may I won't be 'wandering' anymore."

The novel "The Wandering Earth" was written by Liu Cixin and was first published in "Science Fiction World" in 2000. It was later made into a movie and put on the screen. When it was released, the total domestic box office of the movie "The Wandering Earth" reached 4.6 billion yuan, making it a phenomenon-level movie.

In recent years, Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd. has also had greater ambitions and began to invest in movies. For example, the company has participated in the adaptation of some science fiction film and television dramas. Many interviewees said that it is currently unknown whether related problems will arise during this process.

In February 2019, Yao Haijun said in an interview with the media that the profit center of China's science fiction industry continues to shift downstream with the evolution and upgrading of the industry. Literary creation is the most upstream and basic link in the science fiction industry chain - cultivated by magazines. Newcomers rely on best-selling books to gain greater influence, rely on films and television to break through the traditional scope to reap more economic value, and rely on games, animations and other peripherals to enrich expression forms.

"Although science fiction magazines are not the core profit of the entire industry chain, they are the core soul, and their status will be irreplaceable in the future." He said.

Sun Jianing and many other people in the science fiction circle told China News Weekly that in recent years, various capitals have poured in, which has played a positive role in the development of my country's science fiction industry. However, the composition of participants in some competitions and award ceremonies in the science fiction circle is becoming more and more complex, and many people come in with the goal of pursuing profit. "The influx of capital from all parties wants a piece of the pie, which makes the science fiction circle less pure."

In addition, Yao Haijun was also exposed for allegedly ignoring copyright and making profits privately. In 2021, an editor who once worked at "Science Fiction World" magazine wrote an article criticizing Yao Haijun for involving copyright issues. The editor said that Yao Haijun, on behalf of "Science Fiction World" magazine, cooperated with other provinces publishing houses to compile some of the works published in "Science Fiction World" into a book. The editor said: "As for how we cooperate, how we divide accounts and calculate money, I haven't found out so far. Because this set of books has not been included in the publishing and distribution system of the ("Science Fiction World") magazine, most people in the magazine None of them knew this set of books existed.”

Respondents believe that the specific reasons for Yao Haijun’s investigation need to wait for official notification, but the psychological impact of his investigation on the Chinese science fiction circle is continuing to appear.

Reporter: Zhou Qunfeng

Editor: Xu Tian