Abstract:

From the end of 19^th  century to the middle of the 1960s, there were compact communications in Library Science between Japan and China. The history of 65 years from 1899 to 1964 can be divided into five periods according to the flow of literature on Library Science. In the first period, modern library was introduced to Japan from the United State. In the second period, some Japanese articles and books on library science was introduced to China. In the third period, two Japanese journals entitled Libraryand Library Research  were published to introduce the library science in China and in the United State. After Japan’s invasion of China, while Chinese librarians tried hard to protect their cultural property, the Japanese librarians helped their army to rob them of that. In the fifth period, Japanese librarians learned more from the United State after World War II, and Chinese librarians learned more from The Soviet Union after 1949, which made them to communicate with each other better, but the period was ended by the Cultural Revolutionary. In each period, there were a very few scholars who played important roles in both Japan and China. The Japanese scholars included Fujimaro Tanaka, Fujio Mamiya, Miyogo Ohsa, Gonnai Takei, Hiromichi Matsumi et al, and the Chinese scholars included Liang Qichao, Luo Zhenyu, Xie Yinchang, Gu Shi, Yang Zhaozhe, Ma Zongrong, Du Dingyou, Liu Guojun et al. They introduced the advanced library science into their homelands by translating and writing books, editing and issuing magazines, and founding research society such as the League of Young Librarians. What they did had made great contribution not only to the development of library science in their countries, but also to the communications between Japan and China in library science. The paper analyzes the background of the librarianship, the content of the literature, the characteristics of library science both in Japan and China, and the influence on each other, to find out the relationship between them, and to provide an international perspective for studying the history of library science in China.

Key words: History of communications, Periodization, History of library science, Tuan（A Chinese character,a simple and meaningful symbol for library）, China, Japan