網羅八方，存一代文化記憶

徐添城

9月16日至17日，中國近代文獻保護工程推進儀式暨學術研討會在紹興舉行，150余名來自學術界、出版界和圖書館藏界的專家學者齊聚紹興，為紹興出版《中國近代文獻史叢》這部系統性、完整性、權威性的近代文獻典籍叢書出謀劃策，圍繞中國近代文獻保護工作展開了深度探討。

原國家新聞出版總署署長、黨組書記，中國出版協會理事長柳斌杰先生對這場“聚會”感觸頗深。對這座古城孕育這一“念舊”又“新生”的工程，他說，要感謝紹興這座城市的文化擔當。

9月16日晚，紹興沈園，書聲瑯瑯。作為此次中國近代文獻保護工程推進儀式的“預熱大戲”，“書香紹興”沈園之夜誦讀會在這里舉行。《蘭亭序》節選、《題蘭竹》、《墨梅》、《釵頭鳳》……十余件經典作品在紹興本土朗讀者的一腔深情中款款道來。

“你看，我們的文化和藝術，在現在看來，不再是‘王謝堂前燕，而已經‘走入尋常百姓家了。”舞臺下，看著那些年輕的朗讀者，柳斌杰感到欣慰和驕傲，“真的十分感動。”他說，這場展示紹興經典文化遺產的晚會，讓觀眾領略到了文化之美、書香之美和藝術之美。他說，那些穿越千年的文化生命力，在紹興的專家學者、藝術家、少年兒童的演繹中閃現了新的光芒，以藝術的形式，撥開歷史面紗，向人們“漫步走來”。

“不得不佩服這座城市的魅力，真是書香育人。”柳斌杰說。

在柳斌杰看來，文化是需要長期涵養的。在這方水土上成長起來的人，潛移默化地，就會培育起自己的文化追求。而這份追求，通過閱讀升華，逐步提升為文化擔當。“從紹興走出過很多文化大師、大家，他們從這里成長起來，有著強烈的文化擔當，其實也正好說明了，紹興的文化氛圍有多么積極的影響。”

而如今，這座擁有2500年歷史的文化名城，在文化保護與創新的征途上又有了新使命。

中國近代文獻史料，珍貴但“脆弱”。受紙質、印刷等條件限制，其受損情況日益嚴重，亟需采取復制、再造等搶救性措施來保護。但受限于種種條件，對于中國近代文獻，國內至今尚未進行過一次系統、完整、權威的整理。為填補這個文化保護“缺口”，中國近代文獻保護工程在紹興應運而生。如今，紹興啟動中國近代文獻保護工程，對這些散佚世界各地的史料文獻進行重新整理印刷，掀起的是一場對中華文化遺產的搶救性保護。

“我們要推進的這項工程，目的很明確，就是為了傳承文化血脈。”柳斌杰說，這項工程的意義和責任都很重大。“對于古跡文化，我們越來越重視，經過60多年的整理，古跡保護傳承工作已經有了相當大的規模。對于當代歷史，也啟動了一系列重大工程來加以傳承和保護。”如此看來，恰恰是近代文獻的傳承保護成了一個薄弱環節。

在柳斌杰看來，這“缺失”的一部分卻又十分重要。因為，中華民族文化的血脈需要接續起來，而近代文獻是其中的重要一環。柳斌杰說，“文化是跨時空的，而人是代代相傳的，我們這一代人有這個責任把這些文化傳承給子孫后代。”

北京大學博雅講席教授、教育部長江學者特聘教授陳平原表示，這樣網羅八方、規模宏大的計劃，尚屬首見。若能順利完成，則嘉惠學界，功德無量。而出版社的相關負責人表示，在傳統紙質出版的同時，借助數字化技術，可以將中華文化的精髓栩栩如生地展現，有著“存一代文獻”的意義。

這件“大事”的分量，一方面體現在歷史價值上，“近代文獻系統記錄著中華民族發展歷史，不可忘，也不能丟。”而另一方面，則體現在文獻價值上，近代中國文獻是現代中國發展的一個前提。此外，還有文化價值，近代中國出現了一個思想爭鳴的時代，近代文獻則是最好的見證，它記載了我們最寶貴的思想，也體現出文化發展的大體脈絡，意義不言而喻。

“但是我們也需要認識到，這個工程任務非常艱巨，沒有20年是做不下來的。”柳斌杰說，此次參與推進會的專家學者一致呼吁，要聚全國之力，聚學術界、出版界之力，聚文化館、博物館之力來共同推進項目實施，“這些要素都調動起來，我相信紹興一定能把這件事情做好。”

紹興的這份底氣，還來源于文化自覺和文化自信。柳斌杰說，對文化的保護與傳承，這里的每個主體都在努力。“紹興市委、市政府有著高度的文化自覺，他們在推動文化工程建設方面下了很大決心，積極推動政府機關、學校、民營企業參與到文化建設中；紹興人民有著堅定的文化自信，特別是對紹興的文化有著強烈的自豪感。我最早到紹興是在改革開放初期，印象中，每到一地，人們都會滔滔不絕地講述紹興文化，紹興人對自己的文化是非常自豪的。紹興的企業家，包括民營企業家有著絕對的文化擔當和文化情懷。比如為這項保護工作付出不少心血的浙江越生，一家企業，花了20多年時間做這件‘文化事，實在令人敬佩。”

“團結一致向前進。”柳斌杰說，“牽手”紹興，凝聚各方力量，中華文化的魅力，終將越發沉淀而又充滿活力。

From September 16 to 17， 2018， a symposium on promotion and preservation of modern historical documents was held in Shaoxing， a city of culture and history in eastern Zhejiang.

Over 150 experts and scholars from academic institutions， publishing houses and libraries gathered in the city to brainstorm for the compilation and publication of a book series named Historical Documents of Modern-time China. Also among the attendees were government officials at the national， provincial and municipal levels. They aimed to find ways to make the series best systemized， most complete， and most authoritative. The libraries and other institutions at home and abroad will contribute source books to the series.

The project was officially launched in January 2018. The series aims to reprint a carefully compiled collection of books in economy， literature， education， art， history， and geography originally published from 1840 to 1949， a period named as modern times by historians and other scholars in China. It is a special period， marked by the opium wars around the 1840s which forced China to open its doors to the world powers， and by the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949.

On the evening of September 16， a poem-reading event was held at Shen Garden， a well-known site of cultural and historical interests located in downtown Shaoxing. Local literature enthusiasts read short poems and an excerpt of ， all of which are more or less related to Shaoxing.

Liu Binjie， a retired government official who used to be in charge of the state press administration and now chair of China Publishers Association， highly appreciated the role Shaoxing played in hosting and promoting the reprinting project. The series， in the eye of Liu， is meant to bring the past back to the present. “Our culture and art should never stay in the past. They have every reason to be part of everyday life of the general public. Shaoxing is admirable in preserving and promoting culture，” pointed out Liu.

In Lius opinion， culture needs a long time to grow and thrive and reading can contribute to cultural prosperity. “Shaoxing has produced a great number of scholars and celebrated people in the past， which in turn says convincingly about the historical and cultural characteristics of the city，” commented Liu Binjie.

The project was originally launched by Yuesheng Culture Media Group， a private printing and publishing business in Shaoxing， a city of 2，500 years. The company has been engaged in this project for more than 20 years. The project now gets the full backing of the local government and the provincial government. The national government is considering ways to help.

In modern times， China has produced a large quantity of historical documents. Due to the modern technology of papermaking and printing， many of these historical documents are in critical conditions to varying degrees. Books printed in the feudal China used paper made in the traditional way and could last 500 to 700 years under normal circumstances. Paper made in modern times is meant to endure only for decades. That is largely why scholars and experts and governmental officials for a long time are worried about the conditions of the books printed during the so-called modern times and why they are responding so enthusiastically to the reprinting project going on in Shaoxing.

Before now， China didnt have a systematic， complete and authoritative rescue project to restore and reprint them. Shaoxings mission is the latest effort to preserve historical documents which are now scattered all over the world. The project aims to pick the most valuable and reprint them.

“This project has a clear-cut purpose： we are to preserve the historical documents for studies in the future. This project is of great significance and responsibility，” emphasized Liu. “In the past 60 years， we have done a great deal to preserve ancient documents. There are a number of important projects in place to preserve and protect contemporary documents， but the preservation of historical documents published from 1840 to 1949 is inadequate.”

Chen Pingyuan， a professor with Peking University， said at the symposium that the reprinting project is both ambitious and unprecedented. The series， when completed， would make a great contribution to Chinese culture and academic research and studies. The series is significant primarily because these historical documents are actually a record of Chinese nation during that specific historical period. We should never forget or ignore this period. The series is culturally significant because the books published during these years recorded a great variety of voices and ideologies. People of these years competed with each other announcing their worldviews and analyses and proposing solutions to a series of grave problems that were ravaging China.

The project aims to be complete within next ten years and the total investment is estimated to be about 600 million to 700 million. “But we need to understand that the project is so challenging that it will probably take 20 years to complete，” pointed out Liu Binjie.