耶魯大學東亞圖書館慶祝100周年，胡錦濤贈書1346卷

Yale's East Asia Library at 100

Yale』s East Asia Library is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its founding as an organized collection under curatorial direction with an exhibit in the Nave of Sterling Memorial Library. Treasures from the collection, including woodblock printed books and handwritten manuscripts, are on display along with materials that document the collection』s history and growth. The University Library began acquiring East Asian materials during the 1860s and by the turn of the twentieth century it had a substantial body of East Asian resources. The first dedicated curator was appointed in 1907 and today the East Asia Library is one of the largest and most important collections of its kind in North America.

The exhibit also celebrates the lives of Yung Wing and Asakawa Kan』ichi, two individuals who played key roles in the history of the collection. Yung (Yale class of 1854) was the first Chinese to graduate from an American university. The gift of his personal library was contingent on Yale』s engaging a professor of Chinese and the 1877 appointment of China missionary and fluent Chinese speaker Samuel Wells Williams led to the founding of what would become one of the first East Asian studies programs in the United States. The donation of Yung's library a year later marked the beginning of the Chinese collection at the Yale.


As a graduate student, Asakawa Kan』ichi (Ph.D. History, 1902), cataloged Yung』s donations, as well as a large number of Japanese woodblock printed books that had been acquired under the direction of the University Librarian in the 1860s. Asakawa was later hired to purchase Japanese materials for Yale and the Library of Congress during an 18 month trip to Japan in 1906-1907. On returning to the University he was made Instructor in History and Curator of the Chinese and Japanese collections. During his 41 year career (1907-1948) the collection grew rapidly, and several of the rare items that Asakawa acquired for the University Library are on display.


Today the East Asia Library supports teaching and research in all aspects of East Asian studies at Yale. It continues to build its collection, which also includes a recent gift of 1,346 volumes donated by President Hu Jintao of the People』s Republic of China during his visit to Yale in 2006. A core Korean collection is also being developed.


The exhibit runs until October 31 and is free and open to the public.


Location: Sterling Memorial Library Nave

Start Date: August 1-October 31, 2007

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