As Zhang Zhengfu (also Zhang Jingfu), a bibliophile and Qian Mu Lu, the library created by him, which have been submerged in the ashes of Qingdao history, reappear lately, people have the impulse to look back at the book legends, which used to scatter in ancient streets or old buildings and shine in the city culture.
Qian Mu Lu located on No. 8 Road Pingyuan : Books flowing into Qingdao from other places have mostly been checked by Zhang Zhengfu. Many books and works collected by him have been donated to the Municipal Library.
Zhang Zhengfu, born in a notable family enjoying a high social status, studied in Liqian Middle School in Qingdao and lived in the building located on Road Pingyuan No. 8.
Because he had very rich family heritage in knowledge and fortune, Zhang Zhengfu vigorously purchased books and he often went to the bookstores in Beijing and Tianjin to purchase books. In Qingdao, book businessmen often showed him first the books flowing into Qingdao from other places. He has collected many ancient books, especially master works on bibliography. This is the reason why the library is named “Qin Mu Lu”.
After the liberation, Zhang Zhengfu worked in Qingdao Municipal Library. He went to the paper mills or waste collecting stations on regular basis and got many old but precious books. The books he collected in Qian Mu Lu at that time had a new direction: master works on bibliography covering 1,014 varieties and 3,579 volumes of public and private recordings of different dynasties, all of which have been sold to the library of Shandong University which was located in Qingdao and he compiled the Qian Mu Lu Book Conferring Bibliography. 80% of works authored by Shandong people he collected were donated to the Qingdao Municipal Library. On the basis plus the donation from Zheng Aiju and Zhang Gongzhi, the Municipal Library compiled the Bibliography of Works by Shandong People in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which has become the proud treasure of the Municipal Library and the entire city.
He Mu Lu located on No. 6 Branch Road Fushan: Song Chunfang has condensed his love for drama art into a private library
Among many old libraries in Qingdao, He Mu Lu created by Song Chunfang is the most famous and it is reputed as one of top three professional drama libraries in the world.
Different from traditional private library buildings, although it has never declared open to the public, it was exceptionally generous and passionate for friends. Many famous people in the field of Chinese opera and translation at that time including Li Jianwu, Liang Shiqiu, Sun Dayu, Hong Shen, Zhang Tieming and Zhang Yousong. have visited this library. Even foreign readers wrote letters to borrow out books and He Mu Lu accepted all the requests.
In the eyes of Lu Hai, Song Chunfang who has engaged in both marine science and Chinese opera is always a mystery. H told us that he still couldn’t find out where he got the huge sum to open He Mu Lu in Qingdao at that time. When Qingdao built the aquarium before that, his name also appeared on the existing donation tablet and he donated 600 silver dollars, the most among all private donors.
Jiaozhou Library located on No. 2 Road Dexian: taking the lead to introduce the western modern library mechanism, not only for collecting but also for borrowing.
The currently recognized oldest private library is Tian Yi Ge in Ningbo. However the currently acknowledged earliest public library is Jingshi Library (Nowadays the National Library), which was under preparation in 1909 and formally opened to the public in 1912. However Lu Hai said in the interview that Qingdao Jiaozhou Library built in 1909 should be the first modern public library in China.
The “Jiaozhou Library” located on the No. 2 Road Dexian is nowadays the office site of Shinan District People’s Procuratorate. However hundreds of years ago, it took the lead to introduce the western modern library mechanism. The library not only collected books but also provided reading and borrowing services and became part of a social education. According to certain historic archives, in 1907, the Jiaozhou Library had a collection of 7,650 book volumes. Most of them are written in German and others were in Chinese or English. The borrowing per week could arrive at 200 people times.
The Jiao’ao Commercial Port Public Popular Library located on No. 2 Road Juxian: the predecessor of Qingdao Municipal Library. The plaques, when it was built in 1924, remain there.
The former site of the Jiao’ao Commercial Port Public Popular Library located on No. 2 Road Juxian is only a road intersection from the old Jiaozhou Library. A resident has opened a coffee shop inside his house beside the road. The owner explained to us that because the residents inside the building all knew about the history of the old building, no one dares to modify the internal and external structure randomly and related governmental departments have also repaired staircases, which have fallen down. Therefore the building basically retains the original appearance when the library opened in the 1920s.
According to certain archives, as the predecessor of Qingdao Municipal Library, the Jiao’ao Commercial Port Public Popular Library built in 1924 used the same building with the public Popular Speech House, from 1925 to 1928 the annual expenditure was 2,020 Yuan, the collection was 6,893 volumes, the readership was 1200 people per month, the average daily number of speech listeners was over 60. In 1929, the Nationalist Government took over Qingdao and expanded it into the current municipal library.
Ascend with the century-old wooden staircases. Between the 2nd and 3rd floor, the plaque saying “Huan Hai Jing Qing” is hanging and it seems to be a leftover article from when the library was built.
