Chaoxing
Type of site | Digital library, academic database |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Haidian District, Beijing, China |
| Owner | Beijing Century Chaoxing Information Technology Development Co., Ltd. |
| Website | sslibrary |
| Launched | January 2000 |
| Current status | Active |
Chaoxing (Chinese: 超星; pinyin: Chāoxīng), also known as SuperStar Digital Library or DuXiu (Chinese: 读秀; pinyin: Dúxiū), is a Chinese digital library and academic search platform operated by Beijing Century Chaoxing Information Technology Development Co., Ltd. (北京世纪超星信息技术发展有限责任公司). It is one of the largest digital libraries in the world by volume and the largest commercial e-book collection in China.[1]
History
Beijing Century Superstar Information Technology Development Co., Ltd. was founded in 1993 in Haidian District, Beijing, initially providing document digitisation services to government agencies and academic institutions using a proprietary file format known as PDG.[2] In 1996 the company expanded into electronic publishing, releasing over 200 products on CD-ROM including historical periodicals and archival documents.[2] At the end of 1997 it developed a web-based e-book publishing system.[2]
In 1998, Superstar was contracted by the National Library of China to convert 200,000 paper titles into electronic books as part of the government's National Digital Library project, a partnership that provided the foundational collection for the later digital library service.[2] The Chaoxing Digital Library was officially launched on the internet in January 2000, and was selected as part of China's National High-Tech R&D Program (863 Program) Chinese Digital Library Demonstration Project.[2]
The DuXiu academic search engine, a distinct product within the Chaoxing ecosystem, was launched around 2005–2007 as a full-text search layer over the core book collection, allowing users to search within the text of books rather than by title or author alone.[3] It has been described as the "Chinese Google Scholar" by several North American university libraries.[4]
Collections
The DuXiu database provides access to over three million volumes of Chinese books on all subjects, as well as journal articles, newspapers, graduate theses, conference proceedings, and video materials.[5][6] The collection covers publications primarily from 1977 to the present, with particular strength in post-1949 Chinese publications, and Duxiu's digital book collection "covers nearly all the books published in mainland China both before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949".[1]
In addition to its standard digital library, Chaoxing operates ChinaMaxx, an internationally facing version of the collection subscribed to by universities outside China, including institutions in the United States and Europe.[7] The platform has been subscribed to by a number of major North American research libraries including Princeton University and the University of Washington.[8][7]
DuXiu and Anna's Archive
The DuXiu collection attracted international attention in 2023 when Anna's Archive, an open-access shadow library, announced it had acquired approximately 7.5 million scanned books from the DuXiu database, totalling around 350 terabytes — larger than the non-fiction holdings of Library Genesis and described as the largest Chinese non-fiction book collection outside of China.[9] Anna's Archive stated the collection had been compiled by a volunteer at great personal expense, and offered exclusive early access to AI companies in exchange for optical character recognition processing of the scanned files.[9]
Books from the DuXiu collection had long circulated informally on the Chinese internet, typically sold by resellers for under one yuan each and distributed via cloud storage services.[9]
Technical details
Books in the Chaoxing system are stored in the proprietary PDG e-book format, readable via the Chaoxing Reader application available on desktop and mobile platforms.[2] The DuXiu search engine provides aggregated search across books, journals, newspapers, dissertations, conference papers, patents, and standards, offering users preview access to the first several pages of most titles, with a weekly limit on document delivery requests.[5][10]
Access
Access to Chaoxing and DuXiu is primarily institutional. Universities and research institutions in China subscribe to the platform, and users within a subscribing institution's IP range can access resources directly.[3] Internationally, access is available through ChinaMaxx subscriptions held by academic libraries including those at Princeton University and the University of Washington.[8][7]
Related platforms
Chaoxing also operates Xuexitong (学习通; Xuéxítōng), a mobile learning management system widely used by Chinese universities for blended and online teaching.[citation needed] The platform gained significant adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic as a platform for remote learning across Chinese higher education institutions.[citation needed]
See also
- Library Genesis
- Anna's Archive
- Z-Library
- Sci-Hub
- Open Library
- Digital library
- Shadow library
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ye, Yunshan (2012-09-01). "Duxiu? What the..." Johns Hopkins University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Chen, X. (2012). "Developments and Obstacles in Chinese eBook Market". arXiv:1207.3964 [cs.DL].
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Duxiu [electronic resource]". Stanford University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ "Duxiu (Chinese Google Scholar)". USC Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Duxiu Database". University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ "Chinese Studies Research Guide". Emory University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "SuperStar Digital Library". University of Washington Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Duxiu". Princeton University Library. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Exclusive access for LLM companies to largest Chinese non-fiction book collection in the world". Anna's Archive Blog. 2023-11-04. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ "DUXIU (读秀)". Pennsylvania State University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
External links
Category:Digital libraries Category:Chinese websites Category:Online databases Category:Academic publishing Category:Library science Category:Educational technology in China Category:Companies based in Beijing Category:1993 establishments in China
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