Reading Room named after Chinese publishing company sets up in University of Oxford

A reading room named after China Publishing Group Corp. (CPG) was established Wednesday at the Bodleian K B Chen China Center Library, University of Oxford.

As part of the events commemorating the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu, as well as the London Book Fair, delegation of CPG visited the University of Oxford on Wednesday.

The reading room has CPG as a title sponsor at the Bodleian K B Chen China Center Library. The center has more than 50,000 books on China, including 20,000 Chinese rare books.

CPG provided books published by its subsidiaries for the reading room, which includes the Twenty-four Histories, History Retold as a Mirror for Rulers, Encyclopedia of China, Complete Works on Chinese Fine Art and Serial Works by Chinese Contemporary Composers.

CPG President Tan Yue and Richard Ovenden, Bodley's librarian, unveiled a new exhibition named "Celebrating Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare on the 400th Anniversarty of Their Deaths: Book Exhibition" on Wednesday at Weston Library, one of the 40 Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford.

Books displayed include The Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu, The Handan Dream and Complete Works by Shakespeare.

Ovenden said Bodleian has been collecting books published in China and books written in the Chinese language for over 400 years. He said Bodleian has collaborated closely with leading publishers from across the globe, and he believed that CPG would be a good partner and looked forward to working with CPG in the future.

David Helliwell, curator of Chinese Collections, Bodleian Library, showed several hundred years-old Chinese manuscripts and rare books and the restoration of Chinese old rare books at Weston Library to the Chinese delegation.

Tan said the exhibition was a great opportunity to work with the University of Oxford in promoting cultural exchanges, and firmly believed that CPG and the University of Oxford would find common ground and achieve concrete cultural projects in the future.

CPG and Bodleian Libraries then signed a memorandum of understanding on publishing and building a long-term communication mechanism.

CPG is one of China's largest publishing group, publishing 15,000 books on a yearly basis. Endit