构建人间天堂:中国文化中的藏书传统

An Earthly Heaven:The Tradition of Book Collection in Chinese Culture

中国传统小说中,有许多关于天堂及神仙世界藏书的故事,例如宛委石匮、玉山册府、嫏嬛福地等。这些故事虽然出于虚构,却代表了中国人对于美好世界和藏书理想的想象。这些文学想象进而转化为创造美好生活的动力,历代皇室贵族与有力士绅,都着力将文学的虚构或想象在人间世界落实,模仿小说中的描写建筑藏书楼,或为其命名。明清时代,藏书风气弥漫于江南士林,催生了许多藏书家和藏书楼,也促进了分享的风气。近现代以来,许多热爱读书和藏书的个人,努力将个人书房建设为理想藏书之所,以实现个人的藏书理想。与此同时,各种公立图书馆进一步面向社会,加大开放共享尺度,助推社会实现藏书天堂的理想。博尔赫斯“我心里一直都在暗暗设想,天堂应该是图书馆的模样”一语,可能受到中国文化中这一藏书传统的影响。

Many narrations of the heavenly library appeared in traditional Chinese stories,such as those of Mount Wanwei,Mount Kunlun and Langhuan Paradise and etc,though legendary and fictitious,represent a Chinese imagination of the heaven and vision of the beautiful world and serve as an inspiration and stimulus for the Chinese,from the emperor,the aristocrats to the literati,to build a heavenly library on earth.The naming of quite a few imperial and private libraries was actually an imitation of the legendary libraries in the stories.Both the public library and private study which have developed notably in China since the 20th century,aim at the realization of the ideal book collection and the ideal world on earth.The famous visualization of the appearance of heaven by the librarian and poet Jorge Luis Borge,may derive from his reading of traditional Chinese stories and reception of the Chinese traditional culture of book collection.