National Central Library Rare Books & Special Collections

The establishment of NCL’s special collections was originally derived from the NCL’s Preparation Office set up in 1933 in Nanjing. Soon after, the Ministry of Education handed over to the Office a collection of books numbering some 46,000 volumes and more than 1,000 Qing dynasty palace examination scripts, which formed the basis of NCL’s special collections. In the early 1940s, as an effort to protect rare books from the destruction and threat of the war, the library founded a concealed “Comrade’s Association for the Preservation of Documents” (Wenxian baocun tonzhihui) for saving and purchasing rare books. After the war ended, these scholars’ enormous accomplishment of book saving, constituted the major and most significant part of NCL’s special collections.

The special collections of National Central Library (NCL) range from bronze and stone rubbings, Dunhuang scrolls, rare and exquisite Chinese books made before 1795, and thread-bound volumes produced between 1796 and 1911. The rare books amount to approximately 12,900 titles and more than 130,000 volumes from the Song (960-1279) to Qing (1636-1912) dynasties, especially with a rich anthology of Ming prints. The thread-bound books total more than 9,700 titles and 110,000 volumes. Among those rare books, 40 titles (303 volumes) have been identified by Taiwan’s Cultural Heritage Preservation Act as national treasures.

The abundant substance of NCL’s special collections provide the public and academics with valuable cultural heritage and research resources. In addition to literary and cultural value, the varied editions of NCL’s special collections further offer significant materials for textual criticism, studies of bibliography, history and aesthetics of printing, book making, publishing, as well as history of learning. Overall, NCL’s rich collection of Chinese ancient texts and rare books provides a broad spectrum of sources for the understanding of imperial China’s literary, cultural, ethical, social and economic activities, therefore make it precious and highly-valued.

After relocated to Taiwan in 1949, the NCL continued to obtain materials through purchase and donation from private collectors and public institutions. With the progress of technology and globalization, until now the library has developed various kinds of technological services which include microfilm, reproductions of ancient books, online image system and so forth, thus make the library’s special collections more accessible to public and demonstrated its important role in social education and cultural preservation.

As NCL’s special collections are expanding, NCL has been enthusiastic at making the collected items be digitized in the following online database entries, which include:

1. Digital Images Database: There are over 7 million digitized images in the NCL special collections, including: special collections (rare books, stone and bronze rubbings, ancient legal contracts, and genealogies); manuscripts of famous persons.
2. Union Catalog: In 1998, the NCL created the Union Catalog of Ancient Chinese Books in Taiwan. Later, this was expanded and changed to the Rare Books & Special Collections Database. From 2012 to the present, over 90 cooperating libraries are working together to expand the union catalog. Over 843,000 records have been created.
3. International Collaborations of NCL’s Digital Image Database: Since 2005, the NCL has been actively cooperating with world renowned libraries to digitize rare Chinese books. As rare and ancient Chinese books are an important world legacy, their preservation has important implications in cultural heritage, research, and civilization. The NCL provides its expertise and experience to help foreign libraries digitize their holdings of original copies of Chinese rare books that have made their way overseas. These cooperative projects allow the NCL to help preserve these important works while acquiring the rights to use the digitized materials. Cooperating institutions number 4,411, including the U.S. Library of Congress, the University of Washington Library, UC Berkeley Library, University of Toronto Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and University of British Columbia. Now a total of 316,0177 images of important rare Chinese books have been digitized. These cooperative projects are highly beneficial for researchers in Taiwan with limited resources, as well as for promoting Taiwan’s influence in Chinese studies worldwide.
4. There are other online database systems in reference to NCL’s special collections, including “online exhibition of special collections” website consisting of the records of NCL’s special collection’s exhibitions over the years, publications, electronic books, and knowledge about ancient books and their restoration techniques.

(From the original website.)