The first libraries in China came into being during the time of the Shang dynasty (the sixteenth to eleventh centuries B.C.) as intellectuals known as the Shi (historians) and Wu (diviners) emerged from manual labor to special occupations for the creation and spread of culture. Among the documents that these occupations managed were "the country's statute books, genealogies of imperial kinsmen, issued notices and orders, and recorded important events and natural phenomena. For future verification and reference, they built storehouses to keep records in different media. To meet the needs of more and more complicated affairs and to ensure easy use, they began to collect and sort out those records according to chronological order and category. Thus, the earliest library in China came into being. The numerous kinds of media loaded with information and knowledge emerged in human society, resulting in the concepts of preservation and collection. Accordingly, the earliest libraries and archives were the result of conscious collection, process, coalition, and utilization." Early in the

history of China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

, scholars had extensive private libraries, and all of the imperial

dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

constructed

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

s to house literary treasures and official records. These early private libraries acted more as book repositories than libraries. The actions of book repositories were often limited to basic functions such as collecting, preserving, and compiling books. There were four major types of book repositories in the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1636 AD–1911 AD): Government, private, academy ( shuyuan), and temple book repositories. The first modern libraries, however, did not appear in China until the late nineteenth century; even then, library service grew slowly and sporadically. In 1949 there were only fifty-five public libraries at the county level and above, most concentrated in major coastal commercial centers. Following the founding of the People's Republic, government and education leaders strove to develop library services and make them available throughout the country. The National Book Coordination Act of 1957 authorized the establishment of two national library centers, one in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(

National Library of China The National Library of China (; NLC) is the national library of the People's Republic of China and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It contains over 41 million items as of December 2020. It holds the largest collection of Chines ...

) and the other in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

(

Shanghai Library The Shanghai Library, which also houses the Shanghai Institute of Scientific and Technological Information, is the municipal library of Shanghai, China. It is the largest library in China. At 24 stories and 348 feet (106 m) tall, it is the second ...

), and nine regional library networks. Even so, libraries still were scarce, and those facilities that were available were cramped and offered only rudimentary services. Seeing the lack of libraries as a major impediment to

modernization Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

efforts, government leaders in the early 1980s took special interest in the development of library services. The special concentration of funds and talent began to produce significant results. More than forty Chinese institutions of

higher learning ''Higher Learning'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams ( Omar Epp ...

also had established

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. ...

departments. There were more than 2,300 public libraries at the county level and above, containing nearly 256 million volumes, and below the county level some 53,000 cultural centers included a small library or reading room. At the end of 2004, China had 2,710 public libraries with a collection of over 400 million copies. There were 2,925

public libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundament ...

in China in 2011. Of the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

libraries, the collections of

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

and

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the ...

libraries lead the nation. The national library network also includes scientific research institution libraries, trade union libraries, plus libraries and reading rooms attached to government institutions, army units, primary and secondary schools, townships, enterprises and local communities.

National Library

The country's main library, the

, housed a rich collection of books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, prints, photographs, manuscripts, microforms, tape recordings, and inscriptions on bronze, stone, bones, and tortoiseshells. The National Library of China, with a collection of over 26 million volumes, is the largest library in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

, housing the largest collection of Chinese books in the world. In the library's collection are over 35,000

oracle bone Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. '' Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used fo ...

s and tortoise shells carved with ancient Chinese characters, 1.6 million volumes of traditional thread-bound books, over 16,000 volumes of documents from

Dunhuang Grottoes The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu ...

, 12 million volumes of foreign-language books, and dozens of

electronic database A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publicatio ...

s. The library started to accept the submissions of official national publications in 1916, becoming the main national database; and began to accept submissions of domestic electronic publications in 1987. It is also the country's ISSN (

International Standard Serial Number An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...

) Center and Network Information Center. At present, the National Library of China has formed a

digital library A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital ...

alliance with some 90 other libraries around the country, making joint efforts in promoting the development and application of China's digital public information service. The second phase of the National Library – China Digital Library, whose foundation was laid at the end of 2004, is planned to be completed and commissioned in October 2007. The expanded library will be able to meet book storage demand for the next 30 years. The Digital Library will make it the world's biggest Chinese literature collection center and digital resources base, as well as the most advanced network service base in China.

Other libraries

The Shanghai Municipal Library, one of the largest public libraries in the country, contained over 7 million volumes, nearly 1 million of which were in foreign languages. The Shanghai Library, well known at home and abroad, is China's largest provincial-level library. Of its collection, the over 1.7 million volumes of ancient documents are the most valuable and representative, including 25,000 titles of rare ancient books in 178,000 volumes, many being the only copies extant in the world. The oldest document dates back nearly 1,500 years. The

Library took over the collections of the

Yanjing University Yenching University (), was a university in Beijing, China, that was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" comes from an alternative name for old Beijing, derived from its status ...

Library in 1950 and by the mid-1980s – with more than 3 million volumes, one-fourth of them in

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at schoo ...

s – was one of the best university libraries in the country. It is one of the earliest modern new libraries in China. Approved by the State Council as the first batch of national key ancient books protection unit, has developed into a resource rich, modern, comprehensive, open research library.Lib.pku.edu.cn. (2017). Overview and History , Beijing University Library. nlineAvailable at: http://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/portal/bggk/bgjs/lishiyange etrieved 16 March 2017

Major provincial libraries

* Anhui Library *

Capital Library The Capital Library (CLCN) is a municipal public library in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The library is noted for its collection of Chinese opera, classical music, drama and theater. History Founded in 1913 by Lu Xun, Capital Lib ...

Chongqing Library The Chongqing Library (), initially called the National Roosevelt Library, is a large-scale comprehensive public library, located in Shapingba District, Chongqing City, China. The library was established in 1947, and was one of only five national ...

Fujian Library Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

* Gansu Library * Guangdong Library *

Library of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region The Guangxi Library (), also known as the Library of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region-level public library of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, located at No. 61, Minzu Avenue, Nannin ...

Guizhou Library The Guizhou Provincial Library (), also known as the Guizhou Library, is a Guiyang-based comprehensive provincial-level public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public s ...

Hainan Library The Hainan Library () is located in the Hainan Cultural Park at 36 Guoxing Avenue, Haikou, Hainan, China. It was established on February 2, 2007. The facility is one of three large, public works projects constructed around the same time on Guoxin ...

Hebei Library Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

* Heilongjiang Library *

Henan Library The Henan Provincial Library (), also known as the Henan Library, is a Zhengzhou-based provincial-level public library, located at 150 South Songshan Road, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. It is the largest public library in Henan, with a total ...

Hubei Provincial Library Hubei Provincial Library () is located at south of Sha Lake, Wuhan. It was established in 1904 as Bureau of Books () at Wudang Palace (), Wuchang, by Zhang Zhidong, the viceroy of Huguang. The New library has a construction area of about 10 ...

* Hunan Library * Library of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region * Jiangxi Library *

Jilin Library Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia ...

Liaoning Library Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmos ...

* Nanjing Library * Library of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region *

Qinghai Library The Qinghai Provincial Library (), also known as the Qinghai Library, is a Xining-based large scale comprehensive public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public source ...

Shaanxi Library The Shaanxi Provincial Library (), also known as the Shaanxi Library, is a Xi'an-based large scale public library, located at No. 18, Chang'an North Road, Xi'an City. It is the earliest public library established in China's Western Region. Histor ...

Shandong Library Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civiliza ...

Shanxi Library The Shanxi Provincial Library (), also known as the Shanxi Library, is a Taiyuan-based comprehensive provincial-level public library, located in Changfeng Business Area, Taiyuan City, Shanxi, China. History The construction of the Shanxi Provin ...

Sichuan Library The Sichuan Provincial Library (), also known as the Sichuan Library, is a Chengdu-based comprehensive provincial-level public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public so ...

Tianjin Library The Tianjin Library () is a provincial-level public library located in the Hexi District of Tianjin City. Established in 1908, it is one of the first provincial public libraries in China. Tianjin Library is one of the largest public libraries ...

Tibet Autonomous Region Library The Tibet Library (), or Xizang Library, also known as the Tibet Autonomous Region Library, is an autonomous region-level public library of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is ...

Library of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region The Xinjiang Library (), also known as the Library of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region-level public library of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China China, officially the People' ...

Yunnan Library Yunnan Provincial Library (YPL) (), founded in 1909, is located in Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre ...

Zhejiang Library Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jian ...

References

External links

National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院国家科学图书馆)
– functions as the key library nationally for collecting information resources and providing information services in natural sciences, inter-disciplinary fields, and high tech fields, for the researchers and students of

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Repub ...

and for the researchers around the country.
Chinese Library Network – SinoLib.com
– offers abundant science and technology related archive and information. Since 2002, the site upgraded to provide new services, such as Union Public Catalog, Periodical Catalog, and Experts Consult.
Tsinghua University Library
– Presents the homepage of the

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

Library. Includes introduction to the Library, its services, user's guide, feedback, news, online catalogs, web directories, electronic resources within and beyond the Library. Categorizes online libraries in China by province.
Peking University Library
– Provides online access to its catalog and allows searching in English, Pinyin, and Chinese characters.

– A system of 5 libraries that provides comprehensive access to the university's library holdings. ZJU Library is also the host of the China-America Digital Academic Library (CADAL).

Asian Reading Room, U.S. Library of Congress {{Asia topic, Libraries in Educational organizations based in China

National Library

Other libraries

Major provincial libraries

See also

References

External links