A Study On Geng Wenguang, A Bibliophile In The Late Qing Dynasty

Geng Wenguang was an important bibliophile and bibliognost in Lingshi County of Shanxi Province in the late Qing Dynasty. He was considered as a great master with over 80,000 columns books in all his life. The collecting began when Geng was only 17 years old in 26 years of Daoguang, that is 1846 and reached the peak gradually in the period of Tongzhi. There is a characteristic in Geng's book collecting, which combines the book collecting with reading. From the long period of book collecting activity, he knew clearly that the bibliogy and bibliognost are important to the distinction on collecting and the guidance on reading. Therefore, he devoted his whole life to the compilation of 7 bibliographies successively as well as collecting and reading. Among them, three bibliographies are extant. They are Bibliography,Wan Juan Jing Hua Lou Cang Shu Ji and Su Xi Yu Yin Du Shu Pu, which Wan Juan Jing Hua Lou Cang Shu Ji shows his achievement most. Geng's book collecting is mainly common and practical; so its Song edition and Yuan text are less exquisite and complete than those in Hai Yuan Ge,Tie Qin Tong Jian Lou,Bi Song Lou,Ba Qian Juan Lou, the most famous 4 libraries in the late Qing Dynasty. However, as a introductory bibliography with characteristic of distinguishing between good and bad in edition and stressing the guidance in reading Wan Juan Jing Hua Lou Cang Shu Ji, with 146 volumes and 20,000 words was in no way inferior comparing with the catalogues of the most famous 4 bibliophiles in the late Qing Dynasty.However, as a great bibliophile in the north, Geng Wenguang didn't draw acadamic cirles'attention and his position in the history of book collecting and bibliography didn't get the reserved recognition in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, with his book collecting activity, cataloguing activity and bibliography thought as research topic, after wide collecting,organizing and ranking the related materials from the point of document...