Printed in Hong Kong and distributed by The Commercial Press, the cover of this history textbook states that it was specially tailored for Chinese-medium schools “in the Federation of Malaya and Singapore”.The Commercial Press were the first to pioneer history textbooks for the modern Chinese curriculum and their history textbooks reflect the changing political situation in China. For example, they introduced a vernacular Chinese history textbook series in line with the New Culture Movement in China and later the Fuxing series, first published in 1933 during the period of Japanese incursion in China, emphasised the need for patriotism. With the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the publication of the series specially for overseas Chinese students was a reflection of the changing educational climate, where the Chinese community in Singapore and Malaya were encouraged to form a common loyalty with the other races in their countries of residence.
