Shi Mei (right), deputy director of Nanjing University Library and chief curator of an ongoing exhibition, Varied Splendor of Literary Troves: Selected Treasures From Nanjing University, introduces exhibits to visitors. The exhibition, held at the university's art museum in Jiangsu province, will run until Dec 21. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Lovinglypreserved'treasure'fromuniversities'collectionsdrawshugeinterest,WangKaihaoreports.

About1,300yearsago,agroupofBuddhistmonksorpilgrimscopiedarollofsutrabyhandand,insodoing,carriedoutanactofutmosthomagetothedeities.Despitethepassingoftime,thecolorhasnotfaded,andthereinliesastoryofsupremehumandevotion.Itwaswrittenintheirblood,thoughthemannerofitsextractionisstillnotconfirmed.Itmayhavebeentheresultofbitingtheirownfingerstoprovidethe"ink".Morethanamillenniumhaspassedbut,becauseoftheadditionofmineraldyestuffsmixedinwiththeblood,thecoloronthe3-meter-longscrollhasnotdiminished.

Thismanuscript,DafangbianfoBao'enJing("sutraonthegreatnessofBuddha'srepaymentofkindness"),orsimplyknownas"thegratitudesutra",wasrediscoveredin1900inoneoftheMogaoCavesatDunhuang,Gansuprovince.About60,000volumesofancientdocumentswerefoundinthatBuddhistgrotto,commonlycalled"thelibrarycave".

SuccessivelyownedbyseveralcollectorsbutnowpartofthecollectionofNanjingUniversity,the"gratitudesutra"makesararepublicappearanceatanexhibitionofancientbooksattheuniversity'sartmuseuminthecapitalofJiangsuprovince.

Some other exhibits on display include a set of 800-year-old annotations on the history of Southern Dynasty (420-589). [Photo provided to China Daily]

Over200copiesofancientmanuscriptsandbooksfromtheuniversity'scollectionareshowcasedforthemonthlongexhibition,VariedSplendorofLiteraryTroves:SelectedTreasuresFromNanjingUniversity,whichwillrununtilDec21.

"We'vebeencategorizingourinventoryofancientbooksforyears,"saysShiMei,deputydirectorofNanjingUniversityLibraryandchiefcuratoroftheexhibition.

"Andthisisanopportunitytoshowhowourtraditionalculturehasbeeninheritedthroughtheirpages,"sheadds."Therefore,theverybestfromourcollectionisbeingpresented."

AccordingtoShi,itisthelargest-scaleexhibitionofancientbookseverheldbytheuniversity,andalsooneofthelargestamongChineseuniversities.

AncientChinesebooksaredefinedasthosepredating1911,theendofthemonarchyinChina.

Since2014,theNationalCenterforPreservationandConservationofAncientBooks,whichisbasedintheNationalLibraryofChinainBeijing,hassponsoredandhelpedtoorganizeaseriesofexhibitionsaroundthecountryunderthebannerVariedSplendorofLiteraryTroves,astranslatedfromCefuQianhua,itsoriginalChinesetitle.

TheongoingeventatNanjingUniversity,orNJU,isthe30thexhibitionintheseries.Itisonlytheseconduniversityinvolvedintheprogram,theotherbeingZhejiangUniversity,asmostoftherestwerepresentedbyprovincial-orcity-levelpubliclibraries.

Itisprobablynotexaggeratingtocallmanyoftheexhibits"nationaltreasures".

AnotherhighlightedexhibitisasetoffourprintedbookscompiledbyiconicConfucianphilosopherLyuZuqianfromtheSongDynasty(960-1279),whichareannotationsonthehistoryoftheSouthernDynasty(420-589).Itistheoldestprintedworkintheuniversity'scollectionandisalsoanexampleofearly-stageChineseprinttechnology.

Part of the scroll of Dafangbianfo Bao'en Jing, also known as "the gratitude sutra", rediscovered in 1900 in Dunhuang, Gansu province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Thebooksweredesignedtobeportabletobetterdisseminatethehistoricaldocumentsamongreaders.Thepagesweresoakedinpepperwaterasapreservative,sotheyhaveneverbeeneatenordamagedbybugsandremaininpristinecondition.

SurvivingcopiesofYingwuzhou("aparrotisland"),aprintedoperascriptfrom1616,wereonlyhousedinNanjingUniversityandtheNationalLibraryofChina.Andthisexhibitededitionisfamedforitsvalue,notonlyinliterature,butalsoinart.Thebookcontainsaseriesofexquisiteillustrations,andsomeofthemarenotseeninthecopyondisplayatthenationallibrary.

Additionally,atatteredpagefromYunjiQiqian("thesevenslipsinabookbag"),amilestoneanthologyofTaoistcanons,attheexhibitionwillalsoraisetheexcitementlevelofancientbookcollectors.

Shiexplainsthattheanthologywasfirstpublishedinthe11thcentury,inwhichmanypreviouslylostTaoistcanonswereretrieved.AnemperoroftheJinDynasty(1115-1234)onceorderedareprintofthis120-volumetome,butalmostallthecopiesweresoondestroyedduringawarthatbrokeoutshortlyafterward.

"Onlyitsscatteredpagescanbeseen,"Shisays."Sothispageisextremelyprecious."

Attheexhibition,avisitingcollectorhalf-jokinglyaskedShiwhetherthisisforsale.

"Nomatterhowhighapriceyouoffer,it'soutofthequestion,"Shiresponded."Wecollectitandwehavethedutytotakegoodcareofitwhileitisinourcustody."

Some other exhibits on display include a page of Taoist canon Yunji Qiqian. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The cultural legacy

Custodiansofthesepreciouspagesunderstandthepainstakingeffortsbytheirpredecessorstopassthesecollectionsdowntofuturegenerations,sometimesagainstincredibleodds.

AccordingtoChengZhangcan,directorofNanjingUniversityLibrary,about400,000ancientbookswerehousedintheuniversity,andabout30,000copiesarelistedas"rareandpreciouseditions".

"Thecollectioniscomprehensive,"Chengsays."Ourspecialcollectionsfeaturelocalchronicles,atlasesoffrontierareas,andserialbooksduringtheMing(1368-1644)andQing(1644-1911)dynasties."

Nevertheless,manyofthemhavestayedinthewarehouseandremainedunknowntothepublic,letalonetheirindividualodysseysthroughwarsandthesocialupheavalofthelastcentury.

Apartfromdonationsfromscholarsandalumniinrecentdecades,mostancientbooksinthecollectioncomefromthethenNationalCentralUniversity,predecessoroftoday'sNJU,andUniversityofNanking,aprivateuniversitythatwasmergedintotheNJUin1952.

JohnCalvinFerguson(1866-1945),anAmericanSinologistwhowaspresidentoftheUniversityofNanking,alsomadeakeycontributiontoenrichtheinventory.In1934,hedonatedhisentirecollectionofChinesebooksandculturalrelicstotheuniversity,including"thegratitudesutra"andYunjiQiqianthatareondisplay.

In1937,whentheWarofResistanceAgainstJapaneseAggression(1931-45)approachedNanjing,theChinesecapitalatthetime,theCentralUniversitywasrelocatedwestwardtoChongqingincaseitfellintoenemyhands.

SomeotherprivateuniversitiesinChinachosetoremaininsitu,becausetheirconnectionwithWesterncountriescouldofferatemporaryprotectionagainsttheJapaneseinvaders,buttheUniversityofNankingmadeapatrioticdecisiontomovewestwardaswell.ItwasrelocatedtoChengdu,Sichuanprovince.

Themanyancientbooksbelongingtobothuniversitieswerealsorelocated.However,eventhatwasnotasimpleprocess.Duetoalackoftransportation,somebookshadtobehiddenenroute,atadoctor'shouseinWuyuancounty,oftoday'sJiangxiprovince,untilthewarended,accordingtoShi.

"Fortunately,allofthebookswerelaterreturnedtoNanjing,safeandsound,"Shisays."WhenstayinginSichuanprovinceduringthetoughwartimeyears,librariansstillcontinuedtocollectancientbooksandbroughtbackanevengreaternumberofpreciousdocuments.

"Thisculturalheritagemadeagreatcontributiontodevelopmentofacademicstudiesoverthepastcentury,"shesays.

Some other exhibits on display include some books from Quan Tangshi, a collection of complete Tang (618-907) poems compiled in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [Photo provided to China Daily]

A hoard of pages

Thenationalcensusofancientbooks,whichisalmostfinished,hasregisteredmorethan2.7millionancientvolumes.Thetotalnumberofcopieswereestimatedtobemorethan30million.

AccordingtoZhangZhiqing,deputydirectoroftheNationalCenterforPreservationandConservationofAncientBooks,about20percentofthemarehousedinuniversities,makingthemthesecond-largestcollectioncategoryonlyafterpubliclibraries.InPekingUniversityalone,forexample,morethan1milliondocumentsarehoused.

In2007,anationalcomprehensiveprojectonconservationofancientbookswaslaunched,whichincludedthecollectionsoftheuniversitiesinthecountry'sgeneralblueprintforthefirsttime.

Somemajorachievementshavebeenmade.

InFudanUniversityinShanghai,forinstance,aresearchacademyfocusingonthepreservationofancientChinesebookswasestablishedin2015.Thisaimstohelpscholarsnotonlyofliterature,historyandancientdocumentation,butalsochemistry,biologyandmaterialsscience,aswellasothernaturalsciences.Manypractitionersofintangibleculturalheritage,likewoodblockprinting,arealsohiredbytheacademytorevivetraditionalcraftsmanship.

"Unlikepubliclibraries,whereexpertiseisfocusedonhumanities,universitieshaveawiderrangeofexpertiseandwillusherinnewthinkingwithregardtotheprotectionofancientbooks,"Zhangsays.

SimilarinstitutionswerealsosetupinSunYat-senUniversity,inGuangzhou,Guangdongprovince,andTianjinNormalUniversity.InJune,anacademyspecificallyforpreservationofancientbooksoflocalnon-HanethnicgroupswasestablishedinGuizhouMinzuUniversityinGuiyang,Guizhouprovince.

Separately,inNanjing,anationalhuboftheprintingindustryandbookstoresduringtheMingandQingdynasties,anotherformofcooperationalsodemonstratesthecity'sextraordinarystatusinancientculturalhistory.Thereisaclusterofcustodiansofancientbooks,includingtheNJU,NanjingLibrary,andvariousarchives,aswellassomevocationalschoolsandanartacademyinthecity,whichalsotrainconservatorsofancientbooks.Frequentcommunicationamongtheseinstitutionsfacilitatesthestudyandpreservationofthepages,asShipointsout.

Nevertheless,Zhangsaysthevalueofthehugecollectionsoftheuniversitiescanstillbefurtherdemonstrated.

"Anational-levelalliancetospecificallycoordinatethestudyandpreservationofancientbooksinuniversitiesisstillabsent,"Zhangsays."Mostschoolsnowrelyontheirownefforts."

Consequently,thefirstnationalconferenceofuniversitylibrariesonancientbookprotectionwasheldatNanjingUniversityin2019topromoteanexchangeofexperiences.ThesecondeditionoftheconferencewasheldatZhejiangUniversityinHangzhouinJuly.

Anotherproblemlingers:Thereisalackofpersonnelinchargeoftheuniversities'collectionsofancientbooks.Forexample,onlytwofull-timerestorersofancientbooksworkatNanjingUniversityLibrary.

Consideringthataboutonequarteroftheancientbooksintheinventoryawaitsrestoration,Shisayssheneedsmorepeopleforthatposition.However,forsuchaprestigiousuniversity,theacademicrequirementisdemandingwhenintroducinganewemployee.

Trainingexpertisethroughregularuniversitysyllabusesisonesolution.InChina,master'sdegreesrelatedtoancientbookrestorationarebestowedinmorethan10universities,asZhangpointsout.Nonetheless,nouniversityhasopenedadepartmenttailoredtothefieldinundergraduateeducation.

"Thatmeansancientbooksarenottreatedasanindependent'major'incollege,andisonlyconsideredasabranchoffineartorpublishing,"Zhangsays.

BasedonsuccessfultrialsofinterdisciplinaryresearchatFudanUniversityandotherhigherinstitutions,Zhangbelievesitisessentialtosetupaspecificmajorfocusedonancientbooks,thusformingasustainabletrainingsystemforthefuture.