Xia Zhengnong

Xia Zhengnong (1904–2008), originally named Xia Zhenghe, was a native of Fengcheng, Jiangxi. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1926 and took part in the Nanchang Uprising in 1927. He later served in the Political Department of the New Fourth Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he held posts including Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Secretariat, First Secretary of the Party Committee of Fudan University, and Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. From 1978 he served as editor-in-chief of Cihai and as deputy director of the General Editorial Committee of the Encyclopedia of China, and he authored the Collected Works of Xia Zhengnong. In publishing, he led or contributed to the compilation of the Dacihai series, covering ancient Chinese history, Chinese literature, medical sciences, modern and contemporary Chinese history, mathematics, physics, chemistry and mechanics, astronomy and earth sciences, foreign literature, and cultural relics and archaeology. Forty-two of his related works are held in the library, often classified under popular science and history reading. These large, rigorously edited reference works offer systematic and reliable access to knowledge across disciplines and have had a lasting influence on lexicography and the dissemination of knowledge.