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| pop_served = members of the public
| pop_served = members of the public
| budget = n/a
| budget = n/a
| director = Mr. Zhan Furui
| director = Mr. [[Zhan Furui]]
| num_employees = n/a
| num_employees = n/a
| website = http://www.nlc.gov.cn/en/indexen.htm
| website = http://www.nlc.gov.cn/en/indexen.htm

Revision as of 11:34, 4 April 2009

National Library of China
The old buildings of the library, now (since 1987) the main branch of the National Library of China that houses historical and ancient books, documents and manuscripts
Map
LocationBeijing, Template:Chn
Established1909
Branchesn/a
Collection
Size24,100,000 items [1]
Access and use
Circulationlibrary does not publicly circulate
Population servedmembers of the public
Other information
Budgetn/a
DirectorMr. Zhan Furui
Employeesn/a
Websitehttp://www.nlc.gov.cn/en/indexen.htm

The National Library of China (simplified Chinese: 中国国家图书馆; traditional Chinese: 中國國家圖書館; pinyin: Zhōngguó guójiā túshūguǎn) or NLC in Beijing is the largest library in Asia,[2][3][4] and the fifth largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million volumes.[5][6][7] It holds the largest and among the richest worldwide collections of Chinese literature and historical documents.[3]

The forerunner of the National Library of China, the Capital Library, was founded on 24 April 1909 by the Qing government.[8] It was first formally opened after the Xinhai Revolution, in 1912. In 1916, the library received depository library status.[3] In July 1928, its name was changed to National Beijing Library and was later changed to the National Library.

The National Library of China's collection inherited books and archives from the "Imperial Wenyuange Library" collection of the Qing Dynasty and that, in turn, included books and manuscripts from the library of the Southern Song Dynasty.[9] The library also contains inscribed tortoise shells and bones, ancient manuscripts, and block-printed volumes.[10] Among the most prized collections of the NLC are rare and precious documents and records from past dynasties in Chinese history, and it also houses official publications of the United Nations and foreign governments and a collection of literature and materials in over 115 languages.[3]

Notable collection and items in the library are:

  • a collection of over 270,000 ancient and rare Chinese books and historical documents, and over 1,640,000 traditional thread-bound Chinese books;[3]
  • over 35,000 inscriptions on oracle bones and tortoise shells from the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th–11th Century BC);[3][10]
  • more than 16,000 volumes of precious historical Chinese documents and manuscripts from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang;[3]
  • copies of Buddhist sutras dating to the 6th century;[9]
  • old maps, diagrams, and rubbings from ancient inscriptions on metal and stone;[9]
  • rare copies of ancient manuscripts and books of Five Dynasties periods, including a large number of ancient manuscript volumes on different subjects;[9]
  • books and archives from imperial libraries dating to the Southern Song Dynasty (c. 1127);[10]
  • the most complete suriving Ming Dynasty copies of the Yongle Encyclopedia ("Great Canon of the Yongle Era");[9][11]
  • a copy of the Siku Quanshu ("Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature") of the Qing Dynasty;[9]
  • and essential literary and books collection from Qing Dynasty's imperial colleges and renowned private collectors.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ The National Library of China in Brief
  2. ^ "National Library of China to Add Its Records to OCLC WorldCat". Information Today. 2008-03-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "The National Library of China (NLC) Advancing Towards the Twenty-first Century". National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "National Library of China to add its records to OCLC WorldCat". Library Technology Guides. 2008-02-28.
  5. ^ "From Tortoise Shells to Terabytes: The National Library of China's Digital Library Project". Library Connect.
  6. ^ "The Development of Authority Database in National Library of China". Science Links Japan.
  7. ^ "The Development of the China Digital Library". The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship.
  8. ^ Hwa-Wei Lee
  9. ^ a b c d e f National Library of China. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  10. ^ a b c d National Libraries. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  11. ^ "China mega-book gets new life". CNN. 2002-04-18.
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