What was going on when I was born?

International An expected leadership shift in China was signaled officially. Hua Guofeng did not appear at a New Year's reception given by the Communist leadership and attended by about 100 top officials, strengthening a belief that he has been forced to resign as chairman of the party. Instead, the host was Hu Yaobang, who is believed likely to replace Mr. Hua as the party's senior official. (Page A1, Column 6.) Pleas by Iranians for spy trials for the American hostages reportedly increased. Ayatollah Alemeh Nouri, a respected revolutionary clergyman, was quoted as saying that the 52 Americans were espionage agents and should be tried. Ayatollah Nouri holds no official post, but the statement reflected a problem that Iran's Parliament must overcome to resolve the issue. (A1:5.)

Four years after the passage of legislation here intended to stimulate the Canadian magazine industry, Time magazine continues to publish profitably in this country, with an advertising base that is about 80 percent Canadian. Reader's Digest, the other American publication affected by the bill, chose to develop what is in effect a separate Canadian operation. The legislation, known as Bill C-58, eliminated the tax deduction for advertising by Canadian companies in Canadian editions of foreign-owned publications, thus effectively doubling the cost of the ads. The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd., which is wholly owned by the United States parent, spun off its magazine business as Reader's Digest Magazines Ltd. in 1976. For tax purposes, it donated 75 percent of its shares to the Reader's Digest Foundation of Canada. The foundation is a charitable organization specializing in education, especially journalism education.

Modest import protection for makers of specialty steel is expected to be introduced by President Carter before he leaves office. The socalled antisurge mechanism for specialty steel imports would mainly affect Japan and the European Economic Community. An investigation of possible unfair trade practices would begin each time imports reached certain levels. (Page A1.)

His white shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows, the wiry impresario hammers home another lesson after 80 minutes of Socratic dialogue with his class about Japan's rise to dominance in worldwide motorcycle production. ''Faced with global competition,'' Michael E. Porter says, after summarizing the difficult experience of America's Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a division of AMF Inc., ''you can give up, seek protection - or focus your strategy.'' There is little uncertainty evidenced in the faces assembled in the brightly lit, red-carpeted amphitheater. This is the Harvard Business School, and there is no question among these 103 second-year students that the only answer is to focus strategy.

''Our partners have never received so many hugs and kisses from the staff,'' said Howard Silverman of Gruntal & Company, a New York Stock Exchange member firm that has been selling stocks and bonds for 100 years. Obviously, it was not an everyday event. But last month, when Gruntal's management handed out notes of appreciation to its staff, many of the envelopes also contained a bonus check for an average 12 weeks' pay. The windfall went to all salaried persons who had worked at the firm for at least two years.

The first official indication of the downfall of Hua Guofeng, the party chairman, came today when he did not appear at a New Year's reception given by the Central Committee. The host at the meeting was Hu Yaobang, the party's general secretary and the man likely to replace Mr. Hua as head of the party. Mr. Hu, who is 65 years old, is a long-time associate of Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader. The New China News Agency said Mr. Hu, Mr. Deng, Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang and 100 other officials had met in the Great Hall of the People ''in an atmosphere of joy and unity.'' Western diplomats, commenting on Mr. Hua's absence, said that, if the Chinese leaders had wanted to end recent reports over his resignation, it would have been easy to have him appear.

Before he leaves office, President Carter is expected to introduce some modest import protection for the makers of specialty steel, according to Administration aides. After vigorous interagency debate, a memo summarizing positions and options has gone to the President from his domestic policy staff. Although Mr. Carter could decide that complaints by the industry about mounting imports warrant no special measures, it is expected that he will opt for what is known as an ''antisurge mechanism'' to check the foreign shipments, mainly from Japan and the European Common Market. Procedure Explained Under such a procedure, which already applies to textiles, when imports reach certain levels they touch off an expedited Federal investigation of whether unfair trade practices are being used. That investigation could lead to the imposition of sharply higher duties if the imports were found to be subsidized by foreign governments or to be ''dumped'' in the United States at below the cost of production.

A bumper crop of salads and fruit plates, a torrent of diet soda and wine, and two million kosher snacks and meals helped set a record of $1 billion in sales in 1980 by inflight catering companies and wholesalers supplying food and drink served on airline flights originating from United States airports. The higher sales, an increase of 5 percent over 1979, were made despite a record 5 percent slump in passenger traffic on United States airlines, and despite stagnating passenger traffic on international flights of airlines belonging to the International Air Transport Association, or I.A.T.A. The sales volume was reported this week by Robert M. Held, who is president of Inflight Food Services Association Inc., which is the main industry body. He said in an interview that the increase reflected higher prices and also changes in airline operations. Under the heightened competitive climate created by the Airline Deregulation Act, some carriers have begun flying additional flights that require added food and beverage service, Mr. Held reported, and some, such as New York Air, have been emphasizing inflight amenities for competitive reasons. But airlines have also dropped flights and cut back on food service on others.

Low-wage industries, such as textiles, apparel and furniture, help keep North Carolina at or near the bottom of a variety of statistical measures of economic health, including the Labor Department's monthly rankings of state manufacturing wages. Yet North Carolina is also part of the booming Sun Belt. Last year, manufacturers poured more than $2.4 billion into the state, much of it into higher-wage industries, according to the state's Commerce Department. As Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. observed in a recent speech, ''Good jobs are becoming available every day, not only in electronics, but in metalworking, in chemicals and other high-wage industries.''

A fire that quickly engulfed a small frame house here early today killed seven persons, including four small children found huddled only a few feet from a first-floor window. Fire Chief Leo Harkins of New Brunswick said the fire was ''the most tragic in the city's history.'' ''We didn't have a shot or a chance at saving anyone,'' he said, because the fire spread too fast through the three-story house at 112 Redmond Street. The police identified the victims as Nellie Watson, 40 years old, who was found dead on the second floor, where she lived, and her 22-year-old daughter, Katie Allen, who was found on a first-floor living-room couch with four children. Three of them were Mrs. Allen's 4-year-old twin daughters, Selina and Serina, and her 1-year-old son, Tyshell. The fourth child was Lorenzo Watson, a nephew of Mrs. Allen.

Less than 20 percent of the 6,424 children available for legal adoption in New York City in 1979 through publicly assisted agencies were placed, although child-care agencies had enough applications to more than double that rate, according to a study made by the office of the City Council President, Carol Bellamy. The cost to the city, state and Federal governments of what the report called a ''staggeringly low adoption rate'' was nearly $6,000 per child, making a total of $34 million. In 1979, a total of 1,025 children were adopted in the city. Of 2,107 applications on file from prospective adoptive parents, only 53 percent were screened by social service agencies. It was not known how many of those screened were found qualified, and none received permission to adopt a child.

New Year's Day is the ultimate morning after. On Jan. 1 the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who celebrated injudiciously the night before and are paying for it, and those who did not and are pleased with their own temperance; that is, those who are facing a brand-new year with bright eyes and high hopes and those who are facing it with a growl of discomfort and a hangover. Sandi and Jeff Klein were looking forward and back yesterday as they stood in Times Square, a scant 12 hours late for the most famous festivities in the country. The madding crowd had given way to bits of broken champagne bottles, a few foil hats scattered about, and blue police barricades stacked atop one another, holding nobody back in the deserted triangle of concrete. A group of Chinese exchange students came through, snapping photographs. On the side streets, store owners swept the flotsam and jetsam of New Year's Eve off the sidewalks and into the streets.