The predecessor of Zhejiang University Institute of Ancient Books was the Hangzhou University Institute of Ancient Texts Studies, established in 1983 by renowned scholars such as Jiang Liangfu, Xu Gui, and Shen Wenzhuo. It was one of the twenty-four ancient texts research institutions under the National Commission for Ancient Chinese Classics Editing and Research by Institutions of Higher learning, Ministry of Education.

It boasts many distinguished experts, including “Changjiang” Distinguished Professor appointed by the Ministry of Education, Distinguished Honorary Professor at Zhejiang University, “Dunhe” Chair Professors, “QiuShi” Distinguished Professors, Leading Talents in humanities, and several top-level experts in Zhejiang Province, making it a talent hub for the field of humanities at the university.

During years of development, the Institute has consistently adhered to the study of Classical Chinese Philology with traditional linguistics as its foundation, forming distinct research characteristics and five stable research direction, namely Compilation and research of pre-Qin documents, Language research on documents from the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties periods, Dunhuang Studies research, Song Studies research, Compilation and research of overseas Chinese classics and local documents.