The founder is a native of Zhejiang, surnamed Zhang. He used his salary as an official in Beijing to open a small Nanzhi shop. At the beginning, it was a pending order from a painting and calligraphy engraver (the so-called pending order is that a painting and calligraphy engraver recommended by a famous artist sets a price standard for the sale of his works), and Matsuzaka orders on behalf of customers, from which he can get a commission. At the same time, calligraphers, painters and seal engravers who hang pen lists buy paper, pens, inkstones and other items in this shop, which makes Songzhuzhai have a considerable and stable income. At that time, the most famous Nanzhi store in Liulichang, the first store to promote Songzhuzhai, was named after undertaking official documents and official discounts. In the era of autocratic peace, court officials did nothing, but when they read the memorials presented by provincial officials, they found fault with the broken figures in their chess pieces and those who did not conform to various styles, thinking that they were dedicated to national affairs. Generally speaking, my deputies submit folded pieces, and the words should be eye-catching and straight. In particular, it should be remembered that the temples of emperors in past dynasties were taboo, and all kinds of taboos were taboo with the emperors in heaven and officials who carried imperial edicts to the ground. Slight negligence, that is, being pointed out by the minister of reading and folding, will be punished lightly, or demoted severely, and will be regarded as a warning by the government. Therefore, for the selection of monuments, the top grade must be pure and flawless. Liulichang Songzhuzhai knows that the memorial hall has a great influence on my future, and he is very cautious about this matter. Every white fold has to be selected by more than a dozen people, and the slightest ink will be pushed into the waste, so its price is half as expensive as other accessories. Whoever sells it has no fault at all, you can rest assured to buy it from the Lord. Therefore, all officials in Xinjiang know that the goods in Songzhuzhai are reliable and the business is more developed.
However, the owner of Songzhuzhai is, after all, an official's family and is not proficient in business. Especially the descendants of the Zhang family, lived up to expectations and were poorly managed. In addition, 1840 After the Opium War, the social and economic situation in China also went from bad to worse. At this time, Songzhuzhai, once full of customers, was on the verge of bankruptcy and reached an unsustainable situation. At this time, in order to maintain this prestigious old shop, the shopkeeper specially hired Zhuang Huchen, who made celebrities in Beijing at that time, as the manager and made up his mind to abandon the old and change the new. In the 20th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (AD 1894), the name of the store was changed to Rong Baozhai, which means that literature carries the Tao and respects it as treasure, and Lu Runxiang, a famous calligrapher at that time, was invited to write a large plaque.
With the passage of time and the continuous expansion of business fields, Rong Baozhai is famous at home and abroad for its unique wooden watermark. Woodboard watermarking is an ancient hand printing technology unique to China. The Chinese painting printed by this method is very similar to the original, which can be confused, which is incomparable to any printing method today. Rong Baozhai's Seventy-two Seasons and The Envelope of Twenty-four Seasons, etc. , made by wood watermarking method, was once called the white eyebrow in all kinds of notes of Liulichang by Lu Xun and Zheng Zhenduo (that is, the editor's note of similar outstanding figures).
At that time, even Mr. Qi Baishi couldn't tell whether his works were copied by Rong Baozhai.
Rong Baozhai's new monument was inscribed by Guo Moruo, a famous calligrapher in China.