Recently, the "Old Books and New Knowledge·Reading to Serve the Country" Beijing Baoguo Temple Ancient Book Fair and the first Book-drying Festival officially kicked off. According to the event organizer, the Beijing Baoguo Temple Ancient Book Fair has attracted more than 10,000 people in the first two weekends after its opening. At a time when online books and new physical books are emerging one after another, why are antique books still attractive? What impact does the ancient used book market have on the book market?

The market is not small

Early in the morning, Yan Bing, the person in charge of Beijing Paper Sound Bookstore, had just arranged her stall and went to other stalls to buy a few books. He told reporters that Beijing Paper Sound Bookstore started as a street stall. Because of its love of books, it has grown from an ancient bookstore of more than 10 square meters to a brand bookstore that now has 4 chain stores in Beijing.

The reporter saw at the Beijing Baoguo Temple Antique Book Market that on more than 200 booths, tens of thousands of fine antique books were neatly stacked in categories, including literary classics, historical classics, character stories, natural sciences, human geography and other types of books. Book fans shuttled between the stalls, either lowering their heads to select carefully, or communicating enthusiastically with the stall owners. After a while, they held thick books in their hands. There is also a particularly large redemption area in the Baoguo Temple Ancient Book Market to facilitate readers to exchange for books.

Confucius Old Book Network, a large-scale antique book trading platform, not only brought antique books, but also brought some ancient documents. Among them is a vernacular poetry from the Republic of China, which is a batch of poetry manuscripts and articles by Li Dazhao, Hu Shi and others collected by Liu Bannong. Later, he was found to Liulichang for photocopying and publishing, with a very small print run. In addition, there is "The West Chamber" printed in block form in the Ming Dynasty, which is very exquisite in terms of binding and typeface. These precious documents are displayed in a glass case. The relevant person in charge told reporters that old books and historical materials are of very high value and can play a role in popularization through display.

Experts said that although some ancient books are expensive because of their historical value, the prices of more ancient books are much lower than new books, so the circulation of ancient books is more conducive to the popularization of reading by all people.

Liu Yichen, assistant general manager of China Bookstore, believes that readers visit the old book market because old books are cheap, some because old books are beautifully bound, and some because of feelings... Readers have their own needs, but their love for old books is the same, which also shows that old books have a lot of market space.

gradually become a scale

何为古旧书？目前没有明确定义。In the opinion of experts, ancient books are books that have been preserved through the waves of history, constantly revised and reprinted, and every edition is valuable.

近年来，北京以古旧书为主题开展了多项阅读文化活动。2023年北京书市、地坛书市等文化活动现场均设置了古旧书展区，并成为人气最高的区域之一。 According to statistics, during the book market in the spring and autumn of 2023, nearly 900,000 readers entered the book market, with sales of old books reaching nearly 4 million yuan. 目前，北京的古旧书已基本形成经营渠道丰富、流通体系完备，覆盖北京、辐射全国的交易体系，全年古旧书刊销售额已有近亿元规模。

In addition to the Baoguo Temple Antique Book Market on the Second Ring Road of Beijing, the Antique Book Area of Beijing Panjiayuan Secondhand Market has always been regarded as a holy place for booksellers and Antique Book Collection enthusiasts from all over the country. As a well-known distribution center for antique books in the country, since 2019, Panjiayuan has teamed up with Confucius Old Book Network to jointly create the "Wanyue Collection" Panjiayuan Antique Book Expo, opening up new "online + offline" sales channels for the antique book industry. At present, there are 347 merchants selling ancient books such as rare books, celebrity letters, old books and periodicals, comic books and reference books in the Panjiayuan Secondhand Market. According to statistics, the average annual sales scale of Panjiayuan Book Market exceeds 10 million yuan.

As the largest physical store of antique books in the country, in October last year, China Bookstore held the "Beijing Central Axis·Old Book Market" event in the small square in front of the Yanji Building store of China Bookstore in Beijing. On the day of the market, more than 10 stores affiliated to China Bookstore, including Liulichang Store, Ancient Books Bookstore, and Laixunge Store, brought more than 10,000 kinds of old books, including the Old Beijing Ancient Books Series, the 20th Century Foreign Literature Series, and the Grid Series of Fine Books., Chinese classical novel series, comics, ancient books, old inscriptions series, etc. There are also thousands of cultural and creative products, such as the series of cultural and creative products independently developed by Chinese bookstores such as "Pianyu Cunzhen" and Tong Zhenchi.

Guo Xiaoming, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Beijing Publishing Group, revealed that as a professional antique bookstore, China Bookstore will take advantage of its wide distribution of outlets to carry out old book business in the next step, set up old book special areas in major stores to promote the circulation of old books, and will also cooperate with parks and parks to launch more small old book markets.

“西城区也将通过在全区打造线下旧书流通平台、常态化旧书展销平台、百姓旧书分享平台等，Promote the prosperous and orderly development of the old book market and allow valuable old books to be re-circulated. ”北京市西城区委宣传部副部长杜宇琛告诉记者。

“Developing the ancient used book market can also effectively promote resource conservation。因为有大量旧书存在，一些新书没有必要再印，这样可以促进图书产业绿色循环。”刘易臣说。

Glowing new machines

The reporter noticed that most of the people who come to visit the ancient book market are middle-aged and elderly. Don't young people love old books? According to Sun Yutian, founder of Confucius Old Book Network, the current total registered users of Confucius Old Book Network exceeds 20 million. Among newly registered buyers, 28% are young people aged 18 to 24; among sellers, 32% are young people under the age of 30. It can be seen that the proportion of young people is not low. How to attract more young people to enter the ancient used book market?

"People who love books and buy books will come to the ancient book market. I hope to break the circle and have more people join. We switch different book fair themes every month, including interactive check-in experiences. Currently, we have launched simple and fun content such as wearing Chinese costumes, flower arrangements, intangible cultural heritage wooden boards, and restoration of ancient books. In the future, we may add scene implants to allow more Young people walk into the ancient book fair and feel the charm of traditional culture." said Hou Sihui, head of the operator of Baoguo Temple Cultural Park.

In addition to the "Antique Book Zone", this event also includes an "Intangible Cultural Heritage Creation Zone" and "Interactive Experience Zone". Rope weaving skills pendants, three-dimensional paper carving notebooks, hollow three-dimensional stamped books, handmade works, handbooks... In the intangible cultural heritage and creative area, there are a wide range of popular cultural and creative products, attracting many people to stop. In the "National Book-drying Zone", book friends brought their own collected books to display, exchange, or share reading experiences, forming a unique cultural landscape. In addition to book exchanges, tourists can also exchange their own old books for flowers or coffee.

Coincidentally, the "Pan Shuguan" area of the 2023 Panjiayuan Book Expo will be newly upgraded. With the theme of young and dynamic creativity, the Pan Shuguan comprehensive experience exhibition area will be created and the "Hand-made Handmade Hand-made Handmade Handmade Bringing together popular content such as chapter check-in, lottery, collage display, DIY, cultural creativity, handmade products, and cultural creativity handmade accounts sales and exchange activities, it enhances the interactive experience of the Book Expo and drives more young people to enter the Book Expo.

Industry experts said that whether it is cultural and creative products, check-in experiences, exhibitions, and immersive interactions, ancient books are attracting young people in multiple ways, and the ancient used book market is glowing with new vitality and vitality.