On February 8th, the high-definition image database of Yongle Encyclopedia and the repository of the Catalogue of National Rare Books in China were officially released in the National Library of China (NLC). Rao Quan, member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Hao Ping, Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University, Feng Shixin, Director of the Publishing Bureau and Director of the Ancient Books Office of the Central Propaganda Department, Chen Binbin, first-tier inspector of the Public Service Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Xiong Yuanming, Director of the NLC and Director of the National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books, Wang Bo, Vice President of Peking University, and Li Tao, Vice President and Secretary General of the ByteDance Public Welfare Foundation, attended the event. Experts and scholars, members of the database construction project team and the media also attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Zhang Zhiqing, Executive Deputy Director of the NLC and Deputy Director of the National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books.

Rao Quan pointed out in his speech that the release of the two databases is a concrete measure to implement the important opinions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on inheriting and promoting excellent traditional Chinese culture, promoting creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and promoting the liveliness and utilization of cultural relics and ancient books. It is also a new attempt and breakthrough in the innovation and application research of ancient book digitization technology in the smart environment based on the joint efforts by the NLC (National Center for the Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books), academic institutions in universities, and internet enterprises with their respective advantages, which has a good demonstration and driving effect. It is hoped that the NLC will firmly hold on to the correct direction of the work on ancient books protection, follow the guidance of socialist core values, and continue to deeply implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's reply to the senior experts of the NLC, so as to strengthen the application of modern technologies in the digitization of ancient books, strengthen cooperation with relevant academic institutions and internet enterprises, make greater efforts in the digitization of ancient books and enhance the supply capacity of public cultural digital content under the guidance of the national leading group for the compilation and publication planning of ancient books.

Feng Shixin stated in his speech that the Publishing Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, as the office for the national leading group for the compilation and publication planning of ancient books, bears crucial responsibilities in implementing the decisions and deployment of the central government and promoting the national ancient books digitization project, and adopts a series of effective measures, such as drafting and implementing the ancient books digitization plan, systematically conducting research on key subjects of ancient books digitization, and promoting the construction of key projects for digitizing ancient books. He suggested to take the launch of the databases as an opportunity to integrate content and technology, link research to subjects, and collaborate with multiple parties to fully promote the excellent achievements of ancient books digitization. He looked forward to taking the tasks proposed in the work plan on ancient books as the goal, taking the digitization of ancient books as a key driving force and focus to promote the work on ancient books in the new era, improving the guidance and coordination mechanism for popularizing the digitization of ancient books, drawing on favorable experiences in various fields, clarifying the phased goals and tasks of the digitization of ancient books, coordinating the resource development and services, and effectively promoting the high-quality development of ancient book digitization.

Xiong Yuanming said in his speech that when replying to the senior experts of the NLC, General Secretary Xi Jinping required us to "follow to the correct political direction, promote excellent traditional Chinese culture, innovate service modes, and promote reading nationwide". Today, the two databases released to the public will provide digital resources of ancient books, innovate service modes, and provide services on ancient books to the public, which are specific measures and preliminary results for implementing the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, practicing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping in his reply, and implementing the relevant conference documents of the central government on promoting the work of ancient books in the new era, and are also fundamental work for further promoting the digitization and protection of ancient books.

Wang Bo said in his speech that the two projects jointly undertaken by the NLC, Peking University and ByteDance are a major practice to make the ancient books live again. Through the concept and technology of digital humanity, the vast geographical distribution of the national precious ancient books catalogue and the complicated relationships between people are placed in the knowledge map to form a systematic knowledge graphic. In the meantime, the cultural and artistic value of Yongle Encyclopedia, a collection of ancient books that has been passed down for generations, as well as its history, are vividly presented, providing a way for the general public to explore and understand its value.

At the meeting, Rao Quan, Hao Ping, Feng Shixin, Xiong Yuanming, and Li Tao jointly launched the release ceremony of Yongle Encyclopedia and the repository of the Catalogue of National Rare Books in China. Both databases are the "2021 National Ancient Books Digitization Special Funding Project" of the national leading group for the compilation and publication planning of ancient books. They were successfully completed in November 2022 and reported as an excellent project. Readers can log in and use the resources for free.

The leaders and experts present at the ceremony highly commented and praised the two databases, believing that the cooperation among libraries, universities, and technology enterprises provides an example for the construction of digital humanities in ancient books, laying a good foundation for further improving the networking of knowledge and smart utilization of Yongle Encyclopedia, and also providing a key model for the future development of the national smart library system. At the same time, in-depth exchanges were held during the meeting on such topics as the construction of digital humanities, the construction of knowledge graphics, and the provision of services with ancient books, providing suggestions for the successful implementation of related work in the next step.

The launch ceremony was organized by the NLC (National Center for the Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books) in conjunction with Peking University, and sponsored by the National Library of China Publishing House and the ByteDance Public Welfare Foundation.