National archives sites launched to preserve ancient Chinese texts

After three years of construction, China has inaugurated the National Archives of Publications and Culture to preserve the nation's ancient texts and modern publications.

The headquarters in Beijing and three branches in Xi'an, Hangzhou and Guangzhou will now collaboratively preserve the nation's bibliological resources.

Each venue is divided into four areas – exhibition, preservation, tunnel storage and communication – to collect varieties of archives, including ancient books, bronze inscriptions, manuscripts and historical documents that record Chinese history and civilization.

Except for the collections, all venues will host exhibitions and conduct research lectures and seminars to carry forward Chinese culture and boost cultural exchanges.

"The national archives serve as a general database of national bibliological resources and 'seed gene bank' of Chinese culture. They are cultural treasures required to be carried down to future generations," Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the inauguration ceremony in Beijing on July 23.

The establishment of the NAPC is one of the major cultural projects supported by the central government in China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). All the collections are separately preserved in the four venues in case of unexpected situations.

Ti Gong

The subvenue in Hangzhou is named Wenrun Pavilion (文润阁), which literally means "culturally nourishing" in Chinese. It was designed by Wang Shu, the first Chinese winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2012 and also dean of the School of Architecture at China Academy of Art.

Wang has been exploring Song Dynasty (960-1279) architecture for many years. Though few mansions and gardens of that period survived throughout the dynasties, he drew inspiration from ancient paintings to design the venue featuring Hangzhou elements.

Hangzhou had been the center of book publishing by the Song Dynasty when the city served as the nation's capital. Its books found favor with the literati because of the quality and elaborate production techniques.

In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the city developed into a mecca for bibliophiles. Private libraries and venues were set up across the city and a myriad of ancient archives were protected.

Though most of them were destroyed in the ensuing periods of social unrest, a few survived and became tangible proof of the past glory.

Ti Gong

"Today, the city still holds hundreds of thousands of woodblocks, ranging from the Song Dynasty to the Republic of China (1912-1949). Professionals continue to comb through the woodblocks, which would be a major feature of our venue," said Wu Xueyong, director of the organization team of Wenrun Pavilion.

The newly built Wenrun Pavilion has an exhibition area of 7,000 square meters and a preservation area of 50,000 square meters.

It is by far the most modern venue in Zhejiang Province as it uses temperature and humidity controls to preserve the quality of documents in the collection.

In recent years, the Zhejiang government has made extensive efforts to protect ancient archives.

"The Great Series of Chinese Paintings through the Ages," compiled and published by Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Cultural Heritage Bureau, is a large-scale national project spanning different dynasties and countries.

Since its launch in 2005, nearly 12,500 ancient Chinese paintings have been featured in the book series.

Today, it is dubbed "the most comprehensive collection of Chinese paintings" with the most authentic image recording and the most refined printing quality – one of the best of its kind in the world.

"The Great Series of Chinese Paintings through the Ages" is now collected in the Wenrun Pavilion.