By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter
During his reign, Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 B.C.-210 B.C.) burned all the existing books from previous regimes that might be against his authority and killed scholars who opposed his ideas in order to unify public opinion. This is called "Fen shu keng ru" (burn the books and bury the scholars alive) and took place around 213 B.C.
Books and libraries often fall prey to oppression as they represent the souls and identities of the holders. From the ancient to the modern era, the so-called "libricide" has occurred all over the globe.
The book "Libricide" written by Rebecca Knuth, professor at the University of Hawaii, has recently been translated into Korean. Libricide is a rare term denoting the "killing of a book" combining the idea of books and slaughter. The writer took it specifically to refer to the 20th century, large-scale, regime-sanctioned destruction of books and libraries to advance ideologically driven goals.
"My book began with a general question ― why do people destroy books and libraries? While most people think that such destruction is a thing of the past, I quickly realized that it was very much a part of modern life," Knuth said in an email interview with The Korea Times.
While most people think that it is a random act of barbarians or committed as collateral damage in war, she discovered that in the 20th century, book and library destruction was often deliberate and goal-oriented.
"I identified a pattern akin to genocide in which governments targeted books and libraries on ideological grounds and for strategic purposes and labeled this 'libricide.' This virulent pattern has been replicated around the world and is causing untold damage to culture and heritage. My book was an attempt to wake people up," she said.