China lists 12,274 rare ancient books

A total of 12,274 books were listed as rare ancient books of China as of 2016, according to the National Library of China (NLC) Thursday.

The listing was a part of a project to protect Chinese ancient books started by the State Council in 2007.

The list was compiled over ten years, when 1,218 registered collection entities for ancient books across China underwent surveys, covering over 2 million items of data, the NLC said.

The tasks were carried out by ancient book protection centers all over the country, led by a center affiliated to the NLC.

From 2011 to 2015, the institutions held over 500 exhibitions and 600 lectures on ancient book protection across China, the NLC said.

"An album of 100 classic ancient books will also be published in October, featuring easy-to-understand interpretations of the classics for people to better understand," said Han Yongjin, curator of the NLC.

"The project has been playing a big part in the passing down and development of traditional Chinese culture," said Zhou Heping, honorary curator of the NLC.

The NLC will continue to use multimedia approaches, including the Internet and television, to promote traditional Chinese culture among the people, Han added.