In previous post “393 Route Ferguson“, I shared the rediscovery of the Shanghai branch of the Bibliothèque Sino-Internationale, established by Li Shizeng in 1934, after opening the Geneva branch in 1933. More information has come up since the first post.
The BSI only operated from 1934 until 1937. After the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, it seemed to have stopped. Books were transfered to the nearby World School that belonged to the same group as the BSI. As the BSI was clearly linked with the Republican government, this is not surprising that operations stopped at the library after its defeat in the battle of Shanghai. Interestingly, this is exactly during this period that the Hezhong library was created, a few streets away, seeking the protection of the French Concession.
I managed to find an original book that belonged to the library. “Oeuvres complètes de Ronsard, texte de 1578, librairie Garnier frères 1923” has a nice ex libris with the actual logo of the BSI. It is clearly marked as belonging to Shanghai branch of the 中国国际图书馆.
I also found some inside picture of the main library building, that is now the Wu kang lu tourist information center. Below picture was the main reading room as mentioned in the caption. It was dedicated to foreign books.
This area is now the main room of the tourist information center. The balcony existed then, but only over the main entrance. I has been extended during renovation to go around the whole area. The art deco styled buttress are visible on both pictures right. They are detailed in the close-up picture below. Both old pictures were taken from the stage.
At the other end of the triangular room was the stage. It has totally disappeared, the shop now occupies the same area. The Art Deco styled decoration is following the fashion of the time. The location can be assessed by comparing windows in the above picture with both pictures below.
The 中国国际图书馆 or Sino-international library was not the first attempt by Li Shizeng to promote link between China and France, as well as improve the education system in China.
During his studies in France, in 1906-1907, Li Shizeng (under his original name Li Yuying) was one of the founders of the 世界社 / Che Kiai Che / “Association de cooperation internationale pour le développement intellectuel, economique et social” along with Cai Yuan Pei / 蔡元培. Founders also included fellow Chinese student in France Zhang Renjie / 張人傑 as well as Wu Zihui / 吳敬恆 (the inventor of sound based writing style Zhuyin Fuhao, also called Bopomofo, that is still used in Taiwan to learn Chinese). The 世界社 / Che Kiai Che was the owner of the plot and it seems to have used the space for exhibition for some time before some renovation to instal the BSI reading room.
Stephanie Rosen-Hoa and Hua Nangui were friends with Li Shizeng. He included a copy of the movie “Love and duty” in the Geneva collection. Cai Yuanpei wrote the foreword to the serialised version of Love & duty in 1921, his fame at the time surely helping the book’s chances of publication. Connections made during students time prove very valuable later on.
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