Page 31 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.45, 2019

030 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.11, 2019

Nevertheless, it is still considered the symbol of the founding of the library science as a discipline.
Many other disciplines meet the same circumstances. Moreover, in Chinese the word “经济”
(economy) referred to management and administration before the term “经济学” (Economics)
was used, more or less the same with “学” (science) in meaning. Therefore, the library school was
translated by some scholars to “图书馆管理学院” (School of Library Management) or “图书馆学
院” (School of Library).

1.2 Mark of the founding of library science in China

When did the library science in China have its genesis? Chinese librarians used to trace the genesis
to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220, because of Liu Xiang and Liu Xin) or even the Shang
Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC). But the author thinks that the history of the library science as a
modern discipline has no more than 100 years in China. The birth of higher education in China
was the result of learning from western countries by abolishing the imperial civil examination
system and establishing new schools. The library science also resulted from learning from the
West. Different from the founding of American library science, however, the library education
was developed in China before library associations and journals. The Boone Library School was
established in the Boone University in 1920. In 1925 the Library Association of China was created
with the mission of “studying the library science, developing the librarianship and promoting
library cooperation”. In the same year, the Journal of the Library Association of China and the
Library Science Quarterly were published. Ever since its first issue, the Library Science Quarterly
had waved the flag of the library science. Therefore, the Chinese library science was founded in
1920s and the mark of the library science as a discipline is the founding of the Boone Library
School in 1920. The representatives were Miss Mary Elizabelh Wood (1861-1931) and Samuel T.
Y. Seng (1883-1977). In such a case, the Chinese history of the library science is about 100 years.
This idea may not reach consensus in the library community and discussion about it is welcome.
From the international perspective, the development of Chinese library science went through
two stages, the internationalization of Chinese library science and the Chinization of international
library science. Although the process is long, tortuous and bumpy, the result is full of promise.

2 Internationalization of Chinese library science

There were the land silk road and the maritime silk road in Chinese history which kept commercial
and cultural communication with other countries. After the closed-door policy issued by Emperor
Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty in 1757 which granted Guangzhou as the only port, however, the
communication between China and other countries was quite limited. In the development of
ancient world civilization, the development of Chinese civilization and culture pursued a unique
road with little external disturbance. As a result, the civilization stretched long and unbroken. In