Liang Dingfen founded the first private public library in Guangzhou

■ Liang Dingfen Codex

■ Li Xiangqun

(Vice Chairman of Guangdong Calligraphy Critics Association)

Guangdong was one of the first provinces to establish private libraries. As early as the third year of Xuan reunification (1911), Liang Dingfen founded a library at the Liang Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou, which was the first private public library in Guangzhou. Compared with Liang Xiaoze, he founded the private Yangjiang Library six years earlier.

Liang Dingfen (1859-1919), zi Bo Lie, Xinghai, Xinhai, Jie'an, other names Buhui Shanmin, Gu'an, Kui Shuang, Tibetan Mountain, KangBenTang, etc. Panyu people. In the second year of Guangxu (1876), he was selected as a student of the Guozi Supervision School. In the third year of Guangxu (1877), he entered the Jupo Jingshe and asked Chen Li to learn. In the sixth year of Guangxu (1880), he entered the Hanlin Academy and taught editing in the library. During the Sino-French War, Li Hongzhang was demoted to the fifth rank in a row, and he resigned and returned to Guangdong to teach at Fenghu and Duanxi Academy. Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangguang, admired his boldness and extended into the curtain, and their relationship between the chief and guest of honor lasted for fifteen years, co-founding the Guangya Academy, personally serving as the chief of the mountain, and when he arrived in Hubei, he also served as the chief of zhongshan and lianghu academies, and later served as the prefect of Hanyang, transferred to Wuchang Province, and moved to Hubei to be an envoy and a political envoy.

After Zhang Zhidong's death, three years after Xuanun (1910), Liang Dingfen returned to Guangzhou to recuperate in Taishidi, a powdery street. In the spring of the following year (1911), when he was recovering, he began to rename the ancestral library "Liang Ci Library" as a private public library, open to the public for free to read nearby citizens. He also personally formulated the "Statute of Liang Ancestral Library" to standardize the detailed rules for the management of books. The library has five covenants on reading books, copying books, borrowing books, reading books, and donating books, persuading people to copy more books and borrow more books, and advocating that the library be run for the public and donated books, and put forward that "the current book collection is a public property of one government, not the private property of one person." It is better not to borrow than not to hide, and it is better not to read than not to borrow" theory.

Although the Liang Ancestral Library does not have an engraving of the Song and Yuan Classic Books, there are many classic series of books, such as the county records of Hubei and modern poetry collections, which are very rich and widely welcomed by readers. In the 8th year of the Republic of China (1919), after Liang Dingfen's death, his son donated more than 600 cabinets of books and more than 20,000 volumes to the Guangdong Library (now the Guangdong Provincial Zhongshan Library), which was equivalent to twice the total number of books in the provincial library at that time. Times change, and the facts of the world are unpredictable. Today, the Liang's Library at No. 93 Ju fan street in Guangzhou is gone, and although the building has been transformed into a two-story old-style house, more than 20,000 books are still preserved in the provincial library for readers to borrow. His descendants were prescient and contributed to the preservation of classics and the development of libraries.

During the Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties, the imperial examinations were taken by Zhao Mengfu and Dong Qichang, and famous scholars in Guangdong had already awakened, such as Feng Minchang, Li Jian, Huang Danshu, Wu Rongguang, Song Xiang, etc.; Li Wentian, Deng Chengxiu, Jiang Fengchen, Chen Li, Wen Tingshi, Cen Guangju, Shang Yanjun, Liang Dingfen, Wu Daorong, and other famous scholars in the late Qing Dynasty, who realized that calligraphy should be traced back to the source, take the law from the top, and Dong Shu was soft and charming, and regarded it as the last stream. They believed that the calligraphy of the sages of the Jin, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties should be taken as the right way. The Wenting style advocated the calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties, and did not advocate dong Qichang's calligraphy as a model, how could it preside over the atmosphere of this dynasty. He clearly pointed out: "Dong Sibo (Qichang) is soft and charming, just like the ancients called scattered flowers in the air, flowing emblems to the ears of the self-possessed, I don't know how to preside over the atmosphere of this dynasty, but the talent of the times is also visible." Han Mo is a small matter, and it is also related to the same as the article. "When this dynasty tried things, calligraphy was emphasized outside the township venue, so there were many scholars and doctors who wrote in accordance with the rules, and the fun and leisure were not as good as the Ming people." Since Daoguang, Yifu has been picky and biased, and blamed for penmanship errors, although it is slightly in line with the "Shuowen", the benefits of calligraphy passed down since the Tang and Song dynasties have been lost. This statement is to the point, and points out the fact that calligraphy is gradually becoming more and more away from the ancient law.

Liang Dingfen was an awakened old calligrapher who advocated the calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties. The calligraphy beginner Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan have a refreshing and strong atmosphere. After middle age, in Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Chu Suiliang, in the tone of Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan, the horizontal momentum originated from Su Shi, the vertical momentum was taken from Huang Tingjian, and Xiuya was from Chu Suiliang, integrated into personal values and feelings, and extremely creative. The Republic of China Jian Jinglun commented on his calligraphy: "Beautiful and elegant".

Liang Dingfen's calligraphy works are very popular, including couplets and calligraphy. I especially like the ink of his letters, the ink of his letters, the words of the knots are scattered, the pen is light and free, the beauty is lonely, the swaying is colorful, and there is no pretentious attitude. Bored Zaizang's "Letter to Yue Qiu": "Yesterday the tea talk mountain was fast, and I didn't have time to answer in the illness, sorry!" One stalk of poetry, one leaf of photographs, and four kinds of books (Du Ji, Xu Luo, Ye Shu, and Russian History) are enshrined. Yue Qiu Shi Chang Shi Fu, Ding Fenton head " red letterhead, quote "Daylight Man" white text. The glyph is longitudinal and horizontal, the skimming is lengthened, the opening is taken, the pen is thin and strong, the wind is relaxed, and the personality of the wind and bone edges can be seen in the elegance.