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Guoyun Lou's Rare Collection

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Guoyun Lou's Rare Collection CHINA DAILY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012 lifeart 19 A collection of rare books was recently auctioned off for 216 million yuan, which focused attention on the family that used to own the collection. Mei Jia reports in Suzhou. FAN OF LITERATURE t is not easy to gain access to would even pay some of them who 84-year-old Gu Duhuang. The came to Yiyuan to study art,” Gu Guoyun Lou’s I great-great-grandson of the Duhuang says. Guoyun Lou book collection’s But few arrived to see the books rare collection initiator Gu Wenbin (1811-89) leads because there were other, larger book- a carefree life and only allocates two collecting families in the area. Some mornings every week for meetings. even supply meals to visiting readers, By MEI JIA in Nanjing Th e recent sale at auction for 216 mil- he says. [email protected] lion yuan ($33.9 million) of one quarter Gu Linshi’s father died young and of the Gu family’s book collection made he was brought up and adored by his Guoyun Lou’s ancient book collec- it even harder to get a meeting with grandfather Gu Wenbin, who started tion is one of the rarest to go under him. He has been swamped with inter- the tradition of collecting books and the hammer, at Beijing International view requests. artworks. Council Auction. China Daily managed to get an Gu Wenbin was a Qing Dynasty One of the highlights of the collec- appointment with Gu through Suzhou (1644-1911) offi cial who was in charge tion is a 40-volume encyclopedia, Jinxiu Xinhua bookstore. We talked for about of government aff airs at the provincial Wanghuagu (Valley of Brilliant Flow- three hours at the Kunqu Opera Muse- level. When he retired, he built Guoyun ers), dating back to the Song Dynasty um in Suzhou, one of Gu’s favorite Lou and bought Yiyuan Garden to (960-1279). haunts. house his family and collections. Th e Th e book has a few of the most pop- Our conversation started with Gu buildings gradually became a center of ular ancient poems. It also recorded talking about Kunqu Opera, his lifelong the city’s cultural activities. life, culture and history before the hobby and profession. Guoyun Lou now houses the offi ces Song Dynasty. Its well-preserved con- Time has been kind to Gu, leaving of several organizations, and Yiyuan dition, together with the beautiful very few marks on his face, and even Garden has turned into a tourist spot. font and engraving, makes it a price- kinder to his agile mind. Gu Wenbin acquired books mainly less heritage. When we touch on the topic of the from other collectors, so they were rela- Another notable book in the collec- book collection, widely known as a “secret tively well maintained and systematical- tion is Guaiya Zhanggong Yulu (Book treasure”, he’s frank in giving details. ly catalogued. Aft er he died, Gu Linshi of Quotations from Eccentric Senior His candidness came as a pleasant inherited the entire book collection, Zhang). surprise as I had been told that “it’s a while his uncles got the other proper- According to veteran ancient book loss of face for private book collector’s ties and collections. Th e allocation was bibliographer Shen Xieyuan, the book descendants to talk about their collec- based on the inheritors’ interest and is the only extant copy and it was tions going under the hammer”, by Jing acumen. recorded during the Yuan Dynasty Gao, deputy general manager of the Gu Linshi enriched his collection but (1271-1368) but was mysteriously city’s Xinhua bookstore chains. wars and turbulence during the fi rst half PHOTOS BY MEI JIA / CHINA DAILY never mentioned elsewhere thereaft er. “Th ey grow up with the belief that of the 20th century destroyed some of “Eccentric Senior Zhang” was a Song From top: books and other works in their collec- the collection. Gu Duhuang is thrust into the spotlight as his family’s ancient book collection Dynasty offi cial in Sichuan province, tions should be kept and maintained, “My family paid a lot to protect the set a record high price at a Beijing auction in June. whose real name was Zhang Yong. He not sold for a profi t,” Jing says. books,” Gu Duhuang says. Gu’s favorite haunt — Kunqu Opera Museum in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. had a unique style of governance, which I later found out that the recent auc- “Th ey’re not estate, they can’t be sold Guoyun Lou, the Gu family’s former residence, was built during the Qing was recorded by his followers in Guaiya tion was not as straightforward as I or used to feed or shelter the family. We Dynasty (1644-1911). Zhanggong Yulu. thought. had to pay to store them in vaults in Th e book also reveals precious infor- Gu says his family is best known for Shanghai during the war,” he adds. Th e books were later returned to the library director Chen Li. mation about his life and Sichuan’s collecting artworks rather than books. He recalls the huge leather trunks Gu family in the 1980s. In 2005, one of Gu Duhuang’s cousins social, economical and cultural condi- Some of his ancestors were artists and used for storage. “We had tens of those Gu Duhuang says that in 1991, Nan- auctioned his quarter of the collection tion then. critics. chests made in Fujian province to keep jing Library proposed acquiring the and an anonymous buyer paid 23 mil- Not to be missed in the Guoyun Lou’s Nanjing Library’s Historical Archives the books. Th e neighbors thought we Guoyun Lou book collection. But one lion yuan for it. The same collection collection is a hand-written book, titled Department director Chen Li says kept garments in them and commented of the four Gu brothers did not agree was re-auctioned recently for about 10 Shizhou Shihua (Stone Islet on Poems) “being unknown to the public” is prob- that we had a lot of clothes.” to the proposal and the books were times the price. from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). ably the most unique feature of the Gu Duhuang was not an avid reader. divided among the brothers. Gu Duhuang says the second auction Weng Fanggang authored the book Guoyun Lou book collection. But he tried his best to preserve the About three-quarters of the collection had nothing to do with the Gu fam- on poetry critics in Guangdong prov- “We show the books to people who books by “sunbathing” them once a year went to the library on one condition: ily. To him, books are priceless and he ince, but did not get to complete it. Th e come to read them, just like how we to kill off the bookworms. that it was kept as a single entity. Th e would never auction them. book was stolen. The thief imitated introduce visitors to Yiyuan Garden “But we couldn’t leave the books library paid 400,000 yuan — 300,000 “You can’t choose buyers during an Weng’s tone and wrote a fake post- (the family’s former residence) to relish under direct sunlight. Th e books had yuan went to the Gu family and 100,000 auction, and you don’t know if the col- script at the end of the book, and even our paintings and calligraphy collec- to be covered by a piece of cloth,” Gu to the middleman. lection is in safe hands,” he says. stamped a fake seal with Weng’s name. tions,” Gu says. Duhuang explains. “We didn’t set the price and we didn’t “I used to give kittens to those who Years later, Weng got the book back Th e Gu family has two sets of artwork It’s not easy to preserve these ancient bargain,” Gu Duhuang says. were willing to adopt them. But before through a friend who bought it at ran- collections that it allows access to: rare publications. During the “cultural “Nanjing Library got 541 titles, in I gave away the kittens, I always sent out dom. Weng added some sentences masterpieces for potential artists; and revolution” (1966-76), to preserve 3,707 volumes, including seven Song someone to fi nd out about the adopted chiding the thief for a fake postscript. colorful, pleasant works for amateurs. the collection, Gu Duhuang’s father, Dynasty (960-1279) prints and 10 from families,” he says. “Th ese are cultural He also wrote down revisions in many “My grandfather, Gu Linshi, was a Gu Gongshuo, voluntarily off ered the the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Th ey’re relics and they are not even treated with other pages, a rare sight in books writ- great supporter of young artists. He books to Suzhou Museum. kept in specially made shelves,” says the same care as kittens.” ten by authors during that era..
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