A Gansu man is preserving the culture and history of Chinese picture-story books by investing vast amounts of his own money into collecting, treasuring and preserving them.

Li Gang, born in 1979, lives in Lanzhou city and is the owner of 20,000 picture-story books and Chinese comic books. Among all his collection, the smallest book is only as large as his palm.

He began collecting picture-story books in the early 1990s.

Picture-story books contain the memory of the youthful generations from the 1950s to 1980s, said Li.

Li Gang displays some picture-story books at his library on March 22. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Chinese picture-story books originated from lithographic prints made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and evolved into the illustration of classical fictions in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), according to Li Gang. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the picture-story books were used to raise literacy. At that time, the picture-story books were edited for adults, children and those unable to read.

Traditional Chinese picture-story books are often filled with diverse contents, ranging from ancient fairytales, myths and legends to more modern stories.

Li Gang shows off his collection. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

"Picture-story book collectors can be divided into three categories," said Li Gang. "There are people with nostalgia, people who enjoy painting and art and people who collect books as an investment."

Li recalled that he used 800 yuan ($122.8) out of his 1,000 yuan income to buy picture-story books, leaving just one fifth of his salary for his living costs. "However, my collection is worth more than 50 times than before," he said

Li has opened a library for his collections, and he is expected to provide a platform for people who like picture-story books to communicate and share memories times past.

Edited by Owen Fishwick