A Diverse Collection of Books

By Wang Fengjuan

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A Diverse Collection of Books

By Wang Fengjuan

Shortly after lunch， Guo Meng and her friends hop into the car and head to Zashuguan， where they will have a close look at a newly established treasure trove of books — an opportunity earned only via online reservation the previous week. Zashuguan is a nonprofit private library located in Cuigezhuang Township of Beijing's Chaoyang District. Although it lies as far as 25 kilometers from downtown Beijing， every morning it sees a line of readers waiting for its opening at 10 a.m.

“The library's curator is Gao Xiaosong， a well-known musician and talk show host who is considered a representative of contemporary intellectuals， with profound communication skills， academic influence， and an interesting personality，” Guo explains. “This is probably one of the reasons why the library is gaining fame.”

Guo adds that as a media professional，she was quite curious about the operation of Zashuguan， one of only a handful of nonprofit， private libraries in China.

Feeling the Breath of History

Before Zashuguan was officially launched，Gao had already initiated several promotion campaigns. He gave an interview to China Central Television Station （CCTV）， talking about the meaning of reading and revealing that “Zashuguan collects a wide variety of readings including encyclopedic volumes， folk literature， periodicals， and teaching materials from different historical eras”. Gao invited his friend， writer Zhang Dachun， to inscribe the name of the library in Chinese characters.

Zashuguan consists of two parts，Guoxueguan （library for the study of traditional Chinese culture） and Xinshuguan（library of new books）， respectively devoted to books published before and aTher 1949， the year when the People's Republic of China was founded. More like a library of general meaning， Xinshuguan houses some 200，000 volumes of books which are classified in categories and placed on nut-brown， wooden bookshelves， available for readers to leaf through. A few of the shelves tower to the ceiling， and to see the titles of books on higher levels clearly， readers can borrow telescopes at the front desk.

In comparison， Guoxueguan， which houses more than 800，000 volumes of literature，periodicals， documents， and files from the Ming （1368-1644） and Qing （1644-1911） dynasties as well as the Republic of China period（1912-1949）， is reminiscent of a warehouse，with a smell of old books filling the air.

Guoxueguan is divided into seven sections： periodicals from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China （ROC）， books and documents of the ROC， Sinology books in Western languages， specially collected new books， thread-bound ancient encyclopedias，old books on ethnicities and folk customs and letters and manuscripts of celebrated figures.

The signature attraction of the library，Guoxueguan features 50，000 volumes of foreign-language readings piled on iron shelves，including folk custom books penned by foreigners traveling and living in China during the late Qing and ROC periods， as well as publications by foreign missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty. More than 100，000 volumes of

thread-bound books from the Tang （618-907），Song （960-1279）， Ming and Qing dynasties are stored in wood bookcases with dustproof glass doors， which together make up the library's most expensive collection. Also included are around 100，000 copies of journals and magazines from the late Qing， covering a wide variety of topics. Other important collections include 100，000 librettos of traditional and folk operas gathered from across the nation and more than 200，000 manuscripts， letters and personal materials of famous scholars，writers， historians， and philosophers such as Kang Youwei， Liang Qichao， Hu Shi， and Qian Zhongshu.

At present， Zashuguan only accepts 100 visitors each day， the first 50 of whom are allowed to borrow books from Guoxueguan，while the other 50 can visit Guoxueguan under the guidance of library staff. Particularly popular are faded books and magazines with plastic covers on shelves， and readers may find familiar names， such as New Youth （an influential monthly periodical launched in 1915 by Chinese New Culture Movement leader Chen Duxiu）， the first issue of Min Pao （published in Japan with a foreword written by China's democratic revolution pioneer Dr. Sun Yatsen） and A Woman's Liberation （a women's magazine of the ROC）.

Treasures from the Trash

Zashuguan， a treasure trove of books， attracts readers from all walks of life

When asked where this large quantity of old books and folk documents came from，Gao Xiaosong attributed it to “donations from various folk collectors”.

“These books were originally scattered among the people， nearly sent to paper mills for making pulp，” the library clerk， surnamed Wang， explains， with a copy of New Youth in hand. “These treasures were actually salvaged from waste bins.”

Du Guoli， now a big shot in Beijing's old book community， played a major role in“collecting the waste”. For more than 20 years before Zashuguan was established， he collected these ancient volumes. He led a group of eight in searching around 100 tons of waste books and journals， and the New Youth now on display at Zashuguan was made possible only by four days of exhaustive search.

Du still remembers that the first batch of books from his collection to Zashuguan was“a truckload of some 10，000 copies of foreign books”. Mostly gently used and with high-quality covers and paper， these books were retrieved from a Beijing-based library. Du had no idea what the texts were about， but he instinctively believed these books were valuable.

Besides old books， Du also collected a number of personal letters of renowned figures from The Commercial Press and transported them straight to Zashuguan.

“Just a single page of Hu Shi's personal letters can sell for at least 100，000 yuan（US$15，000），” Du explains.

At present， Zashuguan collects hundreds of volumes from old book dealers on a monthly basis. When Du collects books，he gives priority to the needs of Zashuguan，focusing on readings from the late Qing and ROC periods. Since the establishment of Zashuguan， he has sold numerous books to the library， which， at a total value of millions of yuan， account for nearly 80 percent of Zashuguan's collection of ancient books.

As a nonprofit organization， Zashuguan primarily survives on financial aid from individuals. Due to limited personnel and capital，it temporarily lacks the capability of restoring old books with damaged spines or crisp paper. In terms of book preservation， Zashuguan cannot guarantee constant temperature and humidity like public libraries， which also explains why it requires guests to make reservations. According to Deputy Curator Sun Yutian， unlimited reading service needs much investment， so Zashuguan currently only allows borrowing and transcription.

However， ambitions of the library founders go far beyond simply “borrowing and transcription”.

“Our goal is to become the world's biggest collector of folk publications from the late Qing and ROC periods，” asserts Sun. Speaking on the topic of the development plan of Zashuguan， he reveals that ideally the library should target two different groups： ordinary readers enjoying free reading and research，and academic lovers and scientific researchers who should pay for the use of documents. On a one-to-one basis， paid readers can have access to a separate room for their own use， and as many as 1，000 books and other materials can be selected from the stack room according to the needs of the reader. Within a period of one year， the reader can visit the library at any time， paying a one-off fee at the year's end.