Bibliography:;xNLx;;xNLx;Patel, Jashu, and Krishan Kumar. Libraries and librarianship in India. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.;xNLx;;xNLx;Lin, Sharon Chien. Libraries and librarianship in China. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.;xNLx;;xNLx;Lin, Sharon Chien. "Historical Development of Library Education in China." The Journal of Library History (1974-1987) 20, no. 4 (1985): 368-86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25541653.;xNLx;;xNLx;
The first centralized Imperial library is established under the Han by Xiang Liu (80-8 BCE) his son and succesor, Xin Liu creates the first classification scheme, known as the Qilue or Seven Epitomes. When Xin completes his system, the Imperial Library consists of 603 titles in 13,219 juan (scrolls).
The Han Dynasty would see the invention of both paper and block printing. However, these technologies would not see broad use for many years, during the Tang Dynasty.
After the destruction caused by the Qin, the Han Dynasty attempts to rebuild the Imperial collection of literature, appealing to wealthy private citizens and scholars to provide books to be copied to the new Imperial Archives.
In an attempt to centralize and cement Imperial power, the Qin Dynasty under Qin Shi Huang standardizes writing and record keeping, censors literature and finally burns books other than technical works and state documents.
In what could be considered the first public library, Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty constructs a series of stone pillars inscribed with imperial edicts. These pillars represent some of the first tangible evidence of Buddhism and Ashoka's desire to spread its teachings.
Dictionaries, indexes and reference works are written in Sanskrit, representing a shift in Indian culture away from a primarily oral tradition.
Taxila is located in modern northern Pakistan. Although chiefly known as a center for higher learning spread though the oral Vedic traditions, by the 4th century CE the city's institutions had accumulated a wealth of recorded knowledge.
Originally a center of Hindu teaching in the oral tradition, Nalanda would become a large Buddhist monastery during the rise of Buddhism in India. Tibetan sources mention the existence of a great library at Nalanda named Dharmaganja (Piety Mart) which comprised three large multi-storeyed buildings, the Ratnasagara (Ocean of Jewels), the Ratnodadhi (Sea of Jewels), and the Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-adorned). Ratnodadhi was nine storeys high and housed the most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnyaparamita Sutra and the Guhyasamaja. The number of volumes held at Nalanda is unknown, but thought to have been in the hundreds of thousands. Chinese Buddhists scholars made regular pilgrimages to the city to copy religious texts.
Hindu scholar and Sanskrit linguist Panini developed the classification system that would organize India's ancient libraries.
Imperial collections continue to grow. Under the Sui Dynasty the imperial library in just the Western Capitol reaches over 300,000 volumes.
During the transitional period between the Sui and Tang dynasties war and upheaval had reduced the contents of the Imperial library to only 13,900 volumes. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty constructed three new library buildings known as the Chongwenyaun or Hall for the Promotion of Letters, and increased the royal collection to 36,180 scrolls.
Established by King Dharmapala in response to the supposed decline in scholarship at Nalanda, this BUddhist monastery became well known to Tibetan scholars and was a center for tantrism.
The Zhou Dynasty establishes the Heavenly Archive to serve the Royal Court. In addition to collecting sacred texts, the Archive now serves a governmental function. In tandem, the Dynasty also establishes the position of Royal Historiographer, a position held by the legendary Laozi in the 5th century BCE.
Rediscovered in Anyang in the 19th century, the Chinese began collecting records etched on tortoise shells and bones known as "oracle bones" in the 15th century BCE.
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