| National Library of China | |
|---|---|
| 中国国家图书馆 | |
 | |
 National Library of China North Complex | |
 | |
| Location | Beijing,China |
| Type | National library |
| Established | September 1909 (116 years ago) (1909-09) |
| Collection | |
| Size | 41 million (December 2020)[1] |
| Access and use | |
| Access requirements | Open to the public |
| Population served | 1.4 billion |
| Other information | |
| Director | vacant since April 2024 |
| Website | nlc.cn |
| National Library of China | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国国家图书馆 | ||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國國家圖書館 | ||||||||||
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TheNational Library of China (NLC) is thenational library of China, located inHaidian, Beijing, and is one of thelargest libraries in the world. It contains over 41 million items as of December 2020.[1][2] It holds the largest collection ofChinese literature and historical documents in the world[3] and covers an area of 280,000 square meters.[4] The National Library is a public welfare institution funded by theMinistry of Culture and Tourism.
The collections of the National Library have inherited the royal collections since theSouthern Song Dynasty and private collections since theMing andQing dynasties. The oldest collections can be traced back to the oracle bones of Yin Ruins more than 3,000 years ago.[5]
The National Library is a majorresearch andpublic library, with items in 123 languages[6] and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. As of December 2020, the collection contains more than 41 million volumes and is growing at a rate of one million volumes per year.[7] The total amount of digital resources exceeds 1000TB and is growing at a rate of 100TB per year.[8]
The National Library of China was initially founded as the Imperial Peking Library by the Qing government in 1909. After several name changes and administrative alternation, it was renamed the National Library of China in 1999.[9] The National Library now consists of the South Complex, the North Complex, the Ancient Books Hall,[10] the Children's Hall, and seventeen dispatched research libraries to the central government's various departments and to theAcademy of Military Sciences.[11][12]
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The earliest Chinese references to Western-style public libraries were byLin Zexu in theSizhou Zhi (四洲志; 1839) andWei Yuan in theIllustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms (first ed., 1843), both of which were translations from Western books.[13]
In the late nineteenth century, in response to several military defeats against western powers, the government of theQing dynasty (1644–1912) sent several missions abroad to study western culture and institutions. Several members of the first Chinese diplomatic mission, which sailed to the United States, England, France, and other countries from 1111 to 1870,[clarification needed] recorded their views of western libraries, noting that they attracted a large number of readers.[14] JournalistLiang Qichao (1873–1929), who became a prominent exiled intellectual after the failure of theHundred Days' Reform in 1898, wrote about theBoston Public Library and theUniversity of Chicago Library, praising their openness to the public and the virtue of readers who did not steal the books that had been lent to them.[15]Dai Hongci [zh] (戴鸿慈;戴鴻慈), a member of another Qing mission sent abroad to study modern constitutions, noted the efficacy of book borrowing at the Library of Congress.[16]
In 1906, the governor of Hunan provincePang Hongshumemorialized to the throne to announce he had completed preparations for the creation of a provincial library inChangsha.[17] In 1908 and 1909, high officials from the provinces ofFengtian,Shandong,Shanxi,Zhejiang andYunnan petitioned the Imperial Court asking for permission to establish public libraries in their respective jurisdictions.[17] In response, on 2 May 1909, the Qing Ministry of Education (学部;學部;Xuébù) announced plans to open libraries in every province of the country.[18]
On 9 September 1909,Zhang Zhidong, a long-time leader of theSelf-Strengthening movement who had beenviceroy of Huguang and was now serving on the powerfulGrand Council, memorialized to request the foundation of a library in China's capital.[19] Foundation of the library was approved by imperial edict that same day.[20] The institution was originally called the Imperial Library of Peking orMetropolitan Library (京师图书馆;京師圖書館;Jīngshī Túshūguǎn).[21] Lu Xun and other famous scholars have made great efforts for its construction.
Philologist andbibliographerMiao Quansun (缪荃荪;繆荃蓀; 1844–1919), who had overseen the founding ofJiangnan Library inNanjing two years earlier, was called in to administer the new establishment. As in Jiangnan, his assistant Chen Qingnian took charge of most of the management.[22]
A private proposal made byLuo Zhenyu in the early 1900s stated that the library should be located in a place protected from both fire and floods, and at some distance from noisy markets. Following these recommendations, the Ministry of Education first chose theDeshengmen neighborhood inside the northernBeijingcity wall, a quiet area with lakes. But this plan would have required purchasing several buildings. For lack of funds,Guanghua Temple (广化寺;廣化寺) was chosen as the library's first site. Guanghua Temple was a complex ofBuddhist halls and shrines located near the northern bank of theShichahai, but inconveniently located for readers, and too damp for long-term book storage. The Imperial Library of Peking would remain there until 1917.[23] In 1916, the Ministry of education ordered the library, every published book should be registered in ministry of interior and all collected by library, The function of national library begins to manifest.[24]
TheNational Peking Library opened to the public on 27 August 1912, a few months after the abdication ofPuyi (r. 1908–12), the last emperor of the Qing dynasty.[25] From then on, it was managed by the Ministry of Education of theRepublic of China.[25] The day before the library's opening, its new chief librarian Jiang Han (江瀚: 1853–1935) argued that the National Peking Library was aresearch library and recommended the opening of a new library with magazines and new publications that could attract a more popular readership.[26] In June 1913, such a Branch Library was opened outsideXuanwumen Gate, and more than 2,000 books were transferred there from the main library.[27] On 29 October 1913, because Guanghua Temple proved too small and inaccessible, the main library itself was closed, pending the choice of a new site.[28]
The Library charged one copper coin as a reading fee, whereas theTianjin Library charged twice as much and the Shandong public library charged three coins.[29] At first, readers could not borrow books, but sometime before 1918 borrowing became allowed.[30]
In 1916, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Republic of China ordered that a copy of every Chinese publication should be deposited at the Metropolitan Library after being registered with the Copyright Bureau.[31]
After theNorthern Expedition ofKuomintang in 1928, thename of Beijing was changed to Beiping (Peiping) to emphasize that the capital had moved to Nanjing (jīng lit. translating to capital). The National Peking Library therefore changed its name to the National Peiping Library and became the co-national library with theNational Central Library in Nanjing. In 1931, the new library house in Wenjin Street near theBeihai Park opened. After thePeople's Republic of China was officially established in October 1949 and Beijing once again became the capital, the National Peiping Library was renamedNational Peking Library. In 1951, theMinistry of Culture declared that its official English name would now bePeking Library.[32]
The library established a materials exchange program with theC.V. Starr East Asian Library ofColumbia University in 1963, through which it was able to acquire materials from the West; one such transaction during the first months of the program involved the exchange of the complete works ofJames Baldwin for "valuable legal publications" from China.[33][34] This relationship lasted until the early 2000s, when theColumbia University Libraries discontinued its exchange department.[35]
In 1978, two years after the end of theCultural Revolution, the library started publishing theBulletin of the Beijing Library (Beitu Tongxun 北图通讯), which quickly became one of China's most important library publications.[36] In 1979, under an Implementing Accord regulatingcultural exchanges between the U.S. and China, it vowed to exchange library material with theLibrary of Congress.[37] To compensate for a lack of professionally trained librarians, starting in 1982 librarians from the NLC and other academic libraries spent periods of six months at the Library of Congress and theYale University Library.[38] To developlibrary science, the NLC established links with theAustralian National University.[36]
In October 1987, the Library moved to a modern building located north ofPurple Bamboo Park inHaidian District.[39] In 1999, it was officially renamed the National Library of China.[40]
In November 2001, with the approval of theState Council, the second phase of the National Library project and the National Digital Library project were officially launched. As an important component of the national information infrastructure, the project was included in the 10th Five-Year Plan. The total national investment amounted to $1.23 billion, allocated for physical expansion, the creation of digital collections, IT infrastructure, and online services.[41]
On 28 October 2003, the National Library ALEPH500 computer integrated management system has been put into operation, which laid the foundation for the National Library to enter the ranks of the world's advanced libraries.[42]
The National Library of China's collection is the largest in Asia.[3][43] Its holdings of more than 41 million items (as of December 2020) also make it one of theworld's largest libraries.[1][44][45] It houses official publications of theUnited Nations and foreign governments and a collection of literature and materials in over 115 languages.[3] The library containsinscribed tortoise shells and bones, ancient manuscripts, andblock-printed volumes.[46] Among the most prized collections of the National Library of China are rare and precious documents and records from past dynasties inChinese history.
The original collection of the Metropolitan Library was assembled from several sources. In 1909 the imperial court gave the library the only surviving complete copy of theComplete Library of the Four Treasuries (orSiku Quanshu), an enormous compilation completed in 1782 that had been made in only four copies. That copy had been held at theWenjin Pavilion of theImperial Summer Resort inChengde.[19] On orders from the Qing Ministry of Education, the ancient books, archives, and documents of theGrand Secretariat were also transferred to the new library. So was the collection of theGuozijian or Imperial University, an institution that had been dismantled in 1905 at the same time as theimperial examination system.[47] These imperial collections included books and manuscripts dating to the Southern Song (1127–1279).[48] The content of three private libraries from the Jiangnan area were donated under the supervision ofDuanfang, theviceroy of Liangjiang, and the Ministry arranged for the transfer fromGansu of what remained of theDunhuang manuscripts. Finally, the court made great efforts to obtainrubbings of rareinscriptions on stone or bronze.[47]
The Digital Library Promotion Project was launched in 2011, with the backing of the State Council. The goal of the Digital Library Promotion Project is to connect libraries at all levels, and to make resources and services accessible to more than 3,000 libraries country-wide. In order to allow for a total sharing of digital resources across the country, this project registered and integrated resources in libraries according to the principle of, 'centralized management of metadata, decentralized storage of object data.' By 2013, hardware to support this project had been installed into 30 provincial libraries and 139 prefectural-level libraries, which helped register over 1.5 million metadata in 123 databases, making over 12 terabytes of digital resources available to share. That same year saw a 67 percent increase from the previous year in users accessing the User Management System, with 221,000 visits.[4]
The Mobile Reading Platform of the Digital Library Promotion Project was also first put into effect in 2013, and more than 10 provinces began to provide new cell phone and digital television-based media services.[4]
Due to difficulties in preserving ancient texts, the NLC implemented several projects to work towards not only better preserving original materials, but also making copies available for research throughmicrophotography, photocopy anddigitization. The projects implemented to work on these preservation issues are the Chinese Ancient Books Reproduction Project, the Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan, and the Minguo Materials (1911–1949) Protection Plan, to name just a few.[4]
The Chinese Ancient Books Reproduction Project was started in 2002, and its main goal was to copy and republish selected rare books. In their first phase, nearly 800 works from theSong andYuan Dynasty were copied, reprinted, and distributed internationally to more than 100 libraries. The Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan, which began in 2007, and the Minguo Materials (1911–1949) Protection Plan, which began in 2012, both strive to establish an integrated preservation mechanism at the national level.[4]
The North and South complexes of the library are located inHaidian District while the Ancient Books Library is inXicheng District.[54]
In 2012, the NLC allocated 11,549 square meters (124,312.4 square feet) to construct the National Museum of Classic Books, which opened in 2014. This museum features rare books and maps,Yangshi Lei architecture drawings,stone and bronze rubbings,oracle bones, and many other unique items.[4]
As of 2022, during what the National Library of China is calling the 'Normalized Epidemic Prevention and Control Period,' the operating hours for the library have not fully returned to pre-pandemic times. The North Complex, the South Complex, and the Children's Library are all open from 9am to 5pm Tuesdays through Sundays, and are closed on Mondays. The Ancient Books Library is open 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Visitors wishing to enter the library are asked to make reservations in advance.[55] As of 2013, the Library maintains 14 branch offices, the latest of which is at theChina Youth University for Political Sciences.[56]
The Main Library, located onZhongguancun South Road in Beijing'sHaidian District, can be accessed by bus or subway.[57]
| Service | Station/Stop | Lines/Routes served |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing Bus | Guojiatushuguan (National Library) | * Regular: 86, 92, 319, 320, 332, 563, 588, 608, 689, 695, 697, 717 * Special (double-decker): 4, 6 * Yuntong (运通): 105, 106, 205 |
| Beijing Subway | National Library |
Address: National Library of China, #33 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Hai Dian District, Beijing[...]Address: NLC Library of Ancient Books, #7 Wenjin Street, Xi Cheng District, Beijing-Chinese address of main libraryArchived 24 May 2020 at theWayback Machine: "北京市 海淀区 中关村南大街33号 国家图书馆" -Chinese address of Ancient Books LibraryArchived 27 June 2020 at theWayback Machine: "北京市西城区文津街7号 国家图书馆古籍馆"
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39°56′45″N116°19′21″E / 39.9458711944°N 116.322362417°E /39.9458711944; 116.322362417
