In Memory of Classic Books Gone

By Feng Luozong

The books of the Baisonglou Library are now an everlasting pain in the heart of the people of Huzhou. In the summer of 1907, China was stunned to learn that the 150,000-book collection of the Baisonglou Library was secretly purchased and shipped to Japan by Seikado Bunko Library of Japan.

History

The loss of the books spelled the decline of the great empire and its culture in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Huzhou had been a center of ancient books from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) up to the Qing Dynasty (1644-191). As block printing made mass-production of books possible in the Song Dynasty, Huzhou was a national center of printing and book distribution. It also became a center of private book collections. Even today, local scholars can proudly count all of these great private collections on their fingers. For example, one of the two major private libraries in the Song Dynasty was in Huzhou with a collection of more than 100,000 books. In the following dynasties, Huzhou boasted great book bibliophiles who not only built their well known private libraries but also reprinted valuable books from their collections. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, Zhejiang was the countrys largest repository of private libraries. Huzhou alone boasted six private libraries of national renown.

Baisonglou Library was owned by Lu Xinyuan (1834-1894). In Chinese, the name of Baisonglou Library refers to two hundred titles of the Song edition. As the major financial pillar of the Lu family, a Shanghai-based silk factory, collapsed as large cheap rayon imports from Japan flooded Chinese market, the familys misfortune began. The desperate son of Lu Xinyuan wanted to sell assets to pay off huge debts. It was during this time that a Japanese scholar named Shimada Kan targeted the library. During tow years from 1905 to 1906 he visited the library many times and studied all the Song books in the private collection. He concluded that Japan had no such books. Shimada talked to Yanosuke Iwasaki (1851-1908), the second president of the Mitsubishi organization in its earliest form, and suggested that the latter buy the librarys collection and bring the collection to the Seikado, a repository of art and literary treasures from Japan and China created to preserve the cultural treasures and offset the headlong westernization in Japan.

When Zhang Yuanji, the director of China Commercial Press, learned the ongoing negotiation about the precious books, he offered to buy the books for 60,000 silver dollars. Lu Shufan, the son of Lu Xinyuan, wanted 100,000. Zhang promised to raise more money and sent someone to give an oral message to Lu, asking him not to sell the books to the Japanese. But by the time Zhang raised the cash, Lu Shufang had already sold the books for an amount of 108,000. All the books from the library left Huzhou in a steamboat from a river port one night and were shipped off to Japan in June, 1907.

Huzhou Delegations Visit to the Seikado Bunko Art Museum

In August, 2001, a Huzhou delegation was in Tokyo, ready to fly home after paying a visit to Shimada, a sister city with Huzhou. The delegation went to see the precious books from the Shuangbailou Library.

Though located in a backstreet in western Tokyo, the Seikado today embraces more than 200,000 manuscripts and 5,000 artworks unique to the Orient, including some designated as national treasures and important cultural properties. A narrow lane about 100 meters long, lined with towering trees and low wood fences, leads to a small two-storied house. In an early 20th-century western European architectural style, it has yellow walls and a sloping tin roof in green and few chimneys. It has Japans largest collection of Chinese ancient books, most of which are from the collection of Lu Xinyuan.

The door opened to us. The Seikado officials had known we were from Huzhou, the hometown people of Lu Xinyuan, the original owner of the Shuangbailou Library. The Seikado has strict rules for visitors: only those with college education are allowed to visit the museum; those without college education need a reference letter from an academic research institute; and visits are by appointment only.

We had had an appointment. So we had no difficulty visiting the Seikado. We were given a brochure, which read that the inclusion of the book collection of Lu Xinyuan was a milestone in the history of the Seikado Bunko Library. We were told that the incumbent director of the library had visited the former residence of the Lu family in Huzhou in the early 1990s. In a sparely furnished room, I saw a plaque above a mantelpiece. The plaque bears the name Seikado Bunko Library in three Chinese characters, inscribed by Hu Weide, a native of Huzhou. He was ministerial-level Chinese ambassador to Japan from 1908 to 1910.

The reading room was small but well lit. On the table in the center of the room were two books. The thick one contained photocopies of the 18 books published in the Song Dynasty of China, which are designated as “Important Cultural Properties”. The book also included photocopies of the first pages and the last pages of the 235 books also published in the Song Dynasty of China, and other biblical information. The second book on the table, published in 1991 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Seikado Bunko Library, was about books published in the Song and the Yuan dynasties of China. We wished to buy a copy of the second book. But no copy was available. Could we take a look at the Song books once owned by Lu Xinyuan? No. Could we check out any of above-mentioned books? No. Art treasures in Japan go under three titles: national treasure, important cultural property, and ordinary items. Art treasures in the first two categories are not open to the general public and they can never be checked out, let alone going abroad. We each bought a set of 12 postcards. One postcard has a picture showing a frontal view of the Seikado Bunko Art Museum.The rest have photographs showing the individual first pages of various Song books, all from the Baisonglou Library.

It turned out that we were the first people from Huzhou who visited Seikado since Hu Weide. Nearly a century had passed.

Dreams

Various proposals have been put forward in Huzhou about getting the lost books back. A few years ago, some scholars in Zhejiang proposed to the government to buy back the books. But it remains empty talk since the Japanese law forbids the books to go overseas. It is suggested the local government put together some money and make copies of these precious books from the Seikado Bunko Library. Another suggestion is to organize tour groups to visit the Seikado.

The original library house which once housed the books is now a provincial cultural heritage under government protection. The old house, which is now in a pitiful condition, is hemmed in by the urban jungle with all the hustle and bustle. Shortly after the books were gone, some Chinese scholars desired to buy them back. They are dead. The pier where the books were shipped away is gone too. The lost books remain an everlasting pain in the heart of the Huzhou people.