A page from history

Jiang Fangnian's son, Jiang Shan, and daughter Jiang Fengjun inherited their father's career after he died in 2004 at the age of 54. Jiang Fengjun is running a studio called Langhuan－named after the heavenly library in Chinese mythology－in Beijing, where The Hundreds of Ancient Chinese Classic Books Remade and other thread-bound books are displayed and sold.

Li Zhizhong, ancient Chinese book expert and former director of the ancient classic book section of the National Library, praised the books as the best replicas of ancient classics that have been made.

It is the first time such classic books have been duplicated with resurrected ancient papermaking and lithography technologies since they were reprinted during the Qing Dynasty.

Jiang Fengjun has launched tour lectures nationwide on the knowledge of ancient Chinese books. In the lectures, she shows the books to the audience, letting them touch, feel and smell the paper and mineral pigment. They put handmade printing paper and machine-made paper into water to compare the different quality of the two traditional papers.

She just wants people to know that the copies of the ancient Chinese books can be made with resurrected and updated traditional means, and still have exactly the same look and feel, but with higher quality. While the originals lie in libraries, the duplicates can function as a special vehicle for modern readers to experience the special appeal of ancient Chinese books.

Contact the writer at zhuyuan@chinadaily.com.cn