The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China announced the sixth batch of ‘National Catalogue of Precious Ancient Books’ on 13 November 2020. Fifteen Chinese ancient books from the CUHK Library’s Rare Book Collection have been included in the final list. The selection criteria of the National Catalogue of Precious Ancient Books are extremely strict - listed materials must be of scholarly value, historical and cultural significance, and they should be handwritten or printed before 1912 in the form of classical binding. This is the first time that Chinese ancient books from a Hong Kong academic library collection have been selected as national precious books.
The CUHK Library has developed a distinguished Chinese ancient book collection in the past five decades. The rare book collection consists of over 1,100 titles in more than 16,000 volumes of Chinese classical titles in traditional stitched binding. The collection’s scope ranges from the Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Qianlong period (1795) of the Qing Dynasty. The selected 15 Chinese books for the National Catalogue are rare and unique editions, including 6 titles donated by the Bei Shan Tang Foundation in 2008. The editions are comprehensive, including woodblock printing, multi-colour printing, manuscripts and handwritten copies. To share these national treasures with the public, as well as for dissemination of knowledge and the preservation of cultural heritage, all these books were digitized and available for open access in the CUHK Digital Repository.
CUHK Library's Chinese rare books selected for the 6th batch of the National Catalogue of Precious Ancient Books:
- Yi Benyi Fulu Zuanshu (易本義附錄纂疏) (Woodblock printed edition, Yuan dynasty)
- Shi Ji: 36 juan (詩緝三十六卷) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Ji Gu Dian Shuoyuan Ji (紀古滇說原集) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Luo E Zhou Xiao Ji : 5 juan (羅鄂州小集五卷) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Yishan Xian Sheng Shi Ji (遺山先生詩集) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Zhu Lu Shi Ji (竹廬詩集) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Qinghu Xiansheng Wenji (青湖先生文集) (Woodblock printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Xiaocai Ju Yinyin (曉采居印印) (Impressed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Huainan Hong Lie Jie: 21 juan (淮南鴻烈解二十一卷) (Multi-colour printed edition, Ming dynasty)
- Zongxuan Xiansheng Wenji (宗玄先生文集) (Manuscript, Ming dynasty)
- Nenger Zhai Yinpu (能爾齋印譜) (Impressed edition, Qing dynasty)
- Yihai Jianwen (乙亥見聞) (Manuscript, Qing dynasty)
- Shi Wen Za Gao (詩文雜稿) (Manuscript, Qing dynasty)
- Shuying (書影) (Handwritten copy, Wenlan Ge edition of Siku Quanshu, Qing dynasty)
- Zhongcheng Ji (中丞集) (Handwritten copy, Wenlan Ge edition of Siku Quanshu, Qing dynasty
Full text available at CUHK Digital Repository
Yi Benyi Fulu Zuanshu (易本義附錄纂疏)
Shuying (書影)
Zhu Lu Shi Ji (竹廬詩集)
Nenger Zhai Yinpu (能爾齋印譜)
