Under the direction of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, China-CEEC Libraries Union was established in October 2018 in Hangzhou, China, with its secretariat permanently set in Hangzhou Public Library. More than 60 libraries from China and CEEC, on a voluntary basis, seek common progress made on the principle of "equality, mutual benefit, inclusiveness and openness". 

The Very Collection in My Library aims to introduce treasures kept in each member library to audience in China and Central and Eastern European countries and bring ancient books into the limelight, through of which people could enhance their understanding of cultures and histories of other countries.

This episode here is presented by Mr. He Meihua, the director of Hunan Library in China, introducing you The Dharani Sutra.

(The Very Collection in My Library is updated on Cooperation between China and CEEC official website http://www.china-ceec.org/ and CHINA CULTURE.org https://cn.chinaculture.org/.)

The Dharani Sutra kept in Hunan Library is from Hangzhou Leifeng Pagoda. In 1924, the Leifeng Pagoda which had fallen into disrepair, collapsed into ruins. The Dharani Sutra was discovered inside its perforated tower bricks. This rare scroll, which had been secretly hidden for a thousand years, was revealed.

Chinese Block Printing technique originated in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and was basically perfected and finalized by the Song Dynasty. The use of Block Printing allowed for a significant simplification of the process of document production and an increase in the number of documents. However, due to its long history, only 3,000 Chinese Song Dynasty engraved prints have survived worldwide, most of which are remnants and copies engraved in the Southern Song Dynasty. 

Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty engraved books are of great documentary and cultural heritage value, and libraries and private collectors are proud to own a Song engraved book.The Dharani Sutra of the early Northern Song Dynasty in the Hunan Library is of great documentary and cultural heritage value for our understanding of the political overview of the early Northern Song Dynasty and the development of printing and changes in the form of ancient binding of books in ancient China.