From the Qing Dynasty to modern times, the Pan family of Suzhou was renowned as the "Distinguished Family of Wu," becoming a prominent clan. Their collections encompassed ancient books, epigraphy, calligraphy, and paintings, boasting a vast scale and far-reaching influence. The Paper has learned that this year's annual exhibition of the Shanghai Library's finest collections will focus on the Pan family's rare and precious books.
The exhibition "Inheriting the Beauty of Antiquity: An Exhibition of Classical Books and Documents from the Suzhou Pan Family Collection of the Shanghai Library," which will open to the public at the East Branch of the Shanghai Library on November 18, brings together more than 150 pieces/sets of exquisite classic books, writings, and social documents from the Suzhou Pan family throughout history. All of these are rare books from the Shanghai Library's collection. Among them, the Song Dynasty editions of "Dongguan Yulun" and "Du Gongbu Ji" from Pan Zuyin's Pangxizhai collection, as well as Song Dynasty rubbings of "Xu Zhenren Jingming" and "Cha Lu," are all on display.
Before the exhibition opened, The Paper's Ancient Art section interviewed Liang Ying, the curator of the exhibition and associate research librarian at the Shanghai Library, asking him to explain how an exhibition and a catalogue led people into the study of six generations of the Pan family, revealing how a family continued the cultural heritage of Jiangnan through its book collection.
The Pan family of Suzhou rose to prominence during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, becoming a renowned family through its outstanding achievements in the imperial examinations, officialdom, culture, and commerce, and forming two major branches: the "Noble Pan" and the "Wealthy Pan." This exhibition features prominent figures such as Pan Shi'en and Pan Zuyin, who held high-ranking official positions and were also dedicated to collecting classical texts, fostering a family tradition of "reading, collecting, writing, and printing books." The exhibition systematically showcases the history of classical text collecting within the Pan family of Suzhou from the early Qing Dynasty to modern times, with particular emphasis on the Pan Zuyin Pangxi Studio and the Pan Boshan and Pan Jingzheng Baoshan Buildings.
The continuation of the Pan family's six generations of book collecting tradition
The Paper: This exhibition focuses on the six generations of the Pan family's book collection, from Pan Yijun's "Sansongtang" and Pan Zuyin's Pangxizhai to Pan Boshan and Pan Jingzheng's "Baoshanlou". What kind of collection history of the Pan family is presented?
Liang Ying: The Pan family's book collection is actually a broad concept, encompassing the different collections of each generation and branch of the family, ranging from rare ancient books and rubbings of inscriptions to manuscripts, letters, and other documents. Our so-called six-generation inheritance emphasizes the continuous tradition of collecting, writing, and printing books within the Pan family, rather than referring to the specific transfer of collections between generations. In fact, whether it's Pan Zuyin's Pangxi Zhai or the Baoshan Lou of Pan Boshan and Pan Jingzheng, the establishment of their collection systems was based on their own collecting activities.
The Pan family's collection of ancient books began with Pan Yijun. Through exchanges and discussions with contemporary bibliophiles Huang Pilie and Yuan Tingtao, the Sansongtang collection of ancient books, inscriptions, and paintings began to take shape. Pan Yijun's son, Pan Shihuang, inherited the family collection at Xujingzhai and further expanded upon it. His nephew, Pan Shi'en, also possessed a collection of tens of thousands of volumes at Liuyutang. By the time of Pan Zuyin, the Pan family's collection had reached its peak. Pan Zuyin's Pangxizhai collection was extensive and well-collected. Among its collections were Song and Yuan dynasty editions of "Dongguan Yulun," "Du Gongbu Ji," "Shilang Ge Gong Guiyu Ji," "Yan Shi Jiaxun," as well as Song dynasty rubbings of "Xu Zhenren Jingming" and "Chalu," all of which were unique surviving copies, making it a prominent name in the world of books.
The Song Dynasty edition of "Dongguan Yulun" and the postscripts by Feng Fang and Xiang Yuanbian.
The Song Dynasty edition of "Dongguan Yulun" and the postscripts by Feng Fang and Xiang Yuanbian.
Following Pangxizhai, the next generation of Pan Boshan and Pan Jingzheng continued the family's book collecting tradition at Baoshanlou. The Baoshanlou collection was inherited from Pan Zutong's Zhushantang, but the Boshan brothers expanded their scope to include rare manuscripts, letters, and rubbings. Through meticulous accumulation, they have amassed a collection of no less than 300,000 volumes.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Pan family successively transferred and donated their collection of books, turning private collections into public ones, making their family collection an important part of the Shanghai Library's collection.
The Paper: How did the Pan family's collection come into the Shanghai Library? What is its current status in terms of collection overview, preservation, and research? How is the significance of the Pan family's collection reflected in terms of editions, cataloging, epigraphy, calligraphy, and history?
Liang Ying: The Pan family collection is a broad concept. In reality, the books that were ultimately acquired by the Shanghai Library were the most numerous and of the highest quality from the Pangxizhai and Baoshanlou collections, which are also the focus of the exhibition. However, these are only a part of the collections of these two families.
The Collected Works of Mr. Liangxi, printed during the Song Dynasty.
According to Mr. Gu Tinglong's recollection in an interview with Xinmin Evening News on January 9, 1998, the Song and Yuan dynasty books in the Pangxizhai collection were acquired by the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee in 1953 and then transferred to the Shanghai Library for preservation and management. This should be one of the earlier batches. In the 1950s and 1960s, many ancient books and rubbings from Pan Zuyin's collection were also successively acquired by the Shanghai Library. For example, the Song dynasty rubbings that have become part of the Meiying Shuwu collection were mostly acquired through government procurement.
As for the old collection of Baoshanlou, not all of it is in the Shanghai Library. For example, the letters from various dynasties collected by Pan Boshan eventually went to the Palace Museum. Most of what is in the Shanghai Library consists of manuscripts and rubbings of inscriptions on metal and stone that Mr. Pan Jingzheng collected over many years. These were transferred or donated by Mr. Pan starting when he worked at the United Library.
For many years, the Shanghai Library has carefully preserved these precious rare books and conducted in-depth research on them. The achievements in this area are most notable, particularly those of experts such as Chen Xianxing, Guo Lixuan, and Zhong Wei. Their research, published in the form of papers, monographs, and exhibition catalogs, has been recognized by the academic community. In a sense, this year's annual exhibition is also built upon the foundation of their many years of research.
Deciphering the "Riddle" in "Gui Pan's" Book Box
The Paper: As a highly anticipated annual exhibition of the Shanghai Library's collection, what is the curatorial concept and highlights of the "Inheriting the Beauty of the Past: Exhibition of Classical Books and Documents of the Pan Family of Suzhou from the Collection of Shanghai Library"?
Liang Ying: The Shanghai Library's annual exhibition has a basic focus: showcasing the library's finest collections. This exhibition can essentially be understood as a collection of cultural relics, displaying the most valuable and rare books in our collection, such as Song and Yuan dynasty woodblock prints and unique surviving Song dynasty rubbings. This year's exhibition differs from previous years, adding a documentary dimension in addition to the cultural relics.
In other words, the exhibition not only presents the finest books collected by the Pan family, but also attempts to reflect the family's activities surrounding these books to some extent through background documents. This way, visitors can learn not only what the family collected, but also how the family members collected these books.
The reason this is possible is that the Shanghai Library is not only one of the main homes of the Pan family's book collection, but also a major repository of Pan family documents, possessing corresponding collections. This is also why the exhibition has such a rich variety of exhibits, covering genealogies, ancient books, rubbings, letters, and more.
The combination of these two dimensions forms the basic narrative of this exhibition, which I believe will also make the presentation of the theme more three-dimensional. While learning about the books, the audience can also learn about the people, which reveals the tradition of book collecting in Jiangnan culture.
The Paper: Could you talk about the highlights of the exhibition, the stories behind the exhibits, and what kind of collecting activities and philosophies of renowned collectors like Pan Zuyin are reflected in them?
Liang Ying: Song and Yuan dynasty editions are always the highlights of the exhibition, which is determined by their cultural relics characteristics. Therefore, Song dynasty engravings such as "Dongguan Yulun" and "Zhuru Mingdao", and Song dynasty rubbings such as "Xu Zhenren Jingming" and "Chalu" can attract the audience's attention.
A rubbing of the Song Dynasty edition of "Tea Record"
Some of these rare and unique manuals are making their first public appearance, while others are not. But even those that are not making their debut offer a new perspective by adding the dimension of documentation, combining rare books with related literature in the exhibition.
Song Dynasty woodblock print edition of "Jinshi Lu"
Song Dynasty woodblock print edition of "Jinshi Lu"
Take, for example, the *Jinshi Lu* (Record of Metal and Stone Inscriptions). The *Jinshi Lu* comprises thirty volumes. The copy held by the Shanghai Library is a Southern Song Dynasty Longshu Junzhai edition, containing volumes eleven to twenty. Booksellers altered the number of volumes, reducing it to one through ten, to present it as a complete copy. This so-called "ten-volume edition" was successively collected by Zhu Dashao, Feng Zixuan, Feng Wenchang, Bao Tingbo, Jiang Li, Zhao Wei, Ruan Yuan, Han Taihua, and Pan Zuyin. It also bears numerous inscriptions and poems by prominent figures such as Jiang Fan, Gu Qianli, Weng Fanggang, Yao Yuanzhi, Hong Yixuan, Shen Tao, and Xilin Chun, with over three hundred collector's seals. Among them, the seal "Jinshi Lu Ten-Volume Family," first carved by Feng Wenchang, the third collector of the "ten-volume edition," and subsequently replicated by generations of collectors including Bao Tingbo, Jiang Li, Ruan Yuan, Han Taihua, and finally Pan Zuyin, is considered a "status symbol in the history of book collecting." When Ruan Yuan received this book, he sent it to Weng Fanggang for appreciation. Weng Fanggang examined it for months and not only wrote a postscript for it, but also wrote "A Song for the Re-engraved Record of Metal and Stone in Ten Volumes".
The Ten-Volume Collection of Re-engraved Epigraphic Records and Folk Seal Songs
The Ten-Volume Collection of Re-engraved Epigraphic Records and Folk Seal Songs
The handscroll we are exhibiting alongside the *Jinshi Lu* is a poem and letter sent by Weng Fanggang to Ruan Yuan, a testament to this famous story in the history of book collecting. Equally interesting is that, despite his waning days, Weng Fanggang earnestly instructed Ruan Yuan in the letter to seek out a Song dynasty edition of *Shi Gu Zhu Dongpo Xiansheng Shi* (Shi Gu's Annotations on Su Dongpo's Poems), revealing the profound influence of the Qianlong and Jiaqing era collectors' preference for Song dynasty editions on later generations.
Song Dynasty rubbing of "Inscription on the Well of Master Xu"
Song Dynasty rubbing of "Inscription on the Well of Master Xu"
Let's take another example. The equally renowned Song Dynasty rubbing and binding of the *Xu Zhenren Jing Ming* (Inscription on the Well of Xu Zhenren), a unique surviving copy acquired by the renowned collector Zhang Tingji during the Jiaqing era for a fortune, is paired with Pan Zuyin's annotated *Dushu Minqiu Ji* (Notes on Reading with Diligence). Why? Because Pan Zuyin seemingly never inscribed anything on his own rare collections. Like the *Jinshi Lu* (Record of Metal and Stone), not a single word from Pan Zuyin appears on the *Xu Zhenren Jing Ming*, not even a collector's seal. If it weren't for a small inscription left by Pan Jingshu, people would never have known it was once part of Pan Zuyin's collection. What was the reason behind Pan Zuyin's habitual practice? We don't know the answer; it remains a mystery. However, Pan Zuyin left numerous annotations on the ordinary notebooks he frequently consulted. His *Reading Notes* contains many annotations from the fourth to sixteenth years of the Guangxu reign, allowing us to understand some of his true thoughts on books and rubbings: "I have a deep fondness for Song dynasty editions, but dislike books on Neo-Confucianism. Even Song dynasty editions are not valued; this is simply a matter of personal preference, and there is nothing I can do about it. I am fond of epigraphy, and I do not concern myself with fine rubbings of the *Lanting Preface*, *Sacred Edict*, *Le Yi*, and *Huang Ting*, even those from the Northern Song dynasty. I also possess several such rubbings, in preparation for exchanging them for other people's antique artifacts and Song dynasty books." This reveals Pan Zuyin's attitude towards Song dynasty editions and rubbings.
"A Record of Diligent Reading"
"A Record of Diligent Reading"
It should be noted that some exhibits in this exhibition are not from the Pan family. For example, the "Collection of Zhou Yiwenzhong" was collected by Weng Tonghe, but it has a colophon by Pan Zuyin. As mentioned earlier, Pan Zuyin almost never wrote colophons on his own collections, but he wrote one for Weng Tonghe more than once. We can use this as a comparison to see what Pan Zuyin's colophon looks like.
Presenting the social network of the Jiangnan gentry
The Paper: In addition to presenting the history of the Pan family’s collection, the exhibition systematically traces the intertwined trajectory of six generations of the Pan family in writing, social interaction and collecting. It outlines how the Jiangnan gentry’s book-collecting tradition influenced the development of academic and cultural history in the Qing Dynasty.
Liang Ying: The exhibition combines two sections: book collecting and book collectors, showcasing both the people and the objects. Book collecting activities, whether acquisition, exchange, appraisal, or research, are inseparable from the interaction of a "circle of friends" formed by a group with shared interests. This is why the background literature section includes not only writings but also a section on social interactions. For example, through the correspondence between Pan Zuyin and Shen Shuyong, Wu Dacheng, Wang Yirong, Chen Jieqi, Zhang Zhidong, and others, we can clearly see many specific processes of Pan Zuyin's book collecting activities, as well as some of his specific thoughts. These are things that cannot be seen from the collections themselves; they are hidden behind the collections. The backbone of Jiangnan culture is aristocratic culture, and book collecting is one of its most important characteristics. Its influence is not limited to Jiangnan but has radiated throughout the country.
Zuo Zongtang's letter to Pan Zuyin
Zuo Zongtang's letter to Pan Zuyin
Letter from Pan Zuyin to Chen Jieqi
Pan Zuyin's Letter to Shen Shuyong
Zhang Zhidong's letter to Pan Zuyin
The Paper: For an exhibition of classic books and documents like this, there is a considerable barrier to entry for visitors. During the curatorial process, did you try to make the exhibition more accessible to the public? What suggestions do you have for the public to visit the exhibition?
Liang Ying: This exhibition does have a professional threshold, especially the documentary section, which requires careful reading. So this is also an experiment for us.
As for books, a major challenge is that it is impossible to show the whole picture; only parts can be seen because disassembling them would damage the original. Under such limitations, our approach is to provide readers with more information through publications and lectures, helping them understand people and things.
Catalogue of "Collecting Ancient Classics and Inheriting Beauty: An Exhibition of Classical Documents of the Pan Family of Suzhou from the Shanghai Library"
For professional readers, as is customary, we have compiled an exhibition catalog, with illustrations that show aspects that the exhibition cannot depict. For general readers, we have also made an attempt to create a richly illustrated popular booklet, providing clear and easy-to-understand explanations of key exhibits and the stories behind them. In addition, we will be launching a series of public lectures, inviting experts and scholars from both inside and outside the museum to tell readers and visitors the stories of this legendary family and its legendary collection.
(Note: This exhibition will run until February 28, 2026. Some exhibits will be rotated during the exhibition period.)
