This is a detail from the Japanese manuscript "Hie rishoki" (artist and date unknown), one of the treasures in the University's collection on East Asia.

Show celebrates East Asia
collection’s 100th anniversary

Library treasures from the University’s collection on East Asia are now on exhibit at the Sterling Memorial Library to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the collection’s founding.

“The East Asia Library at 100” features woodblock printed books and handwritten manuscripts, along with materials that document the collection’s history and growth. It will be on view in the nave of the Sterling Library through Oct. 31.

The University Library began acquiring East Asian materials during the 1860s. By the turn of the 20th century, it had a substantial body of East Asian resources. The first dedicated curator was appointed in 1907. Today, the East Asia Library is one of the largest collections of its kind in North America.

The exhibit also celebrates the lives of Yung Wing and Asakawa Kaníichi, two individuals who played key roles in the history of the collection. Yung, Yale Class of 1854, was the first Chinese individual to graduate from an American university. The gift of his personal library was contingent on Yale’s engaging a professor of Chinese. 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 Yale.

As a graduate student, Asakawa Kaníichi (Ph.D. history, 1902) catalogued 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, the collection grew rapidly, and several of the rare items that Asakawa acquired for the University are on display.

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

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Sterling Library is located at 120 High St. For library hours, visit www.library.yale.edu/hours/#top. For more information on the East Asia Library, visit www.library.yale.edu/eastasian or call (203) 432-1791.

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