- Jiang, Shuyong (2007). "Into the source and history of Chinese culture: knowledge classification in Ancient China." Libraries & the Cultural Record, 42(1), 1-20
- A "Dig Deeper" article from Ancient Libraries
- Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2l6aU6h
As so much of the readings are based on the Western history of libraries, I was interested to read an article based on Eastern history.
It is fascinating to think that ancient Chinese libraries cataloged their materials not by subject, but by function in society. I think on my library's experience of converting from Dewey to WordWise, and all the debate that went into determining category and sub-category 'keywords' and what belonged where. How much debate must've gone into placing a new material into a bibliography based on societal function! Surely each librarian would have their own opinion. (And obviously each regime...much of the article is devoted to how the state's bibliography would change with each new emperor, or how books would be destroyed. Notably was the first emperor of Qin, who didn't want scholars reading "the past to criticize the present." [pg. 4]) I was further amazed that after decades of creating a bibliography of six categories, it was eventually further whittled down to four!
It is fascinating to think that ancient Chinese libraries cataloged their materials not by subject, but by function in society. I think on my library's experience of converting from Dewey to WordWise, and all the debate that went into determining category and sub-category 'keywords' and what belonged where. How much debate must've gone into placing a new material into a bibliography based on societal function! Surely each librarian would have their own opinion. (And obviously each regime...much of the article is devoted to how the state's bibliography would change with each new emperor, or how books would be destroyed. Notably was the first emperor of Qin, who didn't want scholars reading "the past to criticize the present." [pg. 4]) I was further amazed that after decades of creating a bibliography of six categories, it was eventually further whittled down to four!
"Li Chong’s reorganization of the hierarchy established the standard order of the Chinese classification system, with Confucian scriptures first, histories second, masters third, and collections of writings fourth." (pg. 9) Clearly, the order of the categories was also important, with the number reflecting the importance of the function.
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