Recently, the 2021 National Symposium on the Protection of Ancient Books was held in Wuhan, Hubei. The reporter learned from the meeting that the protection of ancient books in China achieved fruitful results during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, the family background of ancient books was basically clarified, and the conditions for the protection of ancient books were obviously improved.
The distribution and preservation of ancient books in China are basically clear. More than 2.7 million books and 18,000 letters have been surveyed nationwide, and 30 provinces have basically completed the survey of Chinese, accounting for more than 90% of the estimated total amount of Chinese. A total of 2,861 units have completed the survey and registration of ancient books, accounting for more than 96% of the estimated total number of depository institutions. The protection of national and provincial precious ancient books has been significantly improved. 13,026 precious ancient books and 203 units have been selected into the National List of Precious Ancient Books and the National Key Protection Units of Ancient Books. 20 provinces have established the Provincial List of Precious Ancient Books, which contains 25,476 ancient books. Significant progress has been made in the restoration of ancient books. Relying on 12 national ancient book restoration centers, national key restoration projects of precious ancient books have been set up, with a total amount of ancient books restored exceeding 3.7 million leaves. (Reporter Zhang He)