Since April 18, four of the National Library of China (NLC)'s most treasured
collections of books have been on display together for the first
time: Manuscripts from Dunhuang (Dunhuang Yishu),
Zhaocheng Tripitaka of the Jin Dynasty (Zhaocheng
Jinzang), Complete Works of Chinese Classics
(Siku Quanshu) and the Yongle Encyclopedia
(Yongle Dadian).
This is the largest exhibition of its collection of "rare books
of good edition" since 1949 and will run until the middle of June.
"Rare books of good edition" are materials that have great cultural
significance, as well as being both artistic and informative.
The government defines this category as comprising books from
before 1795 (the 60th year of the Qing Emperor Qian Long's reign),
but the NLC only includes those from before the end of the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).
Items on display include ancient books that the government
bought for huge sums of money from the famous book collector Chen
Qinghua in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Chen's collection of
overseas rare Chinese books that was transferred to the NLC in
2004.
Some 40 of the rare books donated or sold by famous individual
collector Fu Zengxiang and libraries such as Haiyuan Library
(Haiyuan Ge) and the Iron Qin Bronze Sword Tower
(Tieqin Tongjian Lou) are also on show.
Other collections being displayed are: Book of Master
Xun (Xun Zi), Shen Ce Jun Bei (inscription
on a tablet by a famous Tang Dynasty calligrapher Liu Gongquan),
Stone Inscriptions of Confucian Classics During the Five
Dynasties and the Later Shu (Shu Shi Jing; Five
Dynasties: 934-965, Later Shu: 907-960), Chinese Tripitaka
(Zhonghua Dazangjing), Hongfan Comprehensive Mirror
for Government Administration (Hongfan Zhengjian,
compiled in 1186 during the Southern Song Dynasty), Avatamsaka
Sutra (Hua Yan Jing, or Flower Garland
Sutra), and the History as a Mirror (Zhizhi
Tonjian).
As one of the four most important collections of the NLC, the
story of Zhaocheng Jinzang's survival is fascinating. The
book was compiled during the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) by a woman who
was deeply engaged in Buddhism in what is now Shanxi
Province. She spent 30 years copying and inscribing Buddhist
literature, producing 6,980 volumes.
The collection was later found in 1933 in Guangsheng Temple in
the then county of Zhaocheng, Shanxi, and became known to the world
as Zhaocheng Jinzang (Zhaocheng Buddhism
Encyclopedia). It was then much sought after by the warlords
Yan Xishan, KMT leader Chiang Kai Shek, and the Japanese.
In 1942, the Japanese army surrounded Guangsheng Temple and
threatened to take the collection by force, but the abbot Li Kong
rushed to the local communist anti-Japanese government miles away
for help and over 5,000 volumes of the collection were rescued.
In January 1949, Zhaocheng Jinzhang was transferred to
the then Peking Library by official decree, and remained there till
now.
(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, May 6, 2005)