By: Krithiga Narayanan

Edited By: Eric Omorogieva

Note: The in-text pictures are the author’s.

JF Books, a bookstore which recently opened doors in DC’s busy Dupont Circle, is a symbol of a silent rebellion. Originally called “Jifeng” (“monsoon” in Chinese), it was founded in 1997 with multiple branches in Shanghai, China, where it featured regular discussions and debates on politics and society. However, increasing free speech restrictions in China forced the bookstore to shut down operations. Now in its new DC home, the bookstore has countless books deemed too controversial for China. Its walls feature farewell notes customers of the bookstore wrote back in 2018, when the store was forced to shut down. Along the main staircase, rows of photos highlight pivotal moments in the history of the bookstore, including one which was taken on its final day in Shanghai. Here, the bookstore hopes to continue being a beacon for free speech and democracy, with the tagline “Wind’s Voice, Freedom’s Choice.”

What motivated you to open JF Books in Washington DC? 

In China we have to deal with censorship. In a bookstore, you can only sell books permitted by the State government. If you host cultural events, you need to avoid some sensitive themes and sensitive speakers and that makes things complicated. If you want to follow your own heart, follow your own choice, it will bring you trouble and increase the tension between the bookstore and the authorities. So that’s the reason we were forcibly shut down in 2018, in Shanghai. We then reopened the bookstore here in DC on September 1. The reason we set up this new bookstore was to try to establish spiritual connection among the community: not only the Chinese community, but beyond that. So we have not only Chinese language books, but English language books, as well a focus on China and Asia, with a focus on society and social transition. We also have works written by Asian American authors. 

How important are spaces like these for democracy?

The status of China today is not very good as it is still controlled by an authoritarian regime. So the people are trying to fight for their rights, but there is little room for them to survive. It will bring them risks just like our bookstore. If you want to be an independent bookstore, independent from the authorities, then it’s very difficult for you to exist in China. These spaces, you can regard it as a public sphere, to encourage people to exchange views freely, to think critically and to discuss important issues related to our future. I think that’s a very important characteristic of democratic society. And also that’s an important characteristic that is lacking in a non-democratic society. 

What are the challenges you face here?

The challenge here is how to establish the reputation of our bookstore quickly and to earn the trust from the readers. I think we are doing pretty good so far. For our events we invite Chinese speakers as well as English speakers. For example, in September, the first month we opened, we invited three speakers to have three events. Two are political professors and one is a famous Chinese American author, Ha Jin. He wrote a lot of books, very famous, and all of them speak in Chinese. The next month, October, we hosted three events. Two of them are Chinese speakers, one is an English speaker. And this month we have Five events. Three of them are English speakers, so they are almost balanced. Half and half. 

For students interested in such topics, how should they engage with them and do you have any book recommendations for them? 

You can follow our social media accounts and receive information and see what kind of themes and speakers will give talks in our bookstore. And you can choose the ones you are interested in. I think the one advantage of  attending the events is that you can get to know some friends and you can also encounter new knowledge or thoughts that you may be interested in. Such unexpected encounters bring us joy. And for the books, I think there are some books here that help you to learn Chinese. And there are also bilingual books in Chinese and English, there are also books on classic literature. We are also focusing on social science and humanity books. We care about important social issues, we care about the voices from minorities. and we care about the fate of ordinary people. So we have a lot of such kinds of books. If you are interested in these topics, you can find one. 

Author Bio: 

Krithiga Narayanan is currently a Masters Student in International Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Krithiga is also a Social Media Ambassador and Public Service Fellow at SAIS. Previously Krithiga worked as a Journalist with several international news organizations including the BBC, DW and CNN.