Former Site of ZeCun Library

Former Site of ZeCun Library

The former site of ZeCun Library is located at No. 2 Yihelou, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

This was the private book collection of Chen Qun. The library was constructed starting in March 1941 and completed in February 1942. It is a three-story, circular, enclosed structure in a Western architectural style. The total built-up area includes 47 rooms over three floors of the main building and two rooms in a single-story annex. The walls are white and the roof is green. After the completion of the library, Chen Qun specially invited Wang Jingwei to name the library. Drawing from the phrase in the “Book of Rites,” “When the father has passed and one can no longer read, the touch of his hand remains,” Wang named it “ZeCun Library” (Library of the Touch of Hands). The ZeCun Library features an elegant and refined layout, decorated with landscape paintings by renowned modern Japanese artists. After its completion, the library amassed a collection of over 400,000 volumes, including more than 5,000 volumes deposited by Wang Jingwei’s “Shuangzhao Tower,” as well as a large number of books contributed by other members of the puppet government such as Jiang Kanghu, Liang Hongzhi, and Xu Liang. Among these collections were over 4,500 rare editions, totaling around 45,000 volumes—many considered top-quality—such as Song and Yuan dynasty printed books, Qing dynasty handwritten manuscripts, stone-printed editions, and similar treasures. Chen Qun specially employed 40 staff members to organize and catalog the collection. By the end of 1943, the general collection of the ZeCun Library was opened to the public for reading. It later served as the North City Reading Room of the National Central Library, was used by the Nanjing Library, and is now under the administration of the Jiangsu Writers Association.

After the victory in the War of Resistance, Chen Qun, fearing punishment, stated in his will that all the books in the “ZeCun Library” would be returned to the state. Regardless of his motives, the ZeCun Library objectively contributed to the preservation of the nation’s cultural heritage, which should be acknowledged.