Making Rare Books Public: the Jiangsu Provincial Guoxue Library in the Nanjing Decade (1927-1937)

Abstract

Abstract The history of the Jiangsu Provincial Guoxue Library (Jiangsu shengli guoxue tushuguan 江蘇省立國學圖書館) during the Nanjing Decade (1927-1937) demonstrates how China’s intellectual and material legacies—rare books in this case—were given new meaning and put into use in the form of a modern public library. Unpacking both the discursive and practical meanings of the ‘publicness’ of the library, this article demonstrates that during this transitional period, rare book collection became both a spiritual and material site where Chinese scholar-collectors and librarians inscribed their political ideals and advocacy, promoted research into China’s past, and inherited centuries-old practices from the literati-collectors of the premodern era.