Abstract: It is a big question to photocopy Si Ku Quan Shu(SKQS) during the Republic of China which led to many arguments among the government, presses and libraries. In 1920, President Xu Shichang gave an order to reproduce the SKQS, according to the initiative of former French Prime Minister Paul Painlevé. It has a long and complex story until the First Edition of the Rare Books of SKQS was published by the Commercial Press in 1935. Part of these books were sent to foreign governments as national gifts by the Kuomingtang government. This makes the scholars at home and abroad pay more attention to the circulation of books as material goods. This article reconstructs the photocopying and the process of circulation of this book and emphasizes its new identity as the national gift.

Key words: Si Ku Quan Shu, First Edition of Rare Books, Photocopy, National gift