Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collections

Author: Fu Xuancong Xie Zhuohua
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-02-01
Features: A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting: A powerful work that promotes the culture of book collecting. A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting is a grand-scale, richly detailed, and systematically organized academic work. It has three key strengths:
(1) It provides a comprehensive and systematic discussion of the history of Chinese book collecting. Spanning from the Xia and Shang dynasties to the 1990s, it bridges the ancient and modern eras. It focuses on both public and private collections while also covering academies and monasteries. It gives due attention to lesser-known aspects, such as book collecting in the Liao, Jin, and Ming dynasties, among others. The breadth of its coverage is unprecedented in similar works.
(2) It has a clear guiding philosophy, striving to scientifically explain the historical development of Chinese book collecting. The editors believe that the evolution of book collecting forms is closely tied to societal progress and use this as a fundamental thread to divide the history of book collecting into stages. In the narrative of each period, it connects the state of book collecting with the economic and cultural development and cultural policies of that time. As a result, the book is logically rigorous, self-contained, well-supported by evidence, and meticulously researched.
(3) The book fully incorporates existing research while innovating, offering numerous new discoveries. In terms of data and historical verification, it also makes new progress. For example, the materials on book collectors from ethnic minorities during the Yuan dynasty and the characteristics of private book collections are highly valuable. Therefore, it serves as a comprehensive summary of research on the history of Chinese book collecting while also being pioneering. Its publication will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the study of traditional Chinese culture and contribute to the deeper development of the field of book collecting and book culture studies.
The Chinese book collecting industry has a long history, supported by gradually complete book collection institutions, the specialized knowledge of collectors and researchers, and a humanistic spirit, making it an important component of Chinese culture. As a result, there have been works that describe the state of book collecting in each dynasty, biographies of collectors, accounts of book collecting customs, and dictionaries of book collecting, but none that comprehensively cover the ancient and modern eras with complete narratives. In the late 1990s, scholars from the north and south formed writing teams, with Mr. Ren Jiyou leading A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collections and Mr. Fu Xuancong leading A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting, both of which were completed at the turn of the new century. Reading these two monumental works filled me with joy.
The chief editor of A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting, Mr. Fu Xuancong, is a renowned scholar both at home and abroad, particularly skilled in the study of documents and with a rich body of writings. It is said that he personally reviewed the initial drafts, ensuring the quality of the entire work. The scholars he brought together were all familiar with the book collecting industry and its materials, making the foundation of the book solid. The combination of these strengths resulted in a masterpiece.
Since the book is titled A Comprehensive History, its organizational structure must follow historical conventions. Scanning through the book, it indeed uses history as the framework and book collecting as the thread, covering from the pre-Qin era to the late modern period, divided into eight sections that span the ancient and modern eras, giving readers a clear and well-organized understanding. The most innovative aspect is the inclusion of the eighth section, a truly groundbreaking move.
Typically, the writing of comprehensive histories of book collecting end with the Qing dynasty, with some including modern sections. However, this book establishes The 20th Century Chinese Book Collecting as a separate section, not only documenting the modern era but also encompassing the contemporary period, thus completing the work as a perfect whole.
The tradition of illustrated books is a fine custom in Chinese publishing. The first part of A Comprehensive History features over a hundred exquisite illustrations, covering a wide range of topics such as book collections, collectors, book seals, and images of rare books, all testifying to the compilers' efforts in gathering materials. Reading the text and referring to the illustrations, one can clearly grasp the three-dimensional image of the Chinese book collecting industry.
The foundation of historical works lies in the excavation and utilization of historical materials. A Comprehensive History is well-supported by evidence, drawing not only from ancient texts but also from modern discussions. It frequently uses authoritative editions of common works, enhancing the book's credibility and offering insights for future research, paving the way for in-depth studies.
Chinese book culture has a rich cultural heritage and extensive historical materials. In the past two decades, research on the history of Chinese book collecting and book culture has made significant progress. A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting is a representative work that synthesizes current research achievements in the field. Its contributions to discipline-building are as follows:
First, A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting is the most comprehensive and systematic work to date on the history of Chinese book collecting across the dynasties. Divided into eight sections, it elaborates on the emergence and development of Chinese book collecting over four thousand years and its related social and historical contexts, discussing the achievements and levels of official, private, monastic, and academy collections. This creates a complete framework that connects vertically and observes horizontally. The book fully showcases the specific achievements and cultural contributions of public and private book collections, records the inspiring stories of numerous famous collectors who "dedicated their lives to the pursuit of books," and summarizes the rich experience of book collecting over thousands of years in terms of book acquisition, collection, organization, and dissemination. Its content is extensive, covering a wide scope.
Second, the compilers of A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting adopt an open perspective, integrating methods from history, library science, paleography, cultural history, and social history to conduct interdisciplinary and multi-faceted research on the history of Chinese book collecting. For example, following the basic principles of historical materialism, it convincingly reveals the social factors influencing the rise and decline of book collecting through historical analysis of social production techniques, economic levels, and political situations in each period, thereby establishing the correct direction for book culture research. Additionally, it employs paleographic methods to thoroughly explain the achievements of book collectors in cataloging, annotations, collation, authentication, and edition identification. Through discussions on book circulation, book industry activities, and book families, it provides vivid social history content. Moreover, the analysis throughout the book of book quantities, quality, library construction, book collecting trends, customs, concepts, and cultural contributions presents readers with a colorful picture of the history of Chinese book culture.
Third, starting from the perspective of discipline-building, the book not only maintains a macroscopic grasp of the overall development of book collecting research but also provides theoretical summaries of the research system within the discipline. The final chapter, A Booming Research on the History of Chinese Book Collecting, offers a macroscopic overview of the achievements and development trends of Chinese book culture research over the past century. Building on this, it proposes the establishment of "Chinese Book Collecting Studies" or "Book Culture Studies" from a high vantage point. In the Introduction, it systematically organizes and summarizes the basic concepts, academic categories, and research systems of Chinese book collecting history and book culture, marking the gradual maturation of rational norms in the study of Chinese book collecting history and culture and laying a solid foundation for the discipline.
The authors of A Comprehensive History of Chinese Book Collecting adopted a comprehensive historical approach, discussing the development of book collecting within the broader context of cultural and historical progress. They used rich historical materials, paid attention to all aspects of the progress of book collecting, and treated book collecting from ancient times to the present as a scholarly discipline, demonstrating the compilers' remarkable effort. The book begins with the collection and management of royal documents and books in the pre-Qin era and ends with the state of book collecting in China just before the establishment of the People's Republic. It first describes the introduction of Western public library concepts to China, the revolution in Chinese book collecting ideas, the adoption of Western public library systems, the establishment of the Jiangnan Library and the Capital Library, the development of public and private book collecting industries amid social turmoil, the rise and prosperity of scholars and industrialists in book collecting, and the misfortunes of book collections during warlord conflicts and Japanese invasions. It concludes with the book collecting industry since the founding of the People's Republic. This systematic elaboration is rare in existing works on book collecting.