劉承幹與嘉業堂 -- 民國私人藏書第一人
Liu Chenggan and the Jiaye Library: China’s Premier Book Collector during the Republican Period
劉承幹
Liu Chenggan
劉承幹 (1882-1963)，字貞一，號翰怡，別號求恕居士，晚年自稱嘉業老人，浙江吳興縣 (今湖州市) 。劉承幹的祖父劉鏞 (1826-1899) 以絲業起家，後來涉足經營鹽業、茶業、典當、房地產等，成為南潯 (浙江省湖州市內) 首富。劉鏞的長子劉安瀾 (1857-1885) 早逝，於是劉鏞將次子劉錦藻 (1862-1934) 的長子劉承幹過繼給劉安瀾。光緒十五年 (1899) 劉鏞去世後，劉承幹以長子嫡孫的身份承繼了劉鏞的財產。
Liu Chenggan (1882–1963) was a native of Wuxing County (now Huzhou), Zhejiang province. As the adopted son of his father's older brother, he inherited a fortune from his grandfather, who was the richest man in Nanxun (now Huzhou), in 1899. He was also from a well-educated family. His father passed the imperial examination in 1894, and was awarded the jinshi, the highest degree. His father also collected numerous history books as part of a compilation of the administrative history of the late Qing period. This experience would have a profound influence on Liu Chenggan.
嘉業堂
Jiaye Library
劉氏曾自敘云： “宣統庚戌 (1910) 南洋開勸業會於金陵，瑰貨駢集，人爭趣之。余獨步狀元境各書肆，遍覽群書，兼兩載歸。越日書賈攜書來售者踵至。自是即有志聚書。逾年辛亥，武漢告警，烽燧達於江左。余避居淞濱，四方衣冠舊族，避寇氛而來者日益多，遂為中原文獻所聚。”(<嘉業藏書樓記>) 劉氏自稱 “弱冠即喜治乙部之書”(<晉書斠注序>)，實乃受其父劉錦藻之影響。其父為光緒二十年 (1894) 進士，學識淵博。辛亥革命後，有志編輯《清朝續文獻通考》，於是收集了大量史部的書籍，這正是劉承幹自幼便喜研史籍的原因。其嗣父劉安瀾安瀾喜詩，輯有《國朝詩萃》，為未竟之作。適逢晚清時局動盪，戰亂使不少大家族的藏書紛紛散出。擁有充足財力的劉承幹，就在這極佳的機會下，蒐集大量珍貴古籍。由1910年算起，至1924年嘉業堂藏書樓建成，經過短短的十幾年，便聚書二十萬冊。部份珍本直接收購自 “甬東盧氏之抱經樓、獨山莫氏之影山草堂、仁和朱氏之結一廬、豐順丁氏之持靜齋、太倉繆氏之東倉書庫，皆積累世之甄錄，為精英所鍾聚。(<嘉業藏書樓記>) 劉承幹雖未正式出仕於清廷，但因宣統年間屢次在各地賑濟捐款，獲清廷授予官銜，他的朋友習慣稱他為 “京卿”。他對宣統竭誠效忠，故屢受宣統的 “欽賞”。如獲賜 “欽若嘉業” 、“抗心希古” 、 “金聲玉色”等匾額，其藏書樓名為 “嘉業堂” 和 “希古樓”，即源於此。
Liu Chenggan once wrote that when the first national exposition of China was held in Nanjing in 1910, he took the opportunity to visit the book stalls and purchase countless books. News quickly spread amongst the booksellers, who came to visit him with their books. It should also be noted that many book collectors sold their collections in response to the political upheavals associated with the downfall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Such a historical background enabled Liu Chenggan, who was quite wealthy at the time, to collect roughly 200,000 volumes from 1910 to 1924.