1937, Peking. Lin Shuyin is a young administrator at the Yenching University Library. When the war broke out and the school moved south, she was ordered to leave behind the rare and ancient books to protect the collection. She hid rare books in church basements, in walls, and even in coffins. The Japanese army came to search several times, but she cleverly avoided it. For eight years, she guarded 3,000 volumes of ancient books by herself and survived by relying on donations from her neighbors. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, when the school teachers came back and saw the intact collection of books, everyone cried. Lin Shuyin said: "Books are more important than life. If life is gone, it is gone. When books are gone, the memory of a nation is gone." She later became an ancient book restoration expert and has been with books all her life.
