In the third year of Xuantong in Qing Dynasty (19 1 1), an ancient books circulation office was established in Shanghai, and the manager was Chen Liyan. Chen used to be the owner of the bookstore. He is a semi-expert in ancient books, but he has great courage. With the support of Wei Shuye, he opened an ancient book circulation office. According to Hu Daojing's Preface to Chen Naigan's Collected Works: "In the name of the circulation office, it is not only selling, but also publishing." Once the ancient books are sold, they will fly away like yellow cranes and never come back. With a chisel in hand, photocopying is everything. Therefore, Chen is not only courageous, but also ambitious.

Publishing catalogue is a tradition of modern bookstores, which can not only show the management level of bookstores, but also attract more customers. In Zhu Suixiang's Memoirs of Hangzhou Old Book Industry, there are several references to the bibliography of the ancient book circulation office:

"In the fifth year of the Republic of China (19 16), there was an ancient book circulation office in Shanghai. The owner is Chen Haiyan Li Yan, who has rich experience. He first published the bibliography, but there was no pricing, and he still bargained for it. Until the second issue of the bibliography, books are priced, and all peers or acquaintances and libraries can get a 10% discount, but there is no discount in the store. If the business is booming, buyers will also call it convenience. It is almost impossible to mail from other places, and readers in Chinese mainland can also buy their favorite books. "

It can be seen that the circulation office of ancient books "didn't price books until the second issue of bibliography"

The ancient books circulation office used to be the largest ancient books bookstore in Jiangnan. Chen Liyan bought Lu Qing at a high price of more than twenty thousand yuan. Embrace all the books in Lou Jing and set up an ancient books circulation office. Later, due to Chen Liyan's old age and infirmity, he gave all the ancient books to China Bookstore, and the ancient books circulation office existed between 1920 and 1928. Address: First at the entrance of Huifuli Lane, Hankou Road, Shanghai, then moved to Renji Hospital, Shandong Road, and then moved to Small Garden, Guangxi Road.