Since tanabata, ancient book collection units around the world have begun to "organize groups to dry books":
August 25, Qufu, Shandong. The Confucius Museum unveiled the "treasure of the town hall" - the Song carved version of the "Norms of Imperial Dynastic Studies"; on the same day, the Shandong Provincial Library exhibited 80 rare old genealogies in the collection.
August 26, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Several volunteers dressed in Hanfu demonstrated ancient book drying activities on the shore of Xizi Lake.
September 1, Beijing. The National Library of China will hold the "Magic Hand Supplement Book Can Spring - National Ancient Book Restoration Skills Competition and Achievement Exhibition".
The traditional Chinese festival "Qixi" has a rich connotation, and the tradition of drying books is one of them. On the 25th, the "2020 Chinese Traditional Book Drying Activity" was launched at the Confucius Museum in Qufu, starting with Tanabata, and next, various places will successively hold book-drying activities with the themes of national treasures, classics, techniques, traditions and so on.
It's about drying books and sharing classics
Place the book on the side, stretch the scroll, stir the leaves, shake the book... In August, when the sky on the shore of Xizi Lake was clear, readers witnessed a "legendary book drying activity" at the Zhejiang Library's "Gengzi Book Drying Collection".
In order to protect the classics and prevent the classics from becoming moldy and insecticidal, after the rainy season, the books will be put in a cool and ventilated place to dry, and the ancients explored the method of drying books and exposing books, effectively extending the life of classics. Since the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with the sixth month of the sixth month and the seventh month of July in the lunar calendar as the core, a unique cultural tradition of drying books has been formed.
According to Zhang Zhiqing, deputy director of the National Library of China and deputy director of the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books, since 2019, the National Library (National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books) has joined hands with the National Provincial Ancient Book Protection Center and the Ancient Book Collection Unit to hold the "Chinese Traditional Book Drying Activity", and the National Ancient Book Collection Unit has held a variety of activities. On the basis of protecting ancient books, the book-drying activities use the form of happy to see national treasures, classics, techniques and traditions, so that experts, scholars and readers can share their collection, collation and reading experience.
What important collections have been produced by libraries around the world this year?
The Confucius Museum held two exhibitions, "Exhibition of Han and Wei Inscriptions in the Collection" and "Special Exhibition of Precious Ancient Books Collected by the Confucius Museum". Important collections such as the Song engraved "Norms of Imperial Shixue", the Yuan engraving "Zhou Yijing Transmission Collection", and the Ming engraving "The Pure Words of Mr. Ercheng" are exhibited. Guo Sike, director of the Confucius Museum, introduced that the Confucius Museum has more than 6,400 ancient books and more than 40,000 volumes since the Song Dynasty, more than 4,000 engravings of ancient books, more than 300,000 private documents and archives of the Confucius Government since the Ming Dynasty, and 13 ancient books have been selected into the "National Precious Ancient Books Directory".
The key word in Henan's book-drying activities is "rubbing". Qingtuo Tang Yan Zhenqing Kaishu "Eight Guanzhai Hui Bao DeJi", Northern Song Dynasty Mi Fu "Minang Palace Seventeen Stickers" rubbing, "Portrait of the Diagonal Drama Car" Han brick rubbing... 86 precious rubbings (Tuoben) from 11 collection units in Henan were gathered in the Shaolin Temple Stele Gallery, attracting a large number of tourists to stop.
Zhang Zhiqing said that on the basis of the ancient tradition of drying books, today's "sunning" has an extra layer of contemporary meaning, that is, sharing, based on the protection of ancient books, so that ancient books can go to everyone.
It is to dry books, but also to exchange knowledge
When the crowd stops in front of the library to watch, it should be in line with one of the themes of this year's book-drying activities - to open up their own life with the rules of the ancients.
Photocopied the Lan Ge "Four Libraries Complete Book" into the Tibetan national map. On the 26th, Chu Shuqing, director of Zhejiang Library, on behalf of Zhejiang Library, presented the National Library with photocopied hardcover "Four Libraries complete book" to the National Library.
Chu Shuqing said that this is a "return gift".
Wenlan Pavilion's "Four Libraries of Complete Books" is the "treasure of the town library" of Zhejiang Library, is a classical document of typical significance, in the process of its transmission, encountered war, fortunately by the Zhejiang Library, Guizhou Library and other ancestors moved west to protect it, so that it can be preserved. Later, it was supplemented by the Wenjinge "Four Libraries Complete Book" collected by the National Library of China, and 213 kinds of supplements, 5660 volumes, and 2251 volumes were copied. Through the efforts of several generations of ancient scholars, Wenlan Ge's "Four Libraries of Complete Books" has finally restored the old view and become a cultural symbol of book collection and book protection and copying and supplementing books by bibliophiles in Zhejiang and even Jiangnan.
"Through this gift, we want to deepen the deep friendship between the National Library of China and the Zhejiang Library in the inheritance and protection of the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", so that the Wenlan Pavilion "Four Libraries Quanshu", which has been assisted by the National Library, can return to Beijing and become an important reference for academic research together with the Wenjinge "Four Libraries Quanshu", serve the readers, and contribute to the cultural flow of Beijing and Hangzhou." Chu Shuqing said.
In addition to protecting the classics, the tradition of drying books adds the meaning of respecting the classics, reading the texts, and exchanging knowledge. A number of bibliophiles in Zhejiang have "published" their own private collections, and some bibliophiles have compiled and published the "Seal Engraving Calendar" with classic prints, which is considered to be a useful attempt by the people to actively "revitalize the tradition".
"Books are better than life, people do not live up to books". The relationship between contemporary people and ancient books is both protection and companionship. Wu Ge, a professor at the Institute of Ancient Book Conservation of Fudan University, said in a lecture on "Bibliophiles and Book Conservation" that the protection of ancient books requires cross-regional and cross-system resource complementarity and cooperation, and also requires public-private cooperation to allow people to participate widely.
Tanabata has passed, and the book-drying activity has just begun. It is understood that in the near future, libraries around the world will carry out a series of book-drying activities based on collections and regional characteristics. In Beijing, we will see the restoration techniques, see the folk treasures in Hebei, praise the poetry in Sichuan, enjoy the "Seventy-two Sages of Confucius Gate" in Liaoning, experience the VR "Yunnan Materia Medica" in Yunnan, feel the Tibetan Buddhist texts in Tibet... Zhang Zhiqing said that he hopes that every year Tanabata books will become a festival for libraries and a festival for reading.
(Guangming Daily all-media reporter Chen Xue)