Initial Compilation of the Collection Series Year: 1935-1937 Call Number: RBK1930-S1-C000011 In 1935, under the leadership of Mr. Zhang Yuanji, the Commercial Press selected 100 series of books from the Song to Qing dynasties, considered to be the “most valuable.” Redundant duplicates were eliminated, and the best editions were either reproduced photographically or reset, compiled into a large-scale series titled Initial Compilation of the Collected Series ( 叢書集成初編). By 1937, a total of 3,467 volumes had been published, but publication was suspended due to the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan. According to the preface to the original bibliography of the Commercial Press, “The selection criteria for the initial 100 series prioritized practicality and rarity; the former to meet needs, and the latter to preserve rare manuscripts.” The 100 selected series were categorized by the dynasty of publication: 3 from the Song dynasty, 1 from the Yuan dynasty, 25 from the Ming dynasty, and 71 from the Qing dynasty. Categorized by the nature of the series, there were 80 general series, 12 specialized series, and 8 local series. Originally, these 100 series contained approximately 6,000 titles and over 27,000 volumes. After eliminating duplicates, the actual number of titles was reduced to approximately 4100, totaling around 20,000 volumes. In terms of the number of titles, it exceeds those recorded in the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) by 1/5, and in terms of characters, it is approximately equivalent to 1/3 of the Siku Quanshu. The scope of the Initial Compilation of the Collected Series is very broad, originally divided into 10 major categories and 541 subcategories. Virtually all common and frequently used ancient books are included. The publication of this series has played a crucial role in disseminating traditional Chinese culture and facilitating the collation and research of ancient books. —Excerpted from Dictionary of Historical and Literary Reference Works. 307 67
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