Share the amazing Chinese rare books

Abstract

The special collections of National Central Library (NCL) range from the bronze and stone rubbings, Han dynasty wood strips, Dunhuang scrolls, rare and exquisite Chinese books from Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. The rich collection of Chinese ancient texts and rare books provides a broad spectrum of sources for the understanding of imperial China’s literary, cultural, ethical, social, and economic activities. The NCL has been enthusiastic at making the collected items be digitized and providing public access. To facilitate scholarly research, the NCL established an international joint and sharing of bibliographic resources on Chinese rare books called “Union Catalog”. The catalog comprises over 790,000 titles at 81 institutions worldwide. Since 2005, the NCL has been cooperating with world renowned libraries to digitize rare Chinese books and to enhance the international sharing of the library’s digital images resources, with signing of cooperative or exchange agreements. The cooperative projects help preserve these important works in 8 institutions worldwide, resulting in over 3 million images and 300,000 views per year. The NCL preserves and promotes the sharing of ancient Chinese books through collaborative projects and internet dissemination. These will not only promote co-creating and sharing resources, but will benefit of researchers everywhere.