This morning, a bad news came -
Jiang Xun, the founder of Model Books, died unexpectedly in Beijing on January 16, 2022, at the age of 51.
You may feel strange when you mention his name, but the "most beautiful bookstore" he founded is well known to everyone who loves books.
The wife revealed that her husband died unexpectedly in the process of moving books in the warehouse, and at present, she is trying to maintain the normal operation of the model bookstore.
Because, this is the husband's wish, is the couple's conscientious pursuit for most of their lives.
In the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, Yangmeizhu Street was an important cultural landmark.
Liang Shizheng, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty University, Dai Yuexuan, a master of lake pen, Yang Xiaolou, a master of Peking Opera, and Xin Fengxia, an actor who commented on opera, all lived here.
The mansion given by the Qianlong Emperor to Tobe Shangshu and Liang Shizheng of Dongge University at that time was also on this street.
Literary scholar Shen Congwen's works such as "Border City", "Long River", and "Xiangxi Sanji" were also written in Yangmeizhu Xie Street.
Lu Xun and Liang Shiqiu have mentioned this place in the article.
Not only the literati gathered, but it was also the most important publishing commercial street in Beijing at that time, bringing together seven long-established bookstores: The World Bookstore, Zhongzheng Bookstore, Enlightened Bookstore, Guangyi Bookstore, Universal Bookstore, Dazhong Bookstore, and Zhonghua Printing Bookstore.
Unfortunately, after the founding of New China, these bookstores were converted into residential houses, and the former style was no longer the same. Yangmeizhu Street is also not as bustling as it once was, and it is completely different from the bustle of Qianmen Street.
Old view of Yangmeizhu Diagonal Street
Until 2004, a book collector opened a bookstore on Yangmeizhu Street that restored the style of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, The Model Bookstore.
Committed to creating the most beautiful reading space in Beijing, he is extremely elaborate in both the location of the bookstore and the interior decoration.
The bookstore is opened in an old church with a history of 112 years, and when it was rebuilt, in line with the purpose of restoring the original appearance of the old building, Jiang Xun and his wife preserved the original spatial structure to the greatest extent.
They also specially found old photos and decorated the interior according to the appearance in the photos.
After the decoration was completed, the couple moved in old-fashioned furniture, the floor paved with old door panels, and various kinds of books such as raw edge books, wire-bound books, and signature books.
From the very beginning of its construction, it has given the bookstore a strong cultural atmosphere.
Not only that, but in terms of the choice of name, this bookstore is also different.
The word "exemplary" in Model Books does not mean "exemplary" today. In the printing industry, movable type for printing is called "mold", and the vessel containing movable type is called "fan".
"Mo" and "Fan" represent the Chinese character elements of ancient cultural roots, and are also the chinese character souls that the bookstore owner Jiang Xun wants to find Chinese. Therefore, the book company was named "Model Bookstore".
Model Bookstore
The decoration of the model bookstore is also different from most modern bookstores.
There is no modern decoration, whether it is the floor of the front hall, or the bookshelves, or the stone road leading to the tea room, it is made of materials from the Republican period that the boss has worked hard to find, and the overall style is also as good as possible to restore the style of the Republic of China period.
Model Bookstore certainly doesn't sell ordinary books either.
Model Books does not sell new books or bestsellers, the books in the book office are collector's editions of books or books produced by the boss himself, and some rare signed editions of rare books that are difficult to find on the market can be found in Model Books.
Among the hundreds of thousands of books in Jiang Xun's collection, there is a well-thought-out "Grass Window Rhyme" by a famous southern Song Dynasty writer, who he loved so much that he also named his daughter with the word "language" in the title.
In order to make the value of this book can be brought into play, he made the text in the book into a font library, and printed several of today's masterpieces in the font of "Grass Window Rhyme", so that "Grass Window Rhyme" can survive in another form.
An engraving of The Rhyme of grass windows
The boss Jiang Xun is also not an ordinary person.
Jiang Xun is not only a book collector, but also a publisher, binding designer, poet, and painter. He himself was very keen on traditional engraving printing, and in this way, he published many books himself.
He has also won the "Most Beautiful Book in China" book award twice.
Among them, Mo Yan's "Gale", commissioned by the Nobel Museum to print, was particularly eye-catching during the exhibition, and only 274 copies were issued worldwide, which is very precious.
Mo Yan's "Gale" engraving series
And the customers who are different.
Now many book lovers will go to the model bookstore, and when they see some books that they love, they will take home their loved ones at great expense.
There is a large set of "Ukiyo-e Juhua" that Jiang Xun and his wife carried back to China from Japan together, and a young girl accidentally walked into the model bookstore, and as soon as she came in, she was attracted by this set of books, and immediately paid more than 20,000 yuan to move this set of books away.
There are also some collectors who come to model bookstores to find books that are difficult to find.
If you're not here to buy books, it's a mini-printing museum, and it's great to take a stroll around.
In addition to books, the owner also collects a lot of engravings, which are also very worth seeing.
Part of the engraving collection of the Model Book Company
Jiang Xun said: "In addition to book design, I also do porcelain firing, painting and sculpture creation, and I can only use limited money to buy my favorite engravings. ”
The most precious piece of his engraving is the Ming Wanli engraving "Wutaishan Buddhist Printed Edition", which is engraved with "The Picture of the Brahma Tree" on one side and the "Picture of the Nine Past Lives of the Western Sacred Realm" on the other.
Jiang Xun also made a rotatable wooden frame for this giant engraving, and whenever someone visits, he will stand in front of the engraving and carefully look at it and admire the ancient craftsmanship.
Jiang Xun is keen on engraving and printing, and his greatest wish is to pass on this traditional Chinese skill and retain the roots of culture.
Jiang Xun said: "These antique engravings I have received have been continued through the generations, like ancient mountains, it may not be able to move, but it has become a primitive existence." ”
Such a unique model bookstore is a "dating" place in the eyes of the boss Jiang Xun.
Jiang Xun said: "Model Bookstore is actually a place to date books. ”
In 2017, the second model bookstore opened a branch at the Tianqiao Art Center in Beijing;
In 2018, the third model bookstore entered the Financial Street Shopping Center;
In 2019, the fourth model bookstore + poetry space was renovated at the old site of the Chinese Anglican Church.
In 2021, the fifth model bookstore source bookstore and the sixth model bookstore Friendship Bookstore will also open one after another.
As bookstores open more and more, the pressure is increasing.
Faced with the operational dilemma of physical bookstores, Jiang Xun sighed more than once:
"In the process of doing a physical bookstore, if this boss does not have a strong sense of social responsibility and a strong heart, he will soon fall."
But even if it was difficult, he never wanted to give up.
In the face of high rents, he opened a coffee shop in the bookstore and continued to carry out cultural and creative design, which can bring some daily flow.
For the normal operation of these bookstores, he even sold a house of more than 200 square meters in Guozijian.
In him, we see the feelings of a book lover and the sense of social responsibility he shoulders.
The Slovaks have passed away, and what we are left with is his carefully selected books, the collections he collects with his heart, his adherence to his dreams, and his unchanging original intention.
He had loved books all his life, and now he really stepped into the heavens of books.
If you have time to pass by here, don't forget to visit his model bookstore and thank Mr. Jiang Xun for bringing us spiritual nourishment.
May he sleep forever in the world of books, and may his unfulfilled dreams continue to take root in this world.
Author | Zhou Meimei, Binzai
Image | Network (if there is infringement, please contact to delete)