Library

Library

The library is a building for collecting and reading books in ancient China. The earliest book collection buildings in China were found in the palace, such as Tianlu Pavilion and Shiqu Pavilion in the Han Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, with the popularization of papermaking and the promotion of printed books, people also built libraries.

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Famous library

Tianyi Pavilion

It was built in 1561, the 40th year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty. It is the oldest existing library in China. It is a two-story building with six rooms in width. The upper floor collects books according to the classification of classics, history, books and collections. The lower floor is used for reading books and collecting stone carvings. The building has windows in the north and the south, with air circulation. There are doors on both sides of the bookcase, which can not only take books from the front and back, but also prevent mildew.

Wenyuan Pavilion in the Forbidden City

It is a library specially built for the collection of four complete books. Its house system and bookshelf style imitate Tianyi Pavilion.

Wu GUI Lou

Built in 1807, it is a private library built by Huang Chengliang, a native of Yuyao. It is also called "72 peak thatched cottage" because it is surrounded by 72 peaks of Siming Mountain. There are more than 60000 volumes of books in the building. Among them, Ming text Lei Ti preserved more than 400 anthologies and memorials of Ming Dynasty in the literary inquisition period of Qing Dynasty, which is the most valued by historians.

Yuhai building

This building was built by sun Yiyan of Qing Dynasty, and his son sun Yirang devoted himself to literature research and collection, which made the scale of the building expand continuously. All the books in the building are compiled according to the style of Sikuquanshu and the collection of classics and history. At present, most of the books are collected by the library of Zhejiang University.

Xujiahui Library

The building originated from the spread of Catholicism in China. In 1847, the French missionary nangelu bought land to build a building, and on the basis of bringing Chinese books with him, he searched for books everywhere. This is the rudiment of Xujiahui library. The building was incorporated into Shanghai Library in 1956.

Jishuge

Jishuge, located in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, was built by Mr. Huo huyong, a book collector, with a total collection of more than 60000 volumes. It is one of the top ten ancient books collection buildings in Shanxi Province.

Seven pavilions

There are only seven copies of Sikuquanshu, which are stored in Wenyuan Pavilion of Forbidden City in Beijing, Wenyuan Pavilion of Yuanmingyuan in suburb of Beijing, Wensu Pavilion of Fengtian Palace Museum (now Shenyang), Wenjin Pavilion of Chengde summer resort, Wenzong Pavilion in Zhenjiang, Wenhui Pavilion in Yangzhou, and Wenlan Pavilion in Hangzhou. The Pavilion and books have gone through many vicissitudes and are full of frequent wars in modern Chinese history Devastated. Wenzong Pavilion, Wenhui Pavilion and Wenyuan Pavilion were successively destroyed by war. Only Wenyuan, Wenjin, Wensu and Wenlan still stand in the world. The details are as follows:

Wenyuan Pavilion is located in the southeast of Taihe hall and the northwest of Donghua gate. It was built in 1775 after Wenhua hall. The collection of books was collected by the Palace Museum.

Wenyuan Pavilion, located in Yuanmingyuan, Beijing, was built in 1775 and set on fire in 1860.

Wenjin Pavilion, located at the foot of the mountain in the northwest of the plain area of the summer resort (now Chengde City, Hebei Province), was built in 1774. The collection of books was transported to Beijing in 1915 and now belongs to the National Library.

Wensu Pavilion, located in the west of Shenyang Imperial Palace in Liaoning Province, was built in 1782. It is the most complete and less lost Pavilion among the seven pavilions. Now it belongs to Liaoning Provincial Library.

Wenhui Pavilion, located in Jiangdu county (now Yangzhou City), Jiangsu Province, was built in 1780 and destroyed in 1854.

Wenzong Pavilion, located in Jinshan Temple of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, was built in 1779 and destroyed by fire in 1853.

Wenlan Pavilion, located in the south of Gushan, West Lake, Hangzhou, is the only one of the three pavilions in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It was first built in 1782, and was destroyed in 1861. Some of its books were lost. It was rebuilt in 1880. Now it belongs to Zhejiang Provincial Library.

present situation

Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion, Hangzhou Wenlan Pavilion, Shenyang Wensu Pavilion, Haining Yanfen cottage, Haiyan Xijian cottage This ancient and vicissitudes of the library, once linked with China's long and splendid history of book collection. But after years of vicissitudes, many libraries are no longer brilliant, seriously damaged, and the remaining ones are in danger.

On March 10, 2005, Wenlan Pavilion, known as one of the seven largest libraries in China, ushered in the third overhaul in history, which made the current situation of many libraries in China once again become the focus of attention. People can't help asking: can these libraries still find the glory of the past?

The situation of ancient architecture and ancient books

It is understood that with the passage of time and the change of time, there are few libraries left in the world, and there are only more than 100 in China.

Among them, Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion, Liaocheng Haiyuan Pavilion, Huzhou JIAYE hall and other libraries listed as cultural relics protection units are well preserved due to the attention of the local government. Some of them have become well-known symbols of regional culture. But these are only a small part, and now most of the libraries are in danger.

Chensong house in Huzhou and Yincui house in Fuzhou are full of residents, surrounded by cooking fires and electric wires all day long; wanjuan house in Wuxi has been used for other purposes, and has become a tea house in the park; eryoushan house in Lanxi has been demolished for eight years due to urban construction planning, but it has not been rebuilt in other places due to lack of financial funds; the library of Zhuangyuan house in Xuzhou has collapsed in heavy rain due to disrepair In addition, there are some famous libraries in the history of Chinese book collection, which are now nowhere to be found, and some even the local government is not aware of them. Obviously, the current situation of China's library can not be simply described as "not optimistic". What is the state of the ancient books in the library? The reporter learned that many precious ancient books handed down from the library are covered with thick dust due to lack of management. What's more, they are facing the risk of corrosion due to lack of timely repair, which is also full of helplessness and desolation.

As we all know, the library and the ancient books in it should be a whole, but there are few libraries worthy of the name. Many of them are different from each other, but there are only empty buildings standing there, which is no longer the magnificent scene of that year. This is also a true portrayal of most of the libraries at present.

Cause analysis

According to Professor Lai Xinxia of Nankai University, there are three main reasons for this situation

First, some ancient books were lost or destroyed in the historical war; second, the traditional libraries were all private. As the descendants of the owners of the libraries no longer engaged in this field of research or their families were unable to continue, they sold or donated the ancient books; third, because some local libraries were lack of storage facilities and researchers, the state sold the libraries for the purpose of protection Many valuable ancient books have been moved into large libraries.

Lin zuzao, director of Zhejiang Institute of librarianship, said it was very difficult to end the separation. He said that the natural environment around some libraries is not suitable for collecting ancient books at all. For example, Wenlan Pavilion in Hangzhou is located in an isolated mountain, facing water in front and behind, with high humidity, while traditional buildings cannot be equipped with constant temperature and humidity air conditioning.

In addition, some of the ancient books that were sold off, such as the collection of Soong house in Huzhou, were sold to Japan's jingjiatang as early as 1907. If we want to redeem them now, it will involve diplomatic issues. For the ancient books which were collected and protected by the library in the past, the current safekeeping units are not willing to return them easily. Therefore, if we want to realize the reunion of the library, we have to learn from the practice of copying Sikuquanshu by Wenlan Pavilion in Hangzhou, take photos of the ancient books collected in the library, restore and copy them according to the original books, and then store them in the library.

Protection of Library

Protection and development

At present, some libraries have become local famous tourist attractions after renovation. Every year, many tourists from home and abroad come to visit them.

It is understood that Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion, Yuelu Academy and Huzhou JIAYE hall all receive hundreds of thousands of people a year. In the face of such a huge passenger flow, for the sake of protecting the original site of the library and its ancient books, some libraries have adopted the method of restricting the opening. For example, many places in Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion, such as baoshulou, are not allowed to visit. The open area is only the foyer on the first floor, and all the ancient books in the pavilion are stored in the working area of Tianyi Pavilion Museum. Even experts and scholars can not easily access them. Ordinary tourists can only watch the copies displayed in the exhibition area through the glass cabinets. This is not the only library to be restricted. Shanghai Xujiahui library can only be visited every Saturday afternoon, and only 80 people are allowed to enter each of its two buildings in batches, with 15 minutes for each batch. It seems that how to coordinate the contradiction between development and protection has become a big problem for the library.

In this regard, Lin zuzao believes that the library should be managed on the principle of protection first and utilization second. But at the same time, the library is a very beautiful local business card, which is open to tourists, publicizing the library, publicizing the local cultural taste and profound cultural heritage, and enhancing the quality of the library

Chinese PinYin : Cang Shu Lou