Passing Down the Wisdom of the Ages: How to Revitalize and Transmit Ancient Books?
On November 22nd, the Fudan-Chinese Ancient Book Protection Institute (hereinafter referred to as “Fudan Ancient Book Institute”) celebrated its 10th anniversary. In the afternoon, commemorative activities for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Fudan-Chinese Ancient Book Protection Institute were held at the Li Ka Shing Library on the Jiangwan Campus.
Yang Yuliang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, former president of Fudan University, and dean of the Chinese Ancient Book Protection Institute, spoke at the event. Photo by Ju Wentao, The Paper.
At the event, Yang Yuliang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, former president of Fudan University, and dean of the Chinese Ancient Book Protection Institute, discussed the significance of interdisciplinary approaches to ancient book protection. “Traditional methods of ancient book protection rely heavily on the empirical summaries of predecessors and lack exploration of scientific protection mechanisms. However, the Ancient Book Institute is positioned to integrate research, teaching, and protection, breaking through the passive protection scope of ancient book restoration and incorporating scientific research and modern technology into ancient book protection.”
The reporter learned from Fudan University that the Fudan Ancient Book Institute was formally established in 2014, becoming the first research institute for ancient book protection in China. As early as 2014, Chen Sihe, a senior professor of liberal arts at Fudan University and then-director of the Fudan University Library, discovered during his research that Fudan University housed 400,000 ancient books, ranking second in both quantity and quality among universities nationwide. Experts such as Huang Zhengyi, Zhao Jiafu, and Tong Zhizhen in the library have been leading students in ancient book protection work for many years. At the same time, the urgent need for ancient book protection was pressing.
“After centuries of circulation, a high percentage of our ancient books are damaged,” Chen Sihe said. This situation is not unique to Fudan University but is very common nationwide and even worldwide. According to incomplete statistics, there are 50 million ancient books currently existing in China, of which 15 million are urgently in need of restoration, and some ancient books have been further damaged due to improper restoration methods in the early years. Among all cultural relics, paper relics are the most difficult to protect because they are the most susceptible to destruction.
Chen Sihe then proposed the establishment of a research institute as a platform for professional talent cultivation. Yang Yuliang, who was then the president of Fudan University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and had previously served as the director of the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, immediately recognized the importance of this matter upon seeing the proposal—no one was engaged in ancient book protection within the existing disciplinary layout. “Fudan University has the moral obligation and responsibility to help the country with ancient book protection work.” After careful deliberation, Yang Yuliang exceptionally served concurrently as the leader of the preparation group for the Chinese Ancient Book Protection Institute and later became the dean until now.
Zhao Jiafu, a specially appointed expert at the Ancient Book Institute, teaches practical courses to students. Photo provided by Fudan University.
Unlike the traditional concept of “mending books,” the Fudan Ancient Book Institute creatively incorporates scientific research ideas, greatly expanding the connotation of ancient book protection. The Fudan Ancient Book Institute gathers talents from various disciplines in both science and liberal arts, pioneers an interdisciplinary research model in the field, cultivates high-end talents urgently needed for ancient book protection in China, and promotes academic exchanges and international cooperation in paper relic protection. The research institute integrates the academic strengths of various departments and institutes within Fudan University, including the library, the Department of Macromolecular Science, the Department of Chemistry, the School of Life Sciences, the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology, the Institute of Ancient Books Collation, the Institute of Chinese Historical Geography, the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, and the Research Center for Unearthed Documents and Ancient Characters, to jointly establish an interdisciplinary platform.
As a polymer scientist, Yang Yuliang led an interdisciplinary team from Fudan University to conduct research and development of paper, successfully “reviving” the Kaihua paper, which had been lost for a century, with a preservation lifespan of over a thousand years. Additionally, the team has made breakthrough progress in the distribution of the rao flower plant, a papermaking raw material, and its rapid propagation and cultivation through gene technology. Drawing on the successful experience of Kaihua paper, Hainan Agarwood paper, Shanxi Mulberry paper, and Yan’an Maralan paper—traditional Chinese papers with unique local characteristics and long-lasting preservation—are all on the path to being “revived” one after another.
The reporter learned that by July 2024, Fudan University had cultivated 109 professional masters and 7 doctoral students in the field of ancient book protection, accounting for nearly half of the total number in China, including overseas students. Many graduates have applied their knowledge and skills after graduation, entering libraries, museums, archives, and other institutions worldwide to engage in ancient book protection work.