Beijing, Sep 23 (Xinhua) China’s National Library will republish 556 ancient books as part of an ongoing effort to preserve traditional Chinese culture and promote academic research. The books, mostly from the Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644-1911 AD) dynasties, will be published over a three-year period, the library said Tuesday.

While modern printing techniques including microphotography, scanning and photocopying will be used in printing the books, their original appearance will be preserved by using traditional materials like rice paper, thread binding and blue cloth covers.

In the first phase of the project from 2002 to 2007, 758 books from the Tang (618-907 AD) to the Yuan (1271-1368 AD) dynasties were reprinted.