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014 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 7, 2015

ancient manuscripts were a case in point. Chen Dengyuan, the author of Gujin Dianji Jusan Kao
(Research of scattered and lost books in ancient and modern times), pointed out that there were
four main reasons for losing books: “the cruel ruling of emperor’s dictatorship; the collectors’ poor
protection and improper measures; the long-term war brought by vicissitudes of dynasties; and the
not-for-use private storage” (Chen, 1983, p.16). Historically, the primary reason is the cruel ruling
of emperor’s dictatorship, especially the burning and prohibition of books in ancient China due
to political violence. To name just a few notorious examples, such as, the emperor Qinshihuang
burned books and buried Confucian scholars alive; emperors in the Han Dynasty enslaved
scholars’ thoughts and ideas; and emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties implemented literary
inquisition to eliminate political enemies. Another devastating reason is the long-term war brought
by vicissitudes of dynasties. There are several bitter-hatred calamities of destroying ancient classic
manuscripts, including the heavy damage of the Complete library in the four branches of literature,
the lost of Yongle encyclopedia, the destroy of Shanghai Dongfang Library. However, precisely
due to the change of mainstream thoughts and culture caused by the alteration of dynasties, the
ancient “library” had gradually formed various bibliothecas, particularly the previously-mentioned
“four types of bibliothecas” (official bibliotheca, private bibliotheca, monastery bibliotheca,
and academic bibliotheca). Undoubtedly, the social background and historical events had in
turn, propelled the practice and theoretical development of traditional bibliography studies and
ancient textual criticism in Chinese librarianship, which laid a solid foundation for the integrated
development of library, technology and theory in the future. All in all, the History of the Chinese
library pays close attentions to the political, cultural and philosophical contexts. The History of
the Chinese library analyzes the Chinese library development along with the corresponding social
context in different historic periods based on the formation, prosperity and recession of Chinese
libraries as well as the legacy and innovation of manuscript collection and preservation in great
depth.
Apart from that, the relationships between library, economic and technological development
are provided with special attentions in this project. On the one hand, ancient China had a tradition
of “compiling books and collecting books in golden time”, which immensely contributed to the
development of Chinese civilization, and resulted in the subsequent development of the concepts,
practices and technologies used in ancient Chinese book collection system. For example, Chinese
pioneer researchers, Liu Xiang and, his son, Liu Xin, performed a longitudinal proofreading
practice under imperial orders and completed Bielu and Qilue, two famous books in the history
of Chinese bibliography. Yi Wen Zhi, the official historical book recorded the bibliography of
classical works throughout the history. The Complete library in the four branches of literature,
in Qian Long period in the Qing Dynasty, had almost included all types of classic manuscript
before the mid-Qing period. Moreover, a general catalog was included in the Complete library in
the four branches of literature. The catalog systematically organizes, categorizes and summarizes
classic literature. On the other hand, significant industrial revolutions, particularly in the fields of