Former Site of the Peking Library

Former Site of the Peking Library

The former site of the Peking Library is located at No. 7 Wenjin Street, Xicheng District, Beijing. It’s not far from the south gate of Beihai Park to the west. It is now a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The former site of the Peking Library, which is also the main building — Wenjin Building — of the branch of the National Library of China, is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit of the People’s Republic of China.

The Peking Library was originally formed through the merger of the former Peking Library Branch and the Peking Popular Library. Prior to the merger, both were established in 1913 by the Ministry of Education of the then Beijing government. In May 1926, by order of the ministry, the Peking Library Branch was renamed the First Peking Public Library, and the Peking Popular Library was renamed the Second Peking Public Library. In July 1927, the two libraries merged and were renamed the First Peking Public Library, located at No. 22 Hairitou Lane, inside Xuanwumen, on the former site of the Hanlin Academy Lecture Hall.

On January 2, 1942, the Educational Affairs Bureau of the North China Political Council took over the National Peking Library and renamed it the National Peking Library. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the library reverted to its former name, the National Peking Library.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, on March 6, 1950, the National Peking Library was renamed the National Peking Library, and on June 12, 1951, it was renamed the Beijing Library, becoming the only national library of the People’s Republic of China.

In 1987, the new building of the Beijing Library was completed on Baishiqiao Road (now Zhongguancun South Street). This building was also ranked first among the “Top Ten Architectural Projects of Beijing in the 1980s,” with the name inscribed by Deng Xiaoping.

Location

No. 7 Wenjin Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units