The Ministry of Culture announced its fifth Directory of Valuable National-level Ancient Books on Tuesday. Eight books dating from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties, including The Orchid Pavilion, belonging to the Chinese University of Hong Kong were included. This is the first time Hong Kong declared for such a directory.

A total of 899 ancient books were included in the directory, while 14 organizations were recognized as key protective organizations. These additions bring the total number of protected books in the directory to 12,274 and key protective organizations to 180.

The 899 books were chosen for their crucial historical and cultural value. Looking at a breakdown according to language, 754 were Han Chinese language books, 131 were ethnic minority language books and 14 were foreign language books.

Other historical records added to the directory include inscription on bones or tortoise shells and manuscripts on bamboo or silk. 

More than 400 books were declared by a total of 100 organizations from the Tibet Autonomous Region, thereby adding to the variety of the directory's ethnic minority collection.