The Declination of Traditional Chinese Library and the Birth of Modern Library

Abstract

Chinese intellectuals, who had received modern education in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, focused their attention on the Enlightenment movement through social education, paying attention to the general public. The birth of a modern library was also inspired by the idea that intellectuals wanted to save the country through education. In the Quadramother-centric education, they argued for a new educational framework based on western scientific technologies. The establishment of a new modern library was necessary as traditional books could not play a part in putting these claims into practice. Western missionaries played an important role in the birth of modern libraries in China. They actively participated in publishing, translation, and building libraries in China for missionary work, and also introduced new Western theories and current state of libraries. After the martial arts reform period, a society led by Chinese intellectuals was established, and they put a lot of effort into the establishment of libraries in addition to academic activities. Especially, the measure on the legislation of the library helped the new system of modern libraries to quickly be established itself in China. Therefore, the modern Chinese library and the traditional Chinese library are not entirely separate things, but rather have undergone a different historical development processes as identical objects so modern libraries today are a series of inevitable historical processes in which ancient Chinese libraries are changing and developing.이 논문은 한양대학교 교내연구지원사업으로 연구되었음(HY-2015년도