Harvard–Yenching Library

2 Divinity Ave. houses the Harvard-Yenching Library and parts of the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

The Harvard–Yenching Library is the primary location for East Asia-related collections at the Harvard University Library. In addition to Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages, it houses collections in Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Manchu, and Mongolian, totaling more than 1 million volumes.^[1] The library is located at 2 Divinity Avenue on the Cambridge campus of Harvard University.

History

In 1879, Ko K'un-hua, a scholar from China, was engaged to give a course in the Chinese language. The small collection of books that was bought for this course became Harvard College's first acquisitions in any East Asian language. In 1914, two Japanese professors came from Tokyo Imperial University to lecture at Harvard; and they donated several important sets of Japanese publications on Sinology and Buddhism to the Harvard College Library, thus launching Harvard's Japanese collection. These two collections became the nucleus of Harvard's East Asian library. In 1927, Archibald Cary Coolidge, head of Harvard's libraries, asked Alfred Kaiming Chiu, then a graduate student at Harvard, to organize and catalog these collections.^[2] The library was formally founded in 1928 as the Chinese-Japanese Library of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the library took its present name in 1965 to reflect the expansion of its collections beyond Chinese and Japanese. In 1976, management of the library shifted from the independent Harvard-Yenching Institute to the Harvard College Library.^[3]

A. Kaiming Chiu served as head of the library until his retirement (1964). He was succeeded by Eugene Wu (1965) who was succeeded by James Cheng (1998).^[4]

The 75th Anniversary of the Library was celebrated in 2003 with a symposium and the publication of a volume of scholarly articles on the history of the library and its collections. ^[5] In 2009, the library announced a six-year, multimillion-dollar project to digitize major sections of its rare books collection in cooperation with the National Library of China. ^[6]

References

1. ↑ Harvard-Yenching Library collections
2. ↑ Eugene W. Wu, "The Founding of the Harvard-Yenching Library," Journal of East Asian Libraries 101.1 (1993): 65-69.
3. ↑ Harvard-Yenching Library History
4. ↑ Ken Gewurtz, "Yenching: The Singular History of A Singular Library," Harvard Gazette
5. ↑ Patrick Hanan, ed., Treasures of the Yenching: Seventy-Fifth Anniversity of the Harvard-Yenching Library (Cambridge, MA; Hong Kong: Harvard-Yenching Library Distributed by the Chinese University Press, 2003 ISBN 9629961024).
6. ↑ Rare Chinese Books" New York Times October 11, 2009

External links

• Harvard Yenching Library Website
• Harvard Yenching Library Publications

Harvard University
	History John Harvard statue President Drew Gilpin Faust Board of Overseers President and Fellows of Harvard College Provost Alan M. Garber The Harvard Library
Arts and Sciences	Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith College Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana Radcliffe College Freshman dormitories Upperclass houses Adams Cabot Currier Dudley Dunster Eliot Kirkland Leverett Lowell Mather Pforzheimer Quincy Winthrop Undergraduate organizations The Harvard Crimson The Harvard Lampoon The Harvard Advocate The Harvard Independent Athletics: Harvard Crimson Ivy League Harvard Stadium Yale football rivalry Lavietes Pavilion Bright Hockey Center Cornell hockey rivalry Beanpot Weld Boathouse Newall Boathouse Continuing Education Division of Continuing Education Dean Huntington D. Lambert Extension School Summer School History of Harvard Extension School Eng. & Appl. Sciences John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Francis J. Doyle III Graduate School Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Xiao-Li Meng Libraries Cabot Harvard-Yenching Houghton Harvard Review Lamont Pusey Widener Harry Widener Eleanor Elkins Widener Grossman   Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts Center for Hellenic Studies Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Institute for Quantitative Social Science Nieman Foundation for Journalism Ukrainian Research Institute Villa I Tatti W. E. B. Du Bois Institute
Business	Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria Harvard Business Publishing Harvard Business Press Harvard Business Review
Design	Harvard Graduate School of Design Dean Mohsen Mostafavi Harvard Design Magazine Joint Center for Housing Studies
Divinity	Harvard Divinity School Dean David N. Hempton
Education	Harvard Graduate School of Education
Government	John F. Kennedy School of Government Dean Douglas Elmendorf Institute of Politics
Law	Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow Harvard Law Review Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Harvard Law Record Harvard International Law Journal Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review Harvard Journal on Legislation Berkman Center
Medicine	Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Scott Flier Broad Institute Countway Library Center for the History of Medicine Warren Anatomical Museum Schepens Eye Research Institute Dentistry Harvard School of Dental Medicine Dean Bruce Donoff
Public health	Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk
Museums	Harvard Art Museums Arthur M. Sackler Fogg Museum Busch-Reisinger Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Museum of Natural History Glass Flowers Mineralogical Museum Herbaria Comparative Zoology Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Semitic Museum General Artemas Ward House
Cambridge campus	Memorial Hall Science Center Smith Campus Center Peabody Terrace Harvard Graduate Center Harvard Hall University Hall Memorial Church Choir Harvard Yard Johnston Gate
Centers and Institutes	Dumbarton Oaks Harvard Forest Health Science and Technology Institute for Advanced Theater Training Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Schlesinger Library Real Colegio Complutense Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Misc.	Commencement traditions Academic regalia Heraldry Tercentenary celebration Harvard University Professor Harvard Magazine Harvard Gazette Harvard University Press Society of Fellows

Coordinates: 42°22′38.85″N 71°06′51.32″W / 42.3774583°N 71.1142556°W / 42.3774583; -71.1142556