Open the online "Chinese Ancient Books Resource Database" built by the National Library of China. The ink-based interface is elegant and generous. Digital ancient books, digital local chronicles, Song anthologies, Dunhuang relics...more than ten subdivided databases are arranged on the web page, highlighting the The profound accumulation of special collections of the National Library of China and the brilliance of Chinese civilization.
There are also extra-library resources such as the Harvard University Rare Book Collection and the Dunhuang Posthumous Manuscripts collected by France, so that readers in need can use a variety of ancient book data at home and abroad in one stop.
A few days ago, the National Library (National Ancient Books Protection Center), Tianjin Library, Nanjing Library, Yunnan Provincial Library, Suzhou Library, and Sun Yat-sen University Library held a joint conference on ancient book digital resources online, and newly released ancient books There are 6,786 volumes (pieces) of resources, including engravings of Ming and Qing Dynasties, manuscripts and ancient books, rubbings of inscriptions, etc., and full-text images can be viewed online for free, providing more abundant literature for the research and utilization of readers and experts and scholars.
According to statistics, as of now, the country has released a total of 130,000 digital ancient books and special collections of document video resources.
Taking into account the "collection" and "use" of ancient books
Entering the original text of the historical materials to be searched into the search box, and then comparing the versions of ancient books and discussing the changes based on the search results, this is already a proficient process for Zhou Qi, a doctoral student in the Department of Archeology at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, when reading documents and writing papers.
"In my opinion, the data-based ancient books cover a wide range and can be retrieved quickly. It is very helpful in querying handed down documents, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, etc., and can help me clarify the version status and circulation evolution of historical materials in a short period of time. , which greatly saves time and energy, and many of my classmates often use the ancient book database.” She described her feelings about the ancient book database in this way.
The Chinese civilization has a long history and is extensive and profound. The vast ancient books are the carrier of the historical memory, ideological wisdom and knowledge system of the Chinese nation, and they are also the cultural genes flowing in our blood.
However, ancient books have their own particularities. On the one hand, they need to be properly protected as cultural relics, and at the same time, as documents, they must be used by readers. Solving the contradiction between "collection" and "use" is very important for the work of ancient books.
Du Zexun, dean and professor of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Shandong University, believes: "The digitization of ancient books is currently the best way to resolve this contradiction."
As a scholar who has personally experienced the continuous acceleration of the opening and sharing of ancient book resources, Du Zexun shared an unforgettable experience of his own: In the early 1990s, in order to complete the version survey of the "Siku Quanshu Cunbi Series", Du Zexun worked in the Shanghai Library In the corridor, look through the required ancient book catalog cards.
The summer in Shanghai is hot and hot, so he went out to buy a mung bean sorbet to keep in his mouth and continue searching.
For many ancient book researchers, such a hard-working experience of traveling around in order to consult documents is not unfamiliar.
"From internal use to putting catalog cards in the hallway, to hanging digital resources online, the progress is very fast." Du Zexun said.
Dozens of libraries, headed by the National Library of China, have put the digital resources of ancient books online, so that readers do not have to directly use the original copies of ancient books, which is a very important protection measure.
In addition, online reading has saved many people's time, physical strength, and financial resources, and has made a major contribution to promoting the work of ancient books in the new era.
Let more people share ancient book resources
Ancient books have far-reaching significance for cultural inheritance and cultural construction.
The power of digitization is indispensable to promote the dissemination of ancient books on the basis of protection, make precious ancient books accessible to the general public, and allow more people to share rich ancient book resources.
The prosperity of academics is inseparable from the prosperity of academic materials, and a large number of surviving ancient books are a treasure house of rich cultural resources.
Through digitization, these precious resources can be made available to more scholars and the public.
Liu Qiang, a researcher at the Institute of History of Science and Technology and Ancient Documents of Tsinghua University, pointed out that the production and release of digital resources of ancient books is actually a return to the original nature of ancient books as books and documents, which also reflects the spirit of service, sharing, and openness of modern libraries.
At the recent joint press conference on digital resources of ancient books, the Yunnan Provincial Library released 381 volumes of 63 volumes and 50,604 images, mainly in the collection of the Ministry of History, including "Yunnan Tongzhi", "Chengjiang Prefecture Chronicles", "Pu'er Prefecture Chronicles" ", "Yiliang County Chronicles", "Luliangzhou Chronicles" and other fine Yunnan local chronicles, "Panlong River Water Conservancy Illustrated", "Six Rivers Illustrated", "Yunnan Hot Spring Chronicles", "Jizu Mountain Chronicles" and other illustrated landscape annals, and "Cave Master Immortal Master White Throat Taboo Table" Jue Wei", "Yu Zhuan Yi Zong" and other medical literature.
These documents are not only the characteristics and essence of the rare books collected by the Yunnan Provincial Library, but also indispensable and precious materials for the study of Yunnan history.
Among them, most of the medical literatures are local medical books in Yunnan, which are relatively rare in other regions.
Through the digitization of ancient books, these ancient books with local characteristics can be more widely known and used by academic circles and the public.
The collection of manuscripts and transcripts released by the Tianjin Library is rich in editions and diverse in content. The collection database of the Qing Dynasty published by the Nanjing Library is highly topical and rare. The database of the Republic of China newspapers released by the Suzhou Library includes 18 local newspapers in Suzhou during the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen University’s inscription database contains more than 10,000 pieces of precious inscriptions from the Qin and Han Dynasties to modern times...The resources released by these local museums not only take into account cultural relics, historical materials and artistic value, but also make the unique collection resources more extensive benefit academia and society.
Promoting the digitization of ancient books
Libraries all over the country are now important centers for the collection of ancient Chinese books, and the National Library of China is an excellent representative of them.
According to Wang Honglei, head of the Office of the National Ancient Books Protection Center, since 2000, the National Library has planned to digitize ancient books, and has successively built special databases such as digital local chronicles, essence of inscriptions, collections of Song Dynasty, and Oracle Bone World; since 2007, with the With the implementation of the Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan, the National Library of China has continuously integrated and gathered resources in various ways such as self-construction, collection, and overseas cooperation.
In April 2020, the new reader portal of the National Library of China was launched, integrating all kinds of ancient books and special collections of literature resources into the "Chinese Ancient Books Resource Bank"; in November 2021, it will realize free login reading, and readers can search without registration and login. Ancient books The efficiency and speed of resource utilization and browsing have been significantly improved...
From the famous mountain in Tibet to approaching the public, digitization has brought rapid and considerable progress to the sharing of ancient book resources.
On this basis, many scholars also put forward higher expectations for the future construction of ancient book digitization.
Hu Qijun, deputy director of the Capital Library, pointed out that in order to allow readers to use these resources more conveniently, it is necessary to further coordinate the construction of ancient book databases, optimize the database access process, promote readers' barrier-free access, and finally fully realize the sharing of ancient book resources.
Huang Chen, a research librarian at the Zhejiang University Library, believes that in the future, we should further open up the same type of resources from different institutions, promote the integration of ancient book resources, realize the "one-stop search" of ancient books, exchange technology and resources, and make resources available more efficient use.
In addition, Professor Yao Boyue, the executive vice president of Tianjin Normal University’s Institute of Ancient Books Conservation, even passed a practical case, that is, in the edition course, the materials used by students are almost all from the “Chinese Ancient Books Resource Bank”, proving the advantages of digitization .
He said that he strongly looks forward to further promoting the discipline construction of ancient books protection and the academic seminar on the digitization of ancient books, so as to implement more and better ideas of ancient books protection into actions.
"People's Daily Overseas Edition" (Version 07, January 13, 2023)