Woodblock printing is amazing, the ancients were really smart! "Recently, under the guidance of professional teachers, dozens of primary and secondary school students from Gaotang County experienced the traditional art of woodblock printing firsthand at the Haiyuan Pavilion Library Culture Museum in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. The friction between the brown brush and the carved plate produces a rustling sound, and clear handwriting leaps onto the rice paper. Haiyuan Pavilion was first built in the 20th year of the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang reign (1840 AD) by Yang Yizeng, a Jinshi from Liaocheng. It was the only library among the four major libraries in the late Qing Dynasty that rose to prominence in the north. In history, there were over 4300 types of books and more than 280000 volumes collected here. From the 1860s to the 1930s, Haiyuan Pavilion suffered from frequent wars, with buildings damaged and collections scattered. In 1992, relying on the Yang's Residence in the southwest corner of Liaocheng, Liaocheng City restored Haiyuan Pavilion to its original structural style and opened it to tourists. Nowadays, the once again standing Haiyuan Pavilion exudes an antique charm, serving as both a library and a center for showcasing and utilizing ancient books. When Haiyuan Pavilion was just rebuilt, there were no copied ancient books, only some pictures and introductions. ”Lin Hu, the director of Liaocheng Library, said. After the launch of the "Returning Ancient Books to the Pavilion Project" in Haiyuan Pavilion, Liaocheng City organized a professional team to search for historical documents and book catalogs, accurately locate the whereabouts of scattered ancient books, establish detailed archives, and formulate a return plan. Through digital collection, photocopying, and other methods, the old collections of Haiyuan Pavilion ancient books that have been scattered in various places due to war can "return home". Ancient books are not only cultural relics, but also precious non renewable literature materials. Enabling more ancient books to 'come alive' and 'pass down' is a new cultural mission in the new era, "Xu Li, director of the Haiyuan Pavilion Library and Culture Museum in Liaocheng City, told reporters. In 2023, Liaocheng City will launch the" Haiyuan Pavilion Ancient Books Digitization Project ", using digital technology to restore lost ancient books in Haiyuan Pavilion through various methods such as scanning, recording, photocopying, and reprinting. The goal is to build a digital Haiyuan Pavilion warehouse and a digital Haiyuan Pavilion ancient book exhibition hall, allowing ancient books to step out of their" seclusion ". Time flies, and now Haiyuan Pavilion has transformed from a private library into a regional cultural center that integrates various functions such as displaying and reading ancient books, academic discussions and exchanges, traditional cultural education and research for young people, and cultural exchange and mutual learning between the East and the West. Every year, a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, as well as primary and secondary school students, come here to participate in cultural experience activities such as classic recitation and book sharing, exploring the beauty of ancient book culture. In December 2024, the first "Haiyuan Pavilion Cup" city wide youth classic reading competition kicked off. The event lasted for 4 months, and more than 2100 contestants vividly demonstrated traditional culture through poetry recitation, situational dramas, and other forms. Lin Hu said, "We will fully leverage the cultural heritage, humanistic education, and cultural tourism exchange functions of the Haiyuan Pavilion Ancient Books Cultural Center, strengthen cultural tourism, youth study, cultural dissemination, and external cultural exchanges, and make new contributions to inheriting and promoting excellent traditional Chinese culture and creating a new benchmark for cultural innovation." "The protection of ancient books is not to be left on the shelf, but to provide a lever for cultural heritage inheritance and channels for public participation. ”Zhou Jiangtao, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Liaocheng City, stated that in recent years, Liaocheng has deeply explored the historical and contemporary value of ancient books, and has done a good job in mass dissemination of ancient books through multiple channels, media, and dimensions. Through technology, it has empowered the "two innovations" of excellent traditional Chinese culture, making it approachable, tangible, and vividly "alive" in the present. (New Society)