The National Library of China--A View from Within

1986 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Prentice
Keyword(s):  
National Library ◽  
National Library Of China

Transmission of Renaissance herbal images to China: the Beitang copy of Mattioli’s commentaries on Dioscorides and its annotations

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-253
Author(s):  
Wu Huiyi ◽  
Zheng Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
National Library ◽  
Materia Medica ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Northern Chinese ◽  
Jesuit Missionaries ◽  
Animal Names ◽  
National Library Of China ◽  
Made In

The Beitang Collection, heritage of a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Jesuit library in Beijing now housed in the National Library of China, contains an incomplete copy of Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s commentary on an Italian edition of Pedanius Dioscorides's De materia medica (1568) bearing extensive annotations in Chinese. Two hundred odd plant and animal names in a northern Chinese patois were recorded alongside illustrations, creating a rare record of seventeenth-century Chinese folk knowledge and of Sino-Western interaction in the field of natural history. Based on close analysis of the annotations and other contemporary sources, we argue that the annotations were probably made in Beijing by one or more Chinese low-level literati and Jesuit missionaries during the first two decades of the seventeenth century. We also conclude that the annotations were most likely directed at a Chinese audience, to whom the Jesuits intended to illustrate European craftsmanship using Mattioli’s images. This document probably constitutes the earliest known evidence of Jesuits' attempts at transmitting the art of European natural history drawings to China.

scholarly journals Practices and thinking of public libraries in China during COVID-19

IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110460
Author(s):  
Zhou Xin
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
New Media ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Library Services ◽  
National Library ◽  
Online Services ◽  
Collaborative Development ◽  
National Library Of China

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries in China closed their doors in early 2020 and moved all their services online. This change has brought unprecedented challenges for the development of library services, while it has also brought opportunities and motivation for the future transformation of libraries. This article uses official WeChat accounts of the National Library of China and more than 30 provincial public libraries as the main information sources to summarize and classify the services provided during the period of closure. It also collates and analyses news items released by these libraries to guide the improvement of the online services of public libraries in the pandemic environment. Finally, it puts forward the author’s reflections and suggestions on the key development directions of libraries in the post-pandemic era in six areas: reading promotion, smart libraries, new media operation, information literacy cultivation, open access and collaborative development.

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