6. Manuscripts from the Jiayetang
Established in 1932, the Fung Ping Shan Library at The University of Hong Kong has collected more than 700 rare titles (11,000 volumes) dating back to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Many of these rare editions and manuscripts were acquired from the Jiaye Library (Jiayetang), a private collection located in Nanxun (now Huzhou, Zhejiang province) during China’s Republican period (1912–1949).
Author’s manuscripts, especially those that predate the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), are now extremely rare. Manuscripts were generally disposed of after the books were published, as only the wooden blocks were kept for future printing. It was not until the late Ming that the importance of manuscripts was recognized; fewer than four thousand Ming and Qing author’s manuscripts survive.
A manuscript is an original, handwritten copy of a work before it is printed—either a rough draft written by the author, a ‘fair copy’ transcribed by the author, or by someone else on the author’s behalf, or a copy edited and checked by the author and/or other scholars. A rough draft is usually written in a casual manner, reflecting the author’s reasoning and any alterations in the line of thought. A fair copy is the final, corrected copy based on the author’s rough draft.
In the early days, intellectuals transcribed for two main purposes: as a means to make a living and for academic pursuits. In addition, certain works, such as records of the daily lives of the imperial family, were never intended for circulation; only transcripts were kept. Voluminous works were costly to print, and in many cases transcription was the only viable way to make additional copies.
Book collectors also transcribed rare editions to add to their own collections. This became common in the Ming dynasty, when Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1279–1368) editions were greatly sought after by book collectors. Individuals either would hire a scribe, or else transcribe the rare editions and add them to their personal collections.
Liu Chenggan and the Jiaye Library
Liu Chenggan (1882–1963) was a book collector who established the Jiaye Library in Nanxun in order to house his personal collection of 12,450 titles in 200,000 volumes. His collection included block prints from the Song (77 titles), Yuan (78 titles), Ming (more than 2,000 titles) and Qing (5,000 titles) dynasties, as well as 42 volumes of the Yongle Dadian (Yongle Encyclopaedia) and more than 1,200 local records. Equally impressive was the Jiaye Library’s collection of more than 2,000 manuscripts.
In the early 1950s, the Fung Ping Shan Library acquired a sizeable collection of rare books that formerly belonged to the Jiaye Library. The purchase included Song and Yuan block prints, along with a significant number of manuscripts.
Liu Chenggan (1882–1963) was a native of Wuxing County (now Huzhou), Zhejiang province. As the adopted son of his father's older brother, he inherited a fortune from his grandfather, who was the richest man in Nanxun (now Huzhou). His father passed the imperial examination in 1894, and was awarded the jinshi, the highest degree. His father also collected numerous history books as part of a compilation of the administrative history of the late Qing period. Though he never took up any official position in the Qing government, he was awarded an honorary official title based on his contributions to relief work from 1909 to 1911. He pledged loyalty to Emperor Xuantong, the last Emperor of China, who presented him several plaques in thanks. Liu named his personal library Jiaye Tang and Xigu Lou by selecting inscriptions from the Emperor's plaques.
Liu Chenggan once wrote that when the first national exposition of China was held in Nanjing in 1910, he took the opportunity to visit the book stalls and purchase countless books. News quickly spread amongst the booksellers who came to visit him with their books. It also should be noted that many book collectors sold their collections in response to the political upheavals associated with the downfall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Such a historical background enabled Liu Chenggan to collect roughly 200,000 volumes from 1910 to 1924.
Liu Chenggan was keen to build up a collection that was functional in nature. He paid special attention to the collection of manuscripts based on their uniqueness. And when he was unable to acquire an original title, he hired transcribers to make a copy so as to add it to his collection. He also was extremely generous in sharing his collection, so as to ensure that the rarest titles would last forever. In addition to setting aside a corner in his library for visitors to read and copy his books, he made them available to publishers for duplication free-of-charge. He even served as a printer and recruited a number of well-known scholars to edit and proofread rare titles in his collection before reprinting them.
Located in Nanxun, the Jiaye Library was completed in 1924. It occupied an area of twenty-four mu (1.6 hectares) and was staffed with personnel responsible for the management of the site and for publishing activities. The two-storey main building was designed with specific emphasis on proper ventilation and equipped with facilities to prevent fire, moisture and insects. In terms of facilities and design, the Jiaye Library resembled a modern library, despite the fact that it was constructed in a traditional manner.
The Library survived the Anti-Japanese War (1937–1945), but eventually Liu Chenggan ran out of money and had to sell part of the collection. He eventually donated the remaining library, including the building and its collection of books and wooden blocks, to the Zhejiang Library on 19 November 1951. The Zhejiang Library currently owns about half of the Jiaye Library Collection. Libraries like the National Library of China, Fudan University Library, Fung Ping Shan Library, The University of Hong Kong, Macao Central Library, Academia Sinica in Taiwan and the C.V. Starr East Asian Library of the University of California, Berkeley also hold some of the fine items from the collection.
Fung Ping Shan Library
In the early 1950s, the Fung Ping Shan Library acquired 120 titles (1,264 volumes) that had originally belonged to the Jiaye Library. These included block prints from the Song (2 titles), Yuan (13 titles), Ming (20 titles) and Qing (2 titles) dynasties, 4 Japanese block prints and 79 manuscript titles.
Many book collectors were forced to sell their collections in order to survive during the war with Japan. Towards the end of 1940, Liu Chenggan also intended to sell part of his collection. He hoped to sell only the Song, Yuan and Ming block prints, and to keep the manuscripts and Qing editions. Things did not go according to plan, and eventually he was forced to sell a majority of his Song and Yuan block prints and manuscripts to Zhang Shuping (1898–1970).
Around 1952, Chan Kwan-po (1898–1982), Librarian of the Fung Ping Shan Library from 1934 to 1953, learned from Wang Xiwen (1890–1960) that Liu Chenggan intended to sell the remainder of his rare books. Professor F.S. Drake (1892–1974) and Professor Jao Tsung-I of the School of Chinese strongly recommended that the University should acquire the collection. In mid-March 1953, the Fung Ping Shan Library did acquire most of the collection. The remaining titles were purchased by the Hong Kong-born Portuguese historian José Maria Braga (1897–1988). Braga resold his Jiayetang Collection in 1958 to the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library in Macao, except for five Siku Quanshu manuscripts, which he presented on behalf of the Portuguese Government, along with the six-volume Portugaliae monumenta cartographica, to The University of Hong Kong in November 1961. This marked the first time that Siku Quanshu manuscripts were resident in Hong Kong, and the Fung Ping Shan Library became the first Hong Kong institution to house these precious objects.