From 1935 to 1948, the Party Central Committee led the Chinese revolution in northern Shaanxi for nearly 13 years, which was a very important period in modern Chinese history. Whether in terms of politics, military, economic and cultural aspects, it is very brilliant, and its work as a library has also made great progress accordingly.
Before 1938, there was a People's Education Center in Yan'an City. The Zhongshan Library was established in May 1937, and the Lu Xun Library was established by the Education Department of the Border Region Government. At the same time, libraries are also set up in various agencies, schools and other units in Yan'an. For example, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Marxist-Leninist College, Yan'an University, the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the Luxun Art Academy, the Border Region Hospital and other units all have their own libraries or information rooms. After that, reading rooms were also set up in public education halls in various parts of Yan'an.
Yan'an Municipal People's Education Center was established very early, but it was bombed by Japanese imperialist aircraft in the winter of 1938 and once stopped working. In July 1939, the municipal government opened a new museum in the new market area, started to restore work, and called on the general public to donate books and magazines to support their work①. On October 12, 1939, the Yan'an Municipal People's Education Hall officially opened. The main tasks of the Civil Education Museum are as follows, namely: book and newspaper reading room, publishing the "Dazhong Daily", holding speeches, writing offices (writing letters on behalf of citizens, writing accounts, etc.), and inquiry offices. Book and newspaper reading was a very important task at that time.
In March 1939, in response to the call of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao on learning, the Education Department of the Border Region Government also mentioned in the education plan that "each counties consider the actual situation and set up a civil education museum or reading room ③." Since then, people's education museums, reading rooms, newspaper reading rooms, etc. in various places have been established one after another. In the past few years, the Quzi Minsheng Education Hall, Shenfu Minsheng Education Hall, Qingyang Minsheng Education Hall, Zhenqing Minsheng Education Hall, Ganquan Minsheng Education Hall, Zichang Minsheng Education Hall, Fuxian Minsheng Education Hall, Gangu Yimin People's Education Hall, etc. were established. These folk churches have places to read books and newspapers, and have become the center of mass cultural activities. Among them, Qingyang and Quzi folk education museums won awards in subsequent cultural and educational conferences for their excellent work performance④.
In addition to the reading rooms in the Civil Education Museum, there are several public libraries in Yan'an, such as Zhongshan Library, Lu Xun Library, etc. Zhongshan Library was established in May 1937. Its work has been well carried out and has made great contributions to the cultural undertakings of the border areas. After Yan'an was bombed by Japanese planes in 1938, the embassy's affairs were paused. In 1939, the directors of the museum stayed in Yan'an decided to reorganize and restore the study and research work at that time. So on December 13, 1939, people from all walks of life in Yan'an were invited to hold a meeting to discuss how to rectify and expand the specific matters of Zhongshan Library. At this meeting, it was decided: 1. Make the Zhongshan Library a large-scale public library in Yan'an; 2. Revise the past charter of the library; 3. Recruit 17 comrades including Lin Boqu, Wu Yuzhang, Dong Biwu, Xu Teli, Zang Yunyuan, Lin Biao, Cheng Fangwu, Chen Boda, Ai Siqi, Zhou Yang, He Sijing, Deng Yingchao, Meng Qingshu, Ding Ling, Feng Wenbin, Li Chang, etc. as directors of the Zhongshan Library, and Comrade Lin Boqu was selected as directors, and Comrade Li Chang was the director of the library. Since this meeting, we have started to organize books, build new museum sites, and raise books. On February 14, 1940, the second council meeting was convened by the director of Zhongshan Library by Comrade Lin Boqu. In this meeting, the future policy and work steps of the library affairs were discussed in detail, and in order to meet the needs of the library affairs, Comrades Wang Lin and Hu Qiaomu were hired as directors. Comrades Ai Siqi, He Sijing, Zhou Yang, Wang Lin and Hu Qiaomuwu were also elected as executive directors, responsible for handling and leading the affairs of the bureau. The director of the museum was replaced by Comrade Hu Qiaomu.
The museum has started its work during construction and is temporarily open to view. After the construction was completed, the museum was officially opened on July 7, 1940, the third anniversary of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Zhongshan Library is divided into four parts in terms of organizational structure: books, materials, readers' consultants, and editors. The site of the museum was located in Dabiangou outside the north gate of Yan'an. In terms of book collection, according to statistics in July 1940, the museum collected more than 5,000 books and collected more than 100 newspapers and magazines from all over the country at that time. The museum has 5 rooms, including a library, a material room, a reference room, a newspaper reading room, and a magazine room. Later, a new book and newspaper reading room was built in 1942 and a card catalog was established. In the loan procedures, the initial one was to use letters of introduction from each unit and pay a deposit of 2 yuan, which was sent to the library to borrow the booklet certificate for one week. Later, in 1942, the deposit system was abolished and the method of replacing letters of introduction and borrowing books was replaced. The museum's reading time is stipulated to be open all day on Sundays and closed on Mondays⑦.
In addition to reading work, Zhongshan Library has also achieved great achievements in other work. For example, before the Ministry of Materials officially opened, in order to cooperate with the research on constitutional issues at that time, it collected various relevant materials, set up a room for readers to read, and compiled "Selected Constitutional Papers" and "Index of Constitutional Papers" to meet readers' needs⑧. Later, he also published three regular journals, including "Current Affairs Information", "World Events Table", and "Monthly National Newspaper and Publications Papers Index". This spirit of closely combining with the current situation at that time and serving the Party’s central work is still a model for our library workers.
Lu Xun Library was founded before 1939. It was small in scale when it was first built and had few books. In the winter of 1939, the Education Department of the Border Region Government decided to expand the museum to meet the needs of the situation⑩. However, in the early stages of the expansion, there were problems in the management system, such as unclear book registration system, no numbers, and no classification. In order to improve the work, from October 1941 to March 1942, the museum specially organized books and did not go through external sales procedures. The organizational structure was also adjusted during this period⑪. Reopened on June 7, 1942. At this time, the museum also reorganized the three original reading rooms into two reading rooms, "Library" and "Reading Materials Room". The museum had three staff members at that time, and Comrade Liu Geng was the director of the museum, who was in charge of the entire museum affairs and also took charge of general affairs. The other two people manage two reading rooms respectively. In addition to the position reading work (called book cashiers at that time), book lending work (called book circulation at that time) was also carried out⑫.
This adjustment has greatly taken the work of the museum. According to statistics at the end of 1942, we can see the progress of its work.
In terms of book circulation: In April 1942, there were less than 200 readers; in December 1942, it increased to 684; from April to December 1942, a total of 4,104 books (times) were loaned. The reader structure is: 323 readers in the border government system, accounting for 35%; 112 readers in the military system, accounting for 16%; 55 readers in the central system, accounting for 7.5%; 192 readers in the school system, accounting for 28%; 50 readers in the cultural group, accounting for 7.3%; 16 readers in the store, accounting for 2.5%; 15 readers in the factory, accounting for 2.2%; 7 other readers, accounting for 1.5%. In terms of the number of books: from April to December 1942, more than 800 books were added. These include: 195 volumes of natural science; 159 volumes of literature and art; 140 volumes of ancient books: 121 volumes of primary reading materials; 50 volumes of social science; 48 volumes of Chinese; 36 volumes of comprehensive category: 27 volumes of education; 25 volumes of history and geography; 12 volumes of philosophy⑬.
From the above statistics, we can not only see its development, but we can also know that at that time they had a complete book classification system and reader registration work. When there were few staff and many employees at that time, it was also worth learning from our current library workers.
In addition to these larger public libraries, some professional libraries have also been established. Such as the Border District Hospital Library and Health School Library established in 1939, and the Yan'an Traditional Chinese Medicine Library established in 1944, etc.
It should also be pointed out that Yan'an not only has many libraries, but also their own organization "Yan'an Library Association". The date of establishment of this association and its specific circumstances are not yet clear. However, we can see from its resolutions of the second general meeting of members that it played a major role at that time. At the first Yan'an Library Association Members' Meeting in 1941, two tasks were decided: 1. Investigate the number of books in various agencies and schools in Yan'an (about 108,000 volumes); 2. Understand the situation of each library, help improve the quality of work, and adopt a unified method in classification and cataloging. The second general meeting of members was held on February 8, 1942. The meeting proposed: 1. The newly arrived books should be allocated appropriately; 2. The general record of Yan'an books should be compiled; 3. Publication of journals; 4. Help various library staff to conduct professional learning, such as teaching library science; 5. Comrade Gao Gewu and seven other people were selected as new directors⑰. From the resolutions of these two meetings, we can see the collaborative spirit of various libraries and agencies in Yan'an, the business counseling and cadre training in the library system, the great cooperation between the libraries and the allocation of books, and great achievements have been made in these aspects.
The library industry in Yan'an has been able to achieve such great development in a difficult environment. I think there are reasons for these aspects: First, the correct leadership and care of the Party and the revolutionary leaders. The Party not only pointed out the correct direction in which the library should serve the workers, peasants and soldiers, but also strongly supported the construction of the library in various places, and sent responsible party members to participate in the leadership of the library, ensuring the correct development and consolidation of the library cause. What touched us in particular was the care of Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and Lin Boqu for the library industry. When preparing for the construction of the border hospital library, Lu Xun Library, Zhongshan Library, etc., Chairman Mao also donated funds⑱, and in 1939, it was as much as 200 yuan. Comrade Zhou Enlai once took advantage of his opportunity to work in the Kuomintang-controlled area to purchase books for Yan'an, and Comrade Lin Boqu also donated money to newly built libraries many times.
This shows how revolutionary leaders valued the development of the library industry. Second, support from people all over the country. At that time, due to the war environment, the conditions in Yan'an were very difficult and the source of books was very difficult, but people from all over the country tried every means to support it. For example, at that time, bookstores in Chongqing, Guilin, Xi'an and other places donated books to libraries in Yan'an. For example, Zhonghua Book Company donated more than 140 books, including "China's Social and Economic History", "Chronology of the Chronicles", and "Railway Yearbook" at one time⑳. At that time, all organs in Yan'an City also gave considerable support.
Third, the efforts of library workers, correctly implementing the Party's policies and working styles to get along with the masses have also promoted the work of libraries in Yan'an. For example, in order to cooperate with the Party’s central work, current affairs materials, indexes, etc. are prepared to help everyone learn and research. At the same time, they have also achieved outstanding results in helping the broad masses of people improve their cultural level. For example, Zizhou Library once set up cultural cram schools, targeted staff of institutions with low cultural level at the time, used their spare time in the afternoon, and taught 6 times a week. The course content included Mandarin, common sense, music, arithmetic, and actual life and work connected with comrades, improving their cultural level and achieving significant results. In short, they have made the library an indispensable and colorful center for people's lives, connecting with the masses and carrying out learning for them.
Note:
①"New China News Agency July 28, 1939.
②"New China News Agency" September 26 and October 17, 1939.
③"New China News Agency March 13, 1939.
④"Liberation Daily" November 20, 1944.
⑤"New China News Agency" December 23, 1939.
⑥"New China News Agency" February 28, 1940.
⑦"New China News Agency" July 12, 1940.
⑧"New China News Agency" February 28, 1940.
⑨"Liberation Daily" June 1, 1941.
⑩"New China News Agency" December 6, 1939.
⑪"Liberation Daily" April 25, 1942.
⑫Liberation Daily June 6, 1942.
⑬"Liberation Daily" February 24, 1943.
⑭《New China News Agency October 24, 1939.
⑮"New China News Agency" May 31, 1940.
⑯"Liberation Daily" September 7, 1944.
⑰Liberation Daily February 11, 1942.
⑱"New China News Agency October 24, 1939; December 23, 1939.
⑲"New China News Agency" December 6, 1939.
⑳"Liberation Daily" December 2, 1942.
Source: Baota CPPCC official account
Author: Zhang Zhiqiang (formerly worked at the China Revolutionary Museum in Beijing)
Editor: Ma Jingjing
【Statement: This account is the official public welfare account of "National Reading Promotion". This article is reproduced for the purpose of conveying more information. If there is any source marking error or other inappropriateness, please contact us. We will make corrections in time. Thank you]
