Page 126 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

ZHANG Bin & YIN Xin / Historical development and contemporary construction 125
of the basic theoretical system of archival science with Chinese characteristics

revolutionary period, including: strengthening the Party’s leadership over archival work, managing
archives based on the Party’s principles and policies, maintaining the Party’s nature in archival
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work , curating archives for the Party, and promoting centralized and unified management of the
Party and state archives; making strategies for the preservation and conservation of the historical
records of the Party and preserving the confidential archives of the Party; serving the needs of
socialist revolution and construction, and bearing in mind the purpose of serving the public with
archives.

2.2 Evidence of national conditions

The development of the basic theoretical system of archival science in China has witnessed major
historical events, including the founding of the People’s Republic of China, socialist revolution
and construction, the reform and opening-up, and the start of the new socialist era. Sticking firmly
to the purpose of “preserving history for the country” of archive science, the system provides
assistance and original reference for various national undertakings. Historical evidences recorded
in archives, such as the photo archives of major national events including the founding of the
People’s Republic of China, socialist construction and the reform and opening-up, have witnessed
the development of the political, economic, social and diplomatic affairs in China; the manuscripts
and audio-visual documents of important instructions from the leaders of the central government
have witnessed the formulation and development of various national policies; archives on the
prevention and control against the SARS pandemic provide valuable original data for the fight
against COVID-19, etc. The archives have witnessed the great journey from the early days of the
founding of the nation to the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and realizing
the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and provided reference for
studying the national conditions.

2.3 Imprints on the civilization

Archives are the imprints on the civilization that record and inherit the traces of politics, economy,
history, culture and folk customs in China. In the new era of building a socialist power of culture,
the nature as imprints has made archives crucial records of Chinese traditional culture. The
oracle bone archives of the Shang Dynasty represent the earliest official documents in China in
the long history of archival development; the bronze inscription archives of the Western Zhou
Dynasty recorded the development of early Chinese characters and the art of seal cutting; the birth
of Shangshu (Book of History), the earliest archival work from the Spring and Autumn Period
and the Warring States Period, created a precedent for China to use archives to record history;
the system of “uniformity of script” established in the Qin Dynasty played an important role in
stabilizing central power; the establishment and development of the document system in the Han