Chutian Metropolis Daily reporter Xu Ying correspondent Zhu Jiayi
On September 12, the reporter learned from the Hubei Provincial Library that in the first "Most Beautiful Social Scientist" selection in Hubei Province, which just ended in the past two days, Xu Liwen, the granddaughter of the great bibliophile Xu Xingke and the former deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Library, won the honor of "Most Beautiful Social Scientist". At the event site, the host told the story of the Xu family's three generations spanning a century-old book relay, and the event was broadcast live at the same time, and more than 310,000 netizens watched online.
The event was broadcast live
100,000 Xu's books were all donated to the state
The story begins with the famous geographical monument "Water Classics Commentary", which is a masterpiece of China's historical geography, compiled by the famous scholar Yang Shoujing and his disciple Xiong Huizhen in the late Qing Dynasty.
What is less known is that there is also a key figure behind this book - Yang Shoujing's year-old friend, the famous philologist and collector Xu Xingke. After Yang Shoujing's death, Xu Xingke tried his best to support his disciple Xiong Huizhen, not only inviting people to copy back rare versions of the Song fragments and Xiang carved texts of the Notes on the Water Classics from Beijing, but also pouring out his experience in proofreading ancient books. It took decades of effort, regardless of cost, to build this monument of geography. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xu Xingke refused in every way, and a pure heart protected him all the time, and only then did he have the amazing appearance of "Water Commentary".
Xu's collection of books, practical first, where there is a need, Xu Xingke is always generous to help, at that time, he already had the modern public library concept of enlightenment. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xu's father and son donated all ancient books to the state. Since then, the 100,000 Xu's collection of books has been transformed into a shining star in the history of Chinese literature.
Xu Xingke
The couplet after the reconstruction of the Yellow Crane Tower is derived from the Ming carved version of the Yellow Crane Tower Collection found by Xu Xiaomi.
The host's narration takes you all to the 1980s. On the eve of the reconstruction of the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, the designers were racking their brains to trace the context of the Yellow Crane – which literati of the past have been here? How many good sentences have been left behind? Restoring the famous building, can there be authoritative evidence?
Receiving the information from the design institute for help, Xu Xingke's fifth son, Xu Xiaomi, who was then the deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Library, stood up. In Xu's collection, Xu Xiaomi found the only ming-engraved "Yellow Crane Tower Collection". This is the first ancient book in history to specifically record the poetry of the Yellow Crane Tower, and the poems in the book have high artistic value from the Southern Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the emergence of this unique book in the sea provided a large number of precious historical evidence for the reconstruction of the Yellow Crane Tower. In 1985, the Yellow Crane Tower was successfully rebuilt, and it was full of splendid poetry and poetry, welcoming guests from all over the world. This "Yellow Crane Tower Collection" has also become the treasure of the Hubei Provincial Library.
Taking over the baton of his grandfather and father, Xu Liwen spread the fragrance of books to help alleviate poverty
Passed on from generation to generation. In the 21st century, with the sound of the clarion call for cultural poverty alleviation, a cultural heat wave of sending books to the countryside and building museums in counties and counties has been set off. Xu Liwen, who was working in the Hubei Provincial Library at the time, trekked in the mud of sending books to the countryside for six years, she said, "Cultural poverty alleviation, the library is the front, the dry mountainous land, not to mention the nourishment of books!" ”
She expressed her feelings in words and analyzed with data, repeatedly submitted to her superiors, made suggestions and suggestions for the Nanzhang Library, and went to Nanzhang five times to supervise the matter, and the Nanzhang Library was successfully completed from scratch. Today, Nanzhang County Library covers an area of 5,012 square meters, with a collection of 300,000 books and more than 100,000 readers throughout the year. In 2019, Nanzhang County plans to withdraw from the queue of poor counties, and in September of the same year, Nanzhang was awarded the honorary title of "Civilized Demonstration County".
Xu Liwen