Chinese civilization has a long history and is profound. It is the unique spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation, the foundation of contemporary China culture, the spiritual bond that maintains Chinese people all over the world, and the treasure of cultural innovation in China. In the long historical process, the Chinese nation has left a sea of ancient books. This is the carrier of the Chinese nation’s historical memory, ideological wisdom and knowledge system, and it is a cultural gene flowing in our veins. The protection, restoration and flexible use of precious ancient books are related to the continuation and inheritance of Chinese context.
From “strengthening the protection and utilization of cultural relics and ancient books” to “Government Work Report” in 2022 to “Opinions on Promoting the Work of Ancient Books in the New Era” issued by the General Offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council, the party and the state attached great importance to the protection of ancient books; From the series exhibition “A Thousand Flowers in a Book House”, which triggered an exhibition craze all over the country, to the cultural program “China in Ancient Books”, which was deeply loved by the audience, the characters written in ancient books are coming out of the yellowed pages and coming alive …
Have an “identity card”
Open the China Ancient Books Protection Network “National Ancient Books Census Registration Catalogue”, and the ancient books census registration catalogue compiled by Confucius Museum, Beijing Normal University Library, Chongqing Library and other collection units will be presented.
This is one of the important achievements of the national census of ancient books.
The voluminous ancient books have experienced the vicissitudes of time and recorded the stories of Chinese civilization for thousands of years. Under the influence of dynasty changes, wars, natural disasters and other factors, a large number of ancient books have either scattered around or been destroyed to varying degrees. So, how many ancient books have survived to this day?
In order to find out the family background and inherit the context, in 2007, the “Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan” was officially implemented. As a basic work, the general survey of ancient books resources is carried out in an all-round way throughout the country.
According to Su Pinhong, director of the Office of the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books, at present, the distribution and preservation of ancient books resources in China are basically clear. The national census of ancient books has completed more than 2.7 million copies, and another 1.80,000 letters, 30 provinces have basically completed the survey of Chinese, accounting for more than 90% of the estimated total Chinese; A total of 2,861 units have completed the census and registration of ancient books, accounting for more than 96% of the total number of expected depository institutions.
Through the directory review and general survey, a number of precious documents have also been discovered, such as the book of “Lake” in Yongle Dadian, three heavyweight printed materials in the early Tang Dynasty, and the first rubbings of the Imperial Stone Classic of Qianlong, etc.
Census, so that every ancient book has an “identity card.” According to statistics, by the end of 2021, the “National Basic Database of Ancient Books Census Registration” has published 797 census data of 264 units..30,000 copies/piece. The National Catalogue of Ancient Books Census and Registration has published 123 kinds and 189 volumes of 509 collection units, including 1.27 million items. Tianjin, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Ningxia, Hunan and other provinces have completed the publication of census and registration catalogues. The first draft of Tianjin Volume of Chinese Ancient Books Catalogue has been compiled, and the compilation of national map volume, Hunan volume and Zhejiang volume is in progress.
On the basis of census and registration, the evaluation and naming of the National List of Precious Ancient Books and the National Key Protection Units of Ancient Books have also achieved important results. Since the implementation of the “Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan”, six batches of “National List of Precious Ancient Books” have been selected and published, with a total of 13,026 ancient books. Six batches of 203 “national key protection units of ancient books” were named.
Miao shou Huan Xin sheng
At the beginning of the year, the National Library announced that the restoration project of “Tianlu Linlang” in the Qing Palace, which lasted for 8 years, was a complete success and officially closed. With the help of scientific and technological means, more than 300 first-class damaged ancient books have been properly restored and their style has reappeared.
Although paper has a life of a thousand years, in the passage of time, a large number of ancient books have lost their former glory, such as flocculation, acidification, moth-eaten, mold … Some ancient books have even become “book bricks” that cannot be turned over, or they are broken at the touch, just like biscuit residue.
In the face of “getting old” and “getting sick” of ancient books, the ancient book restorers are striving to race against time based on the principle of “repairing the old as before”, burying their heads in the pile of old paper, turning decay into magic skillfully, and making the precious ancient books that are devastated by leaves reappear their strength and rejuvenate.
Over the past 10 years, relying on 12 “national ancient books restoration centers” to promote the restoration of ancient books, the total amount of ancient books restoration in China has exceeded 3.85 million leaves. These include a number of key restoration projects of national precious ancient books, such as “Tianlu Linlang” in the Qing Palace in the National Library, “nagra Cave Collection” in the library of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Shanxi Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties.
The process of restoration is also the process of skill inheritance and talent training. Take the “Tianlu Linlang” restoration project as an example. In 2013, the “Tianlu Linlang” restoration project was launched, and the project team was also formed. The “post-60s” senior restorers took the “post-80s” young people to study and teach while repairing. In the process of repairing, they also carried out training for young restorers and targeted material testing and research and development. As a result, a group of young ancient books restoration talents have gradually grown up.
People are the key to the restoration of ancient books. Su Pinhong said that through on-the-job training, mentoring and teaching in colleges and universities, the number of prosthodontists in China has grown from less than 100 15 years ago to about 1,000 now. Scientific and standardized restoration has been greatly developed.
Speed up digitalization
For a long time, ancient books have been faced with the dilemma of hiding and using: every time they are opened, they may be damaged; On the shelf again.The value of inheritance and utilization cannot be realized.
The digital open sharing of ancient books has effectively alleviated this contradiction. As a kind of regenerative protection of ancient books, digitalization makes many precious ancient books show their true colors to more people, and readers from all over the world can visit the library at their fingertips anytime and anywhere to read excellent Chinese traditional books, which has effectively promoted academic research and the promotion of ancient books knowledge.
On the page of “Chinese Ancient Books Resource Library” of China Ancient Books Protection Network, click the “Yongle Grand Ceremony” option, and you can read online without logging in. The text in front of the screen is clear, and you can zoom in and watch it. The texture of the years on the paper seems to be felt.
“Chinese Ancient Books Resource Library” is a comprehensive digital resources publishing and sharing platform for ancient books and special collections built by the National Library (National Ancient Books Protection Center). At present, 100,000 pieces of ancient books and special digital resources have been published, including digital ancient books, digital local chronicles, Zhao Cheng’s golden collection, Oracle bone inscriptions, Song Dynasty anthology, epigraph, New Year pictures and other sub-databases. Readers can view full-text images without registering.
In these sub-libraries, the reporter found that it also includes digital resources of overseas Chinese ancient books such as “Harvard University Rare Books Special Collection” and “Dunhuang Suicides Collected in France”. It is reported that while the domestic ancient books resources are digitized, overseas Chinese ancient books investigation and digitization cooperation projects are also continuing to advance. A number of precious ancient books collected overseas, such as Yongle Dadian, rare ancient books collected in Harvard Yanjing Library of Harvard University, Tibetan-Chinese books collected by Institute of Oriental Culture of Tokyo University of Japan, Dunhuang manuscripts collected by National Library of France, have been returned in digital form, and more than 4,000 Chinese books of 36 kinds in Yongqing Library of Japan have realized entity return. The “Overseas Chinese Ancient Books Bibliographic Database” has accumulated more than 800,000 bibliographic data from more than 10 countries and regions, including the United States.
In addition, the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books also held five publishing activities of digital resources of ancient books, and jointly published more than 2.5 million digital resources of ancient books online with 39 ancient book collection units..20,000 books, including genealogy and characteristic ancient books resources collected by Shanghai Library, Yongle South Collection and Yongle North Collection collected by Shandong Library, Ming and Qing editions collected by Tianjin Library, rare ancient books, genealogy and some bibliographic resources collected by Tianyige Museum in Ningbo, have realized the extensive sharing of digital resources of ancient books in China.
Words come alive
Chen Shiyu, a researcher in costume history, has devoted himself to the textual research and restoration of ancient costumes for many years. By consulting and comparing a large number of ancient books, he made the silent words and images in the book shine again. Many of the clothes and ornaments that appeared in the cultural show “National Treasure” and the costume drama “Qingpingle” came from his hands.
This is a passage from the recent documentary “Ancient Books Through Time and Space”. In the documentary, the audience followed the camera, witnessed the restoration of ancient books by scholars and the interpretation of ancient books by artists, and felt that some obscure ancient books gradually came alive.
Ancient books are actually not far away from us. In recent years, ancient books have been revitalized to open a new chapter, and many parties have made joint efforts to continuously tap the times value of ancient books, thus activating the vitality of ancient characters.
Launch a series of exhibitions to evoke cultural memories. A series of special literature exhibitions and historical and cultural exhibitions, such as “Great Exhibition on the Protection and Inheritance of Chinese Traditional Cultural Classics”, “Thousands of Flowers in the Book House: Special Exhibition of National Precious Ancient Books” and “Literature Exhibition of Yongle Dadian in the National Library”, have promoted the dissemination of knowledge and ideas on the protection of ancient books.
Carry out a series of activities to spread the knowledge of ancient books. Online and offline real-life puzzle games developed with the protection of precious ancient books as the main line, so that the public can understand the cultural knowledge of precious ancient books in fun games; Ancient book depository units all over the country jointly held the “Chinese traditional book-drying conference” to popularize traditional book-drying knowledge and tell stories in ancient books through on-site experience; The “I and Chinese Ancient Books” Maker Competition, the National Ancient Books Restoration Skills Competition, and the series of lectures on ancient books have also narrowed the distance between ancient books and the public.
Develop a series of literary creations to show the beauty of ancient books. Creative Keychain of Oracle Bone Inscriptions Zodiac, Fridge Magnet of Xunzi’s Persuasion, T-shirt of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare …… Many libraries in China rely on ancient books to launch various creative products, activate the characters in ancient books with creativity, and let traditional books “fly” into the homes of ordinary people.
In addition, various cultural programs, documentaries and short videos interpret the words in ancient books in the form of movies, music, comics and other popular forms, and with the help of the current means of communication, the story of Chinese civilization can be widely told.
The ancient books and records are generate’s vitality of the times, approaching the public with the wisdom of Chinese history and culture, moistening the soul and benefiting the contemporary.
Our reporter Lai Rui