Bibliographic Question and Answer is an important work of Zhang Zhidong. The author Zhang Zhidong is one of the leaders of the Westernization School in the late Qing Dynasty. He used to be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governor of Huguang and the minister of military aircraft, and wrote The Complete Works of Zhang Wenxiang. Bibliographic Q&A is a guiding bibliography for students who were studying politics in Sichuan at that time (Zhang entrusted Miao to compile it) but didn't know what books to read and what books to read. There are more than 2200 kinds of books in this book.
The book Bibliographic Questions and Answers is a guide to the history of Confucian classics listed by students when they are studying politics in Sichuan, because they don't know what to read (it was written by Miao Daizhang). There are more than 2200 kinds of books in this book. It is divided into five parts: classics, history, books, collections and series, and each category is arranged according to the chronological order of books. Each book is marked with similarities and differences in author, edition and volume, and some notes are added to guide beginners to choose reading. Most of the collectors are important books, and the selected editions are mainly selected from those familiar at that time, instead of pursuing the so-called Song and Yuan periodicals. At the back of the book is a special record and brief names of writers in Qing Dynasty.
Bibliographic Q&A adopts the "five-point method" of juxtaposing "series" with the subset of classics and history. Zhang Zhidong thinks that the series "has a subset of classics and history, so it is difficult to turn into four, so it is not a class." The "five-point method" founded by Zhang Zhidong was later applied to the cataloging of modern ancient books.
"Bielu" with the text, from shallow to deep, gradually understand its way; A Brief Introduction to the Names of Writers in Qing Dynasty lists the names and places of origin of famous scholars, from which we can also get a glimpse of the origins and differences of academics in Qing Dynasty. This book introduces the common sense and catalogue version of ancient books in China, which is well received by academic circles, reprinted and engraved, and spread widely.
At the end of the Qing dynasty, many young people wanted to be the top scholar and Jinshi. But they didn't know what books to buy, so they asked Zhang Zhidong, a famous scholar at that time. Zhang Zhidong carefully compiled a bibliography question and answer, and listed more than 2,000 kinds of ancient books, which pointed out the reading direction for young people.