Old bookstores

Author: Qiu He
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-12-01
Features: This book focuses on selecting articles from the perspectives of scholars, literati, the bookshops they saw, the shop friends in their hearts, and the actions of the shop friends themselves. There are sixty-three topics, divided into three parts: Part one retraces the historical landscape of the old book circulation industry in places like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Hangzhou, Changsha, Fuzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei since the early Qing Dynasty's Shaoyeshanfang. It provides detailed introductions to historically renowned old shops such as China Bookstore, Laidongge, Tongxuezhai, Baojingtang, and Laiqingge. Part two moves from shops to people, creating biographies of old shop friends like Sun Dianqi, Lei Mengshui, Zhu Dianqing, Chen Jichuan, Chen Naiquan, Yang Shouqi, Guo Shiqiqi, Xu Shaoqiao, Zhu Suixiang, and Guo Jisen, offering invaluable personal records of the Chinese old book industry. Part three brings the shop friends, who were the behind-the-scenes protagonists, to the forefront, allowing them to speak for themselves through first-person accounts, leaving behind firsthand historical documents that complement and engage in implicit dialogue with the first two parts.
The owners of old bookstores were often apprentices, though not highly educated, they frequently interacted with books and dedicated themselves to research, becoming proficient in edition and bibliography. Some were also erudite scholars, writing books and essays, not only sharing common ground with experts and professors but also becoming good friends. The business practices of these bookstores were generally disciplined, and they treated customers with sincerity, offering fair profits—a fine tradition of Liuyichang.
—Guo Zisen, The Old Bookstores of Liuyichang
I still cherish the layout and atmosphere of those bookstores: bookshelves surrounding the room, reaching the ceiling, filled with the scent of books; a long table in the center, covered with a white cloth and a tea set; a few wooden chairs on either side. Customers could freely take books from the shelves, sit at the table to read leisurely, or ask the shop assistant to fetch them. The assistant would then pour a cup of tea. If interested in buying, the assistant would help find other copies for comparison. If not purchasing, a simple "thank you" would suffice, and the assistant would see you to the door: "Please go slowly. Come back when you have time."
—Xu Jialu, Fifty Years of Chinese Bookstores
This book focuses on selecting articles from the perspectives of scholars, literati, the bookshops they saw, the shop friends in their hearts, and the actions of the shop friends themselves. There are sixty-three topics, divided into three parts: Part one retraces the historical landscape of the old book circulation industry in places like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Hangzhou, Changsha, Fuzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei since the early Qing Dynasty's Shaoyeshanfang. It provides detailed introductions to historically renowned old shops such as China Bookstore, Laidongge, Tongxuezhai, Baojingtang, and Laiqingge. Part two moves from shops to people, creating biographies of old shop friends like Sun Dianqi, Lei Mengshui, Zhu Dianqing, Chen Jichuan, Chen Naiquan, Yang Shouqi, Guo Shiqiqi, Xu Shaoqiao, Zhu Suixiang, and Guo Jisen, offering invaluable personal records of the Chinese old book industry. Part three brings the shop friends, who were the behind-the-scenes protagonists, to the forefront, allowing them to speak for themselves through first-person accounts, leaving behind firsthand historical documents that complement and engage in implicit dialogue with the first two parts.