One of China's oldest book publishers, Zhonghua Book Company, will celebrate its 100th birthday in style with a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday. The publishing house has played a pioneering role in China's modern cultural development.

Centennial ceremony of Zhonghua Book Company held in Beijing.

Zhonghua Book Company was established in 1912, during one of the most traumatic periods of turbulence in China's history.

It was founded by Lu Feikui, who was born into a literary family. The 26 year old believed education could change the face and future of the nation. So he began with textbooks.

It took only a few months to publish his long prepared series, "Zhonghua Textbooks". In the years before the founding of modern China, Zhonghua Book Company provided the country with around half its educational textbooks.

Five years later, Zhonghua took another ambitious step, publishing renowned dictionaries like "Ci Hai" and "Zhonghua Dictionary". Old classics were also revived and rescued from extinction, helping to preserve and pass on ancient Chinese culture. These included the "Integration of Ancient and Modern Books" - an encyclopaedia of ancient times.

In 1954, Zhonghua Book Company moved to Beijing, and was later given an official role of collecting and publishing ancient books on literature, linguistics, history and philosophy.

The company's most recent project is a series cataloguing Chinese history in its entirety.

With 30 thousand publishing products and over 500 awards under its belt, Zhonghua Book Company is recognized by many as a cultural landmark in China's publishing industry.

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