Custody, classification and circulation: information order and textual repository configuration in Late Shang to Tang China

Purpose This study explores the institutional distribution and historical evolution of textual custody in China from the Late Shang dynasty to 907 CE, aiming to reveal the indigenous dynamics of Chinese manuscript transmission and interrogate universalized Western library-history paradigms. Design/methodology/approach Based on archaeological finds, dynastic bibliographies, religious catalogs and surviving manuscripts, a relational analytical framework, focusing on cross-institutional textual mobility rather than static institutional typologies, is employed. Findings Textual custody evolved from a predominantly court-centered system of ritual and documentary custody into an asymmetric multi-site repository configuration, integrating imperial collections, private libraries, monastic repositories and state pedagogical institutions. The cross-institutional transfer of texts and expertise had become increasingly visible by the Sui–Tang period. Originality/value This study advances a relational “repository configuration” framework beyond static institutional typologies. It challenges Western-centric normative benchmarks for pre-modern library history and offers a distinct non-Western case for comparative information history scholarship.