Libraries in China
The first libraries in China came into being during the time of the Shang dynasty (the sixteenth to eleventh centuries B.C.) as intellectuals known as the Shi (historians) and Wu (diviners) emerged from manual labor to special occupations for the creation and spread of culture. Among the documents that these occupations managed were "the country's statute books, genealogies of imperial kinsmen, issued notices and orders, and recorded important events and natural phenomena. For future verification and reference, they built storehouses to keep records in different media. To meet the needs of more and more complicated affairs and to ensure easy use, they began to collect and sort out those records according to chronological order and category. Thus, the earliest library in China came into being. The numerous kinds of media loaded with information and knowledge emerged in human society, resulting in the concepts of preservation and collection. Accordingly, the earliest libraries and archives were the result of conscious collection, process, coalition, and utilization."[1]
Early in the history of China, scholars had extensive private libraries, and all of the imperial dynasties constructed libraries and archives to house literary treasures and official records. These early private libraries acted more as book repositories than libraries. The actions of book repositories were often limited to basic functions such as collecting, preserving, and compiling books. There were four major types of book repositories in the Qing dynasty (1644 AD–1912 AD): Government, private, academy (shuyuan), and temple book repositories.[2] The first modern libraries, however, did not appear in China until the late nineteenth century; even then, library service grew slowly and sporadically. In 1949 there were only fifty-five public libraries at the county level and above, most concentrated in major coastal commercial centers.[3]
Following the founding of the People's Republic, government and education leaders strove to develop library services and make them available throughout the country. The National Book Coordination Act of 1957 authorized the establishment of two national library centers, one in
At the end of 2004, China had 2,710 public libraries with a collection of over 400 million copies. There were 2,925
National Library
The country's main library, the National Library of China,[8] housed a rich collection of books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, prints, photographs, manuscripts, microforms, tape recordings, and inscriptions on bronze, stone, bones, and tortoiseshells.
The National Library of China, with a collection of over 26 million volumes, is the largest library in
The library started to accept the submissions of official national publications in 1916, becoming the main national database; and began to accept submissions of domestic electronic publications in 1987. It is also the country's ISSN (
Other libraries
The
The
Major provincial libraries
- Anhui Library安徽省图书馆
- Capital Library in Beijing
- Chongqing Library 重庆市图书馆
- Fujian Library 福建省图书馆
- Gansu Library甘肃省图书馆
- Guangdong Library 广东省图书馆
- Library of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region广西壮族自治区图书馆
- Guizhou Library贵州省图书馆
- Hainan Library 海南省图书馆
- Hebei Library 河北省图书馆
- Heilongjiang Library黑龙江省图书馆
- Henan Library河南图书馆
- Hubei Provincial Library 湖北省图书馆
- Hunan Library 湖南省图书馆
- Library of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 内蒙古自治区图书馆
- Jiangxi Library 江西省图书馆
- Jilin Library 吉林省图书馆
- Liaoning Library 辽宁省图书馆
- Nanjing Library 南京圖書館
- Library of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region宁夏回族自治区图书馆
- Qinghai Library青海省图书馆
- Shaanxi Library 陕西省图书馆
- Shandong Library 山东省图书馆
- Shanghai Library 上海市图书馆
- Shanxi Library 山西省图书馆
- Sichuan Library四川省图书馆
- Tianjin Library 天津市图书馆
- Tibet Autonomous Region Library西藏自治区图书馆
- Library of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region新疆自治区图书馆
- Yunnan Library云南省图书馆
- Zhejiang Library 浙江省图书馆
Special administrative region libraries
- Hong Kong Public Library
- Macao Public Library
Libraries operated in the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China" - the Republic of China (Taiwan) - are not included.
Municipal libraries
This excludes libraries of
- Guangzhou Library
- Hangzhou Library
- Nanjing Library
- Shenzhen Library
- Chengdu Library
- Dalian Library
- Suzhou Library
- Wuhan Library
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library (Zhongshan)
- Zhongshan Library Xiamen Municipal Library Gulangyu Branch
See also
- Chinese Library Classification (CLC)
- Archives in the People's Republic of China
- Boone Library School
- Culture of the People's Republic of China
- Education in the People's Republic of China
- Ningbo Library
- Taizhou Library
References
- ^ Hua, Xie Zhuo (1996). Libraries and the development of culture in China. Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine "Libraries & Culture", No. 3/4, pp. 533.
- S2CID 145394841.
- ^ Zhixian Yi. "History of Library Developments in China" (PDF). IFLA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ "Statistical Communiqué on the 2011 National Economic and Social Development". stats.gov.cn. National Bureau of Statistics of China. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ National Data database at National Bureau of Statistics of China
- ^ PKU Library Archived 24 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ZJU Library Archived 13 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Official site of the National Library of China. Users can search database of books, periodicals, and statistical yearbooks.
- ^ Benzin, Kate (11 September 2017). "National Library of China – Largest in Asia". Red Duck Post. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ Lib.pku.edu.cn. (2017). Overview and History | Beijing University Library. [online] Available at: http://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/portal/bggk/bgjs/lishiyange Archived 17 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine [Retrieved 16 March 2017].
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.[1]
External links
- National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院国家科学图书馆) – functions as the key library nationally for collecting information resources and providing information services in natural sciences, inter-disciplinary fields, and high tech fields, for the researchers and students of Chinese Academy of Sciences and for the researchers around the country.
- Chinese Library Network – SinoLib.com
- National Science and Technology Library of China – offers abundant science and technology related archive and information. Since 2002, the site upgraded to provide new services, such as Union Public Catalog, Periodical Catalog, and Experts Consult.
- Tsinghua University Library (in English) – Presents the homepage of the Tsinghua University Library. Includes introduction to the Library, its services, user's guide, feedback, news, online catalogs, web directories, electronic resources within and beyond the Library. Categorizes online libraries in China by province.
- Peking University Library – Provides online access to its catalog and allows searching in English, Pinyin, and Chinese characters.
- Zhejiang University Library – A system of 5 libraries that provides comprehensive access to the university's library holdings. ZJU Library is also the host of the China-America Digital Academic Library (CADAL).
- Chinese Collection Asian Reading Room, U.S. Library of Congress