Catalogue Supplement

Author: Fan Xizheng / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-05-01
Features: Catalogue of Books was first published in the second year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty. The origin of this book, as explained by Zhang Zhidong himself, was that "students who loved learning came to ask what books they should read and which editions were the best." It was specifically compiled to address the problem of "reading without understanding the key points, resulting in wasted effort; knowing a book should be read but not obtaining a well-edited and annotated version, leading to twice the work with half the reward." The book lists 2,200 types of books, categorized and arranged in chronological order. At important points, it includes annotations and comments, with the aim of "making it easy for beginners to purchase and read, so as to avoid confusion and bewilderment." Catalogue of Books is a widely influential directory of books in the history of modern Chinese culture. While indicating the paths of scholarship, it also clearly outlines the general picture of Qing Dynasty academia. It is worth noting that shortly after its completion, the book spread across the country in various editions and became extremely popular, almost reaching the point where every book-loving family had a copy. Many scholars in the modern and contemporary periods have been directly or indirectly influenced by this book.