A Bibliophile & Merchant in Shanghai During Modern Times: Zhang Zhiming

Abstract

Zhang Zhiming was a famous merchant as Ningbo Gang and bibliophile in Shanghai during modern times. He liked ancient books and collected them, established successively private library named “Gu Huan Room” in Tokyo and Shanghai. This paper introduces Zhang’s life story and circle of friends, analyses the thoughts, characteristic, usage and dissemination of his collecting books. Collections involve ancient and modern ones within or outside China, among which there are some science and technology books that are not collected by ordinary book collectors. This may be related to his experience in sinification of science. His action of searching and collecting books and other related activities are based not only on a batch of Chinese cultural relics flowing to other countries such as Japan during the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China, but also because of the Chinese traditional culture and his hometown’s culture of collecting books. It is also related to his nature of loving books and the knowledge he has learned in Japan and Shanghai. His practice of collecting books has contributed to the inheritance and protection of Chinese culture to a certain degree, and leaving an indelible impression in the history of modern Chinese culture.