Municipal public library in Chaoyang, Beijing, China
This article is about the 1913-founded municipal library in downtown Beijing. For the national library, see National Library of China. For the 2023-opened new municipal library in suburban Beijing, see Beijing Library.
The Capital Library (CLCN) is a municipal public library in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The library is noted for its collection of Chinese opera, classical music, drama and theater.[2]
History
Founded in 1913 by Lu Xun,[3] Capital Library evolved from the merger of the Capital Books Branch, the Capital Popular Library and the Central Park Library Reading Office, which were respectively established in June 1913, October 1913 and August 1917.[4]
After the Revolution of the Northern Expedition, these three libraries were renamed and merged several times and changed to the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Library. In August 1949, it was renamed the Beijing Municipal Library.[5] In October 1956, the library was renamed the Capital Library.[6]
On November 1, 2013, after the National Library of China succumbed to government pressure,[7] the Capital Library accepted a lecture by Australian historian Ross Terrill, who delivered a speech on the theme of "Mao Zedong in the Eyes of a Biographer: His Life, Personality and Ideology".[8]