Libraries sign East Asian partnership agreement

The University of California San Diego Library and Cambridge University Library have launched a multi-year partnership that aims to broaden the awareness, access and use of the extensive East Asian collections held by both institutions.

The collections at each institution are unique.

The Chinese collection of Cambridge University Library is among the finest of its kind outside China.

The first Chinese book, Dan xi xin fa fu yu, an odd fascicle of a Chinese medical treatise, entered the Library as early as 1632, part of a gift from the then Duke of Buckingham. The oldest items in Chinese collections are Chinese inscribed oracle bones dating from the 12th-14th century BC, and the oldest printed book is a Chinese Buddhist sutra dated 1107.

Cambridge University Library established the first substantial holdings of Chinese books after the donation of 4,304 volumes by Sir Thomas Wade (1818–1895) — the university’s first Professor of Chinese from 1888 until his death — who invented the Wade-Giles system which once served as a standard romanization system for Chinese.

Significant additions to the Library's Chinese holdings came in the years immediately following the Second World War. An important bequest was received in 1952 by the will of L. C. Hopkins (1854-1952), comprising his celebrated collection of over 800 Chinese inscribed oracle bones.

UC San Diego’s holdings focus on more recent history and contemporary Chinese collections, such as the Chinese Cultural Revolution Posters Collection, the Chinese village research archive, the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars Friendship Delegations Digital Collection, and the Chinese Independent Films Collection. 

“Through the spirit of collaboration and connection, we will highlight these incredible collections, from past to present, encouraging scholarship and better access for all across the globe,” said Erik Mitchell, Audrey Geisel University Librarian at UC San Diego.

The WongAvery East Asian Collections Collaboration between Cambridge University Library and UC San Diego Library, has been established for an initial term of three years. Milestones include:

Year 1 - Establish and begin implementation of an inter-institutional collaborative agreement focused on expertise exchange around East Asian collections and services and support for scholars.

Year 2 - Launch the scholar exchange program, sustain collaboration across the two institutions through library exchange visits and continue the collaborative work on the Sally T. WongAvery Digital Collection of Chinese Materials. 

Year 3 - Evaluate and continue collaborative relationships with expertise and scholarly exchanges. Determine future opportunities to build on the partnership for East Asian Collections. 

The strengths of the Chinese collections at Cambridge lie in traditional culture, history, literature and the arts. Of late, more attention has also been paid to modern history and politics.

The Chinese collections now comprise about half a million individual titles, including monographs, reprinted materials such as manuscripts from Dunhuang, Huizhou, etc., archival documents and epigraphical rubbings, and 3,500 Chinese microfilm reels. Over 400,000 titles are included in some 2,000 cong shu, and about 3,000 Chinese printed serial titles are held in Cambridge libraries.

Established in 1987, the East Asia Collection at University of California San Diego, focuses on collecting modern and contemporary Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) language materials in the humanities and social sciences, including literature, history, sociology, linguistics, art, film studies, philosophy, economy business, political science, and international relations pertaining to each region.

With more than 200,000 print volumes, 1.2 million digital titles, 19,000 visual images and 3,000 films, the collection is recognized as a regional and national resource center for researchers and students in the field of East Asia area studies.

In 2020, UC San Diego Foundation trustee and alumna Sally T. WongAvery established the Sally T. WongAvery Collection of Chinese Materials with the donation of a complete collection of Chinese News — the first Chinese language newspaper published in San Diego, California.

She went on to establish the Sally T. WongAvery Fund for East Asian Collections.

The Natasha Wong Endowment for East Asian Collections was established in 2022 to honour her mother and further build the Sally T. WongAvery Fund for East Asian Collections. This endowment supports the UC San Diego Library’s East Asian collections, research and scholarly activities. Natasha Wong is Vice Chair of the Avery-Tsui Foundation.