Abstract: Due to the contestation and integration between the new and old scholarship in the Republic of China period, the book classification method transformed from the Chinese traditional four- part classification, to the antagonistic Sino-Western book classifications, and to their integration finally. Fu Xiongxiang proposed in his Book Classification of Hunan Provincial Zhongshan Library in 1929 that the classics should be categorized separately and constructed with multiple outlines, since it was practical and conducive to integrating the traditional and modern scholarship, as well as integrating Chinese and the Western ones. The proposal not only respected the tradition, but also was an significant transitional step towards the modern discipline system and knowledge system. Fu Xiongxiang’s porposal, with its objectivity and systematicness, became the “reformative school” influenced by Dewey’s “decimal method”, providing a reasonable path for the western librarianship to be localized in China.

Key words: Fu Xiongxiang, Book classification, Hunan Library, Demical Classification