Book Collections in the Imperial Garden—Summer Palace Exhibition of Ancient Books in the Qing Dynasty (2013)

The Summer Palace launched the first exhibition running from December 20, 2013 to May 21, 2014 entitled “Book Collections in the Imperial Garden—Summer Palace Exhibition of Ancient Books in the Qing Dynasty”. This is the first thematic public exhibition on ancient books initiated by the Summer Palace with a fine collection of 50 ancient books in the Qing Dynasty and 280-odd volumes which encompass such five sections as “Historical Classics”, “Geographical Annals”, “Agriculture, Medicine and Mathematics”, “Poetic Writings” and “Records on Imperial Courts”. This exhibition gives a general picture of the book collections in the Qing dynasty by the imperial garden as well as pure pleasure of reading enjoyed by Qing emperors. It also mirrors the academic value of historical relics in the imperial garden and the cultural vista of imperial courts in the late Qing dynasty, thus playing a positive role in sorting and studying ancient books concerning royal families in the Summer Palace.