Source: Jiaxing Daily - Jiaxing Online
Statue of Zhang Yuanji
Zhang Yuanji (1867-1959), zi Xiaozhai , jusheng , a native of Haiyan , Zhejiang , was from a famous family and a family of scholars. In his early years, under the influence of traditional education, he was bent on sharing the worries of the country and solving difficulties for the people through his career, so he spent eight years to show talents, lift people, and enter the soldiers, and was awarded the Hanlin Yuan Shu Jishi, and successively served as the chief of the Guizhou Department of the Punishment Department and the premier of the state affairs Yamen Zhangjing. However, during the prime minister's period, he was very discouraged to see all kinds of ignorant, faint, and stale sentient beings of the old bureaucracy. In addition, the desire to become stronger through changing the law also failed immediately, so he resolutely chose to devote himself to the cause of culture and education as his lifelong wish, and improved the quality of the Chinese nation by searching for books, collecting books, compiling books, publishing books, running schools, libraries, and other popular education, and strengthening the country and the nation, thus becoming a generation of masters in the field of culture and education, and becoming a famous educator, publisher, and philologist in modern and modern Times in our country. Its library concept and practice occupy an indelible position in the history of library development in China. August 14 this year marks the 62nd anniversary of the death of Mr. Zhang Yuanji, and I would like to express my thoughts on this article.
Zhang Yuanji Research Association Journal, Proceedings
Shouldering the Responsibility of Preserving An Inherent Culture
The way of self-improvement, the development of learning first.
At the end of the 19th century, China was in the midst of internal and external troubles, and the Qing Dynasty was hovering at the crossroads of life and death. "Today is the world of the nations, and in the DPRK, the word 'unification' is crossed in the chest, and it is appropriate to take the right measures", in this personal experience, Zhang Yuanji felt that "to this day, cultivating talents is the most urgent task." In 1896, in a letter to Wang Kangnian, he proposed, "The way of self-improvement today is to take the development of learning as the first priority." If the examination is not changed, it is difficult to hope for transfer. My generation does not care about size, but only by example, every time people say, they can wake up to one person, that is, they can save one person."
Under the concept of "self-improvement" and "xingxue", in 1897, Zhang Yuanji and Chen Zhaochang and other friends in Beijing jointly founded the General Arts School, "the teaching of the sons of the country, the six arts are the profession." Art can enter politics, the source of the Holy Gate. Hence the name of the school is General Arts. During the period of founding the General Arts School, Zhang Yuanji founded the first private library named after the Chinese Library in China's modern history, the General Arts School Library, which is also a public library open to the public, with two major functions: book lending and newspaper reading. Zhang Yuanji personally formulated the "Library Charter" and the "Reading Office Charter", which is the earliest pioneering library management system discovered in China, and has clear provisions in terms of the purpose of the library, the construction of the library, the classification of books, the staffing, the borrowing method, the book compensation, the number of books borrowed, the time of borrowing and the donation of books.
Although the General Arts School Library is privately run, but with official permission, it has no basis for a library building, it has not evolved from a library building, and it was a fixed library from the beginning. The books prepared are mainly Chinese translations of Western books, and the western books in the near future are also prepared for reference. However, due to the failure of the Restoration and Reform, the library of the General Arts School, which had been established for more than a year, died. However, its creation enabled Zhang Yuanji to accumulate valuable theoretical and practical experience in library construction.
At the beginning of 1903, at the invitation of Xia Ruifang, Zhang Yuanji entered the Commercial Press. According to the "Overview of the Oriental Library", "Xia Jun recruited Yu Yu to join the library as a compiler. Yu and the covenant, my generation should take it as their duty to support education. Xia Junnuozhi. Due to the lack of information in the compilation work, Zhang Yuanji planned to establish a library (renamed Hanfen Building in 1909). In the past 20 years, Many books such as The Miao Clan of Jiangyin, the Duan Clan of Gengyang, the Tian Clan of Jingzhou, the Kong Clan of Nanhai, and the Sun Clan of Haining have been acquired for Han Fen Lou. In addition, Han Fen Lou also pays attention to the collection of valuable books such as Europe, America, Japan, etc., and local chronicles throughout the country.
Shanghai Oriental Library
With the increasing number of books, Zhang Yuanji has been considering making the collection of Han Fenlou public. In 1922, after being unanimously approved by the board of directors, the Commercial Press set up a public library committee, with Zhang Yuanji, Gao Mengdan, Wang Yunwu and other members as members, purchasing real estate and building buildings. Completed in 1924, the library is a reinforced concrete structure with five floors and an area of 430 square meters. Opened to the public on May 2, 1926, named "Oriental Library", there are book lending rooms, reading rooms, magazine showrooms, children's libraries, circulation departments, etc., with a total collection of more than 330,000 books, the number of readers is increasing day by day, the annual number of readers reaches 36,000, and the average number of readers receives 100 readers per day. By 1932, the collection had reached more than 463,000 volumes, making it the largest private library in the country and famous.
Unfortunately, the Oriental Library was destroyed by Japanese artillery fire during the January 28 Incident in 1932. Except for the more than 500 rare books that were transferred to other places, the rest of the books were reduced to ashes. In the face of this catastrophe, Zhang Yuanji did not fall, holding the belief that "the flat land can still be a mountain" and "Yuanji still exists and should still try to recover".
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, China's coastal provinces fell one after another. Zhang Yuanji witnessed the loss of a large number of precious cultural relics and books, and many people in the library were destroyed, and his heart was very painful. In 1939, together with Ye Jingkui and Chen Taoyi, he initiated the establishment of the United Public Library. In the "Opinion on the Establishment of the United Library", it is written: "Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the national libraries have either stopped, or have been dispersed, or have been destroyed. Private collections of books are also in exile, is not a pity! The Museum was founded at this time and is responsible for preserving the inherent culture. "And donate their respective collections as the basis for their collections."
Among them, from April to October 1941, Zhang Yuanji donated or deposited it in the United Library in the form of three types of literature and ten times. The first category is the 476 books and 1822 volumes of the relics of the former philosophers of the old Jiaxing Province collected over the years; the second category is the 355 books and 1115 volumes of the relics of the Haiyan ancestors; the third category is the 104 books and 856 volumes of the books of the Zhang Dynasty and the publication and evaluation of the school, as well as one graphite picture volume. The second and third categories originally meant that they were deposited in the United Congregation in advance, and it was hoped that the Haiyan Ancestral Hall library would be restored in the future or that Haiyan would have a local library and be transferred back to store. Later, because the ancestral house was half destroyed and the repair was ineffective, the construction of the local library was even more hopeless, so it was changed to permanent donation.
The United House Library was inaugurated in 1941 and houses a collection of 220,000 donated books. In May 1946, Zhang Yuanji was promoted to chairman of the board and fully presided over the library work. After the liberation of Shanghai, Zhang Yuanji and others proposed to donate the "United Masses" to the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, "Our museum is happy to be prosperous, and I want to contribute a part of my strength, so it will be decided by the board of directors to donate to the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, so that it can be planned for development." ”
Stone carvings in front of the Zhang Yuanji Library
Care for the Yanyi Library
According to the 1992 edition of the Haiyan County Chronicle, "The Haiyan County Library was built in the City God Temple (now the intersection of Chaoyang East Road, Xinqiao South Road) in August 20, under the Education Bureau of the county government, with 3 staff members. In 25 years, it has a collection of 27,000 books, including an external lending department and an adult and children's reading room, and also manages the collection of local cultural relics. Destroyed by Japanese fire in 26 years. ”
The existing relevant materials show that Zhang Yuanji has intersected with the Haiyan County Library many times and helped the Haiyan County Library to collect precious documents. Haiyan County Library has twice corresponded with Zhang Yuanji in order to collect precious documents, which means to order a large series of ancient books published by the Commercial Press.
The April 2017 edition of Xiling Printing Society's "WenXin Xiang Xiang - Catalogue of Cultural Relics Donated by Zhang Yuanji's Descendants" includes a letter from Haiyan County Library to Zhang Yuanji, the full text of which is as follows:
Mr. Ju Sheng's Great Book: Haiyan Library has ordered the "Four Series" is being continued, "Four Libraries Rare Books", all calculated according to the 10% discount, and now intends to purchase the "Twenty-four Histories of the Hundred Books", can you use the first reservation price? Due to the limited funds raised, the price according to the moment must be 480 yuan, that is, 90% off, and the strength is still not enough. Mr. Zhi cares about local culture, that is, he is willing to beg for gifts. Please write this.
Haiyan County Library is open on May 5th
Sent by Shanghai
The letter has only a month and day, not a year. Prior to this letter, haiyan county library and Zhang Yuanji had contact, and haiyan county library ordered the main edition and continuation of the "Four Series" and the "Four Libraries Rare Books" from the Commercial Press through Zhang Yuanji, all calculated according to the 10% discount price of the reservation. Now I want to order the "Twenty-Four Histories of the Hundred Books", on the one hand, I asked whether it was still calculated according to the previous reservation price, on the other hand, I poured a lot of bitter water, even if it was priced according to the 10% discount, the funds were still not enough. The implication is that Zhang Yuanji is implored to continue to reduce pricing.
Wen Xin Xiang Xiang - Zhang Yuanji's descendants donated cultural relics catalogue
Zhang Yuanji commented in the blank space of the letter: "Persuade you to buy the same text or the five continents in the same text in print, not only half cheaper, so the remaining money can buy more of his books." 23/5/8 complex. ”
Zhang Yuanji's grandson Zhang Renfeng wrote in the catalogue interpretation: "The annotations made in the blank space of other people's letters are exactly the content and date of the reply letter, which is the work habit of Mr. Zhang Yuanji. The habit of the letter writers in those years was often not to sign the year or even the month and day, which caused difficulties for future generations to study history, so the year, month and day in Mr. Wang's annotations were very important. "In the 1930s, Haiyan's economy was very underdeveloped, and even in this situation, haiyan county library ordered several large-scale ancient book series in the commercial edition, which shows that valuing culture is one of Haiyan's fine traditions."
That is to say, Zhang Yuanji replied to the Haiyan County Library on May 8, 1934, proposing to purchase the Twenty-Four Histories of the same text or wuzhou tongwen. Tongwen and Wuzhou Tongwen are both lithography book publishing institutions in modern China, publishing the Twenty-Four Histories at relatively low prices. According to the time of Zhang Yuanji's annotation (reply), it is also proved that the letter from haiyan County Library to Zhang Yuanji was written on May 5, 1934.
The author understands that the letter was not sent through the post office, but was transferred directly to Shanghai through a member of the Shanghai Hometown Association.
The second letter is found in Zhang Renfeng's Complete Works of Zhang Yuanji, Volume 3, page 646, "Letter from Haiyan County Library to Zhang Yuanji and Zhang Yuanji's Annotations", the full text of which is as follows:
Mr. Ju Sheng Dajian: Yesterday I was taught by hand and recited one is. Our museum used donors to purchase the "Twenty-Four Histories of the Hundred Books", and due to insufficient number, please ask Mr. Li to negotiate with the business to reduce the pricing. Can I make my first reservation? If you can't make the first reservation price, you can just give up because the money is not enough. Mr. Is enthusiastic about culture, cares about Sangzi, and acknowledges that the same text or the wuzhou tongwen lithography please donate one for the students. Wherever I come to learn, dare to pay homage to Jiahui. As promised, Yue Sheng is grateful. Dedicated to Buda, please write an.
Haiyan County Library opened on May 10, 2003
Haiyan County Library received a reply from Zhang Yuanji on May 8 on May 9. The author thinks that it is still through human transfer, at that time, there were more than 700 members of the Shanghai Hometown Association of haiyan brigade, and there may be people going back and forth every day between Shanghai and Haiyan, otherwise the speed of the post office can not be so fast. Later, on May 10, the Haiyan County Library wrote another letter to Mr. Haiyan, stating that the purchase of the Twenty-Four Histories of the Hundred Books was designated by the donor, and due to insufficient funds, he pleaded to reduce the pricing. The real reason why the Haiyan County Library had to buy the "Twenty-Four Histories of the Hundred Books" may be because the "Twenty-Four Histories of the Hundred Books" was proofread by Mr. Li and had a special significance for Haiyan. At the same time, he was implored to donate a copy of the Twenty-Four Histories of the same text or the same text of the Five Continents.
The Commercial Press Edition Library
Zhang Yuanji commented on the letter: "The business department is a branch company, which is different from the nature of private business. Contemptible people cannot be required on the basis of township relations as an exception. Since the "Twenty-Four Histories" of Zhi zhi tongwen and others, their income has dropped sharply, their strength has not been enough, and they have not obeyed their orders, so that they are sorry. 23/5/10 complex. ”
Zhang Yuanji received a letter from the county library on May 10, and even replied on the same day to explain the reasons and apologize. In fact, Zhang Yuanji has never been selfish and honest. At that time, his son Zhang Shunian wanted to enter the business work after returning to China after graduating from the Management Major of New York University Business School, but Mr. Zhang Shunian, who regarded the overall situation of the company as the most important and considered the long-term interests of the company, refused to let his son enter the business, believing that "the death of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was due to the pro-noble; the decline of the company must also be due to the pro-noble." Therefore, it is also reasonable for sir to "not ask for exceptions based on the relationship between the townships."
In addition, as Zhang Yuanji said, "After the 'One·28', the income fell sharply, and the strength was not enough", "After the "1.28", the Commercial General Factory was blown up by the Japanese army, the dividend was stopped, the family's economy was poor, and in the later period, it only relied on the characters to survive. For the Haiyan County Library's request to "donate one copy of the same text or the same text of wuzhou" (even if it is half of the business reservation price, it will cost more than 200 yuan), it can only be "not obeyed, to the point of apology".
Zhang Yuanji Library East
A library named after "Zhang Yuanji"
Zhang Yuanji has always longed for a public library in his hometown of Haiyan. As early as 1921, he discussed the matter with his fellow villager Zhu Xizu, who said in his letter: "For several years, my brother has also been keen to purchase Tongyi Xianzheng's writings... Building a library, my brother has this intention. Responsibility to advocate, brother how dare to undertake. I hope that the collection will be carried out with the strength of one person, and when the opportunity comes, it will be made public. Zhang Yuanji's "library thinking" deeply inspired the cultural and educational undertakings in his hometown of Haiyan.
In 1984, the Haiyan County Party Committee and the county government jointly issued a document and decided to create the "Zhang Yuanji Library". "We believe that the creation of The Zhang Yuanji Library is not only an important cultural infrastructure in our county, but also to commemorate this cultural celebrity in his hometown and to commemorate Mr. Zhang's contributions in culture, education and publishing, which will play a positive role in educating the people in patriotism, cultivating talents, enlightening future generations, and uniting people from all walks of life." Zhang Yuanji Library was built in 1985 and opened in 1987, and the Zhang Yuanji Memorial Hall and the Commercial Press Edition Library were established at the same time, and the name of the museum was inscribed by Chen Yun, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Hu Yuzhi, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was the cornerstone inscription. In 2010, the library was expanded to more than 11,000 square meters, covering an area of 15,000 square meters. Antique buildings, pavilions, rockery pools, green trees, Zhang Yuanji Library has become a good place to read.
Zhang Yuanji Library West District
In order to carry forward Zhang Yuanji's academic thought and commemorate the outstanding contributions of the sages in China's modern education, publishing, culture and other aspects, since 1987, the Haiyan County People's Government, together with the Commercial Press and the Shanghai Municipal Research Museum of Culture and History, has successfully held five national zhang yuanji academic thought seminars, and also specially established the Zhang Yuanji research association, sorted out and published four collections of zhang yuanji research papers, and comprehensively carried out academic exchanges to promote the deeper and broader development of zhang yuanji's academic research nationwide.
"Hundreds of years of old home is nothing but accumulation of virtue, the first good thing is to read", this stone carving standing in front of the zhang yuanji library is not only mr. Zhang Yuanji's gentleman's own situation, but also an excellent advertising slogan advocating the study of the whole people and lifelong learning. Nowadays, in Haiyan, Zhang Yuanji Library readers come and go, in an endless stream, and reading by the whole people has become a common practice.
This article is from [Jiaxing Daily - Jiaxing Online] and only represents the author's views. The National Party Media Information Public Platform provides information dissemination services.
ID：jrtt