The Collection of Ancient Books of “The Book of Songs” in Fudan University Library is the Largest Among University Libraries Both Domestic and Overseas. On November 23rd, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Institute of Fudan University, the “Collection of Documents on ‘The Book of Songs’ in Fudan University Library” was officially released. This is the first comprehensive facsimile publication of the ancient books of “The Book of Songs” in the library’s collection, making the rare books accessible to the public and presenting first-hand physical materials to the academic community.
As a major hub for ancient books collection, Fudan University Library boasts a rich collection of rare books. The five major special collections of Fudan University Library are documents on “The Book of Songs”, Qing Dynasty poetry collections, Ming and Qing Dynasty local gazetteers, ballads and precious scrolls, and ancient coin books. Among them, there are approximately 760 separate editions and 300 series editions of documents related to “The Book of Songs”, totaling over 1,000 types, with a wide variety and numerous versions.
“Collection of Documents on ‘The Book of Songs’ in Fudan University Library”. The images in this article are provided by Fudan University.
Why is the collection of documents related to “The Book of Songs” in Fudan University so rich? A reporter from The Paper learned from Fudan University that in 1956, through the introduction of Professor Wang Xinfu from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan University, the library acquired the entire “Pa Lou” special collection from the Chuiwan Building, forming the majority of the documents related to “The Book of Songs” in Fudan University Library. The rest were acquired through years of searching and acquisition by Fudan University Library.
According to the comprehensive catalogues of ancient books such as “Catalogue of Rare Chinese Ancient Books” and “General Catalogue of Chinese Ancient Books”, the existing ancient documents related to “The Book of Songs” from various dynasties are distributed among nearly a thousand collecting institutions both domestically and internationally. In terms of separate editions, the “Catalogue of Rare Chinese Ancient Books: Jing Bu: Shi Lei” includes 483 types of documents related to “The Book of Songs”, among which 117 are from the collection of Fudan University Library, accounting for approximately 24% of the Jing Bu Shi Lei category.
“The first series of this facsimile edition of ‘The Book of Songs’ from Fudan has a significant highlight, that is, a large proportion of the books are unique copies. Among the 81 Yuan and Ming dynasty block-printed editions, there are 15 unique copies, accounting for 20% of the total. This holds great value as research material for various fields such as the study of ‘The Book of Songs’, Chinese classical literature, ancient Chinese culture, publishing history, and book history.” said Professor Du Zexun from the Advanced Research Institute of Confucianism at Shandong University.
“After publication, the academic community will be able to see the complete appearance of the ancient books, which may change some previous understandings and conclusions about the study of ‘The Book of Songs’ and affect the writing of the history of ‘The Book of Songs’ studies.” Liu Yuqing, an expert on ‘The Book of Songs’, recalled that when he was working on the Ming dynasty section of “A Study of Historical Writings on ‘The Book of Songs’”, he confirmed the existence of 18 books only after seeing the original copies in Fudan Library. When he was writing the history of ‘The Book of Songs’ studies in the Ming dynasty, he left some regrets because he didn’t see some of the books. Later, when he saw these books in Fudan Library, he felt that his discussion of them was far from sufficient. It can be seen that the publication of the “Collection of Documents on ‘The Book of Songs’ in Fudan University Library” has brought considerable excitement and vibration to the academic community of ‘The Book of Songs’.
A reporter from The Paper learned that Fudan University Library has a solid foundation in the collection, organization, and research of documents related to “The Book of Songs”. After initiating the facsimile publication work of documents related to “The Book of Songs”, the compilation team was formed and conducted multiple discussions and work. Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dean of the Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Institute of Fudan University, Yang Yuliang, and the Director of Fudan University Library, Chen Yinchi, served as the editors-in-chief of the series, while the Deputy Director of the Library, Yang Guanghui, and Research Librarian of the Library, Sui Jun, served as the executive editors. Hao Xueli, a postdoctoral researcher at the Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Institute of Fudan University, was responsible for selecting titles and writing summaries. Yan Tianyue, a librarian at Fudan University Library, and Ye Qianru, a restorer, were responsible for investigating and restoring damaged books.
Chen Cai, a research librarian and deputy director of the library at the Shanghai Museum, participated in the discussion of title selection, version identification, and summary proofreading. Regarding the significance of conducting research on ‘The Book of Songs’ in the present time, he said, “This ancient classic document, ‘The Book of Songs’, inspires a poetic culture among the people. This poetic culture is like a seed that will take root and sprout among ordinary people, becoming an expression of national culture and a symbol of the Chinese cultural heritage.”
Fudan University revealed that after the successive publication of 81 Yuan and Ming dynasty block-printed editions of “The Book of Songs” in the first series of the collection, Fudan University Library and Daxiang Publishing House will continue to release 149 manuscript and copied editions, as well as 400 Qing dynasty block-printed editions in digital format. Subsequently, Fudan University Library and the Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Institute of Fudan University plan to build a “Database Platform for Documents and Materials on ‘The Book of Songs’”, gradually publishing high-definition color images of all ancient books related to “The Book of Songs” in the library’s collection online, and gathering images of ancient books related to “The Book of Songs” from across the country and even globally, in order to support the research and development of ‘The Book of Songs’ studies, and promote the protection and inheritance of Chinese ancient books.