WEAI + C.V. Starr East Asian Library 2024 Calendar Project

What: 

• A 12-page calendar featuring images from the library collections. 
• Two images from each collection will be featured (1. Mainland China, 2. Taiwan, 3. Hong Kong, 4. Japan, 5. Korea, 6. Tibet), alongside text (100-300 words) written by the librarian curators. Images should be submitted 300 dpi in JPG or PNG format. 
• Curators will send three images from each collection. The WEAI staff team will select two to feature from each.
• The majority of pieces featured should be aesthetic works––ideally art works (two of the three options from each curator), i.e. images of paintings, sculptures, crockery, photographs. The other option may be an image of a text-based object (book, scroll, calligraphic work, etc.). 
• Images containing dragon motifs are encouraged, as the calendar will likely be distributed around the Lunar New Year.
• All costs will be shouldered by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute for design and printing. The C.V. Starr East Asian Library will secure necessary permissions for usage of artwork and printing.

Who: 

• Jim Cheng will manage the team of librarian curators: Kristina Dy-Liacco, Hee-sook Shin, Chiaki Sakai, Chengzhi Wang, Evian Yiyun Pan, who are responsible for selecting the content and drafting text.
• Ariana King and Lin Hsu will review and select from the images submitted, and handle all printing matters.

When (tentative schedule):

• September 13: Deadline for librarians to send 3 images each with simple explanation of the content
• September 22: Deadline for WEAI to select 2 images from each collection
• October 6: Librarians send accompanying text for the selected images
• October 27: WEAI sends back draft calendar for Starr review
• November 10: Deadline for Starr revision requests
• November 15: Calendar finalized and sent to printers

The C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University has its origins in 1902, when the University Trustees approved the establishment of a Department of Chinese, based on a donation made specifically for that purpose. Frederick Hirth was appointed the first Professor of Chinese at Columbia, as well as the first curator of the Chinese book collection.

Upon receiving this donation, Seth Low, then President of Columbia University, wrote to E. H. Conger, American Minister to Peking, asking for help to build a Chinese library and a Chinese Museum, in addition to the professorship. Li Hung-chang (Li Hongzhang), regarded as prime minister to the Empress Dowager, wrote to Conger on November 3, 1901, four days before Li’s death. On behalf of the Empress Dowager, Columbia University was given the 5,044-volume encyclopedia, Gu jin tu shu ji cheng, which was received early in 1902, forming the foundation of the Chinese collection.

The collection of Japanese materials began in 1927 through Professor Ryusaku Tsunoda, who successfully solicited donations of materials, including approximately 5,000 volumes from the Imperial Household Ministry. As studies of Japan grew and developed, the Department of Chinese was expanded into the Department of Chinese and Japanese.

The first Korean materials were acquired by a donation of nearly 1,000 books by Korean students at Columbia University in 1931. Systematic acquisitions did not begin, however, until 1953, and have increased substantially over the years.

In the late 1990s, the library began actively to collect Tibetan language materials as well.

In 1961, the Law School, which had occupied Kent Hall, finished its new building, and the school and its library moved across Amsterdam Avenue. The East Asian Library’s collections were then moved out of Low Memorial Library and into the former Law Library in 300 Kent. The stained glass image of Justice on the east wall of the reading room is a reminder of the library’s previous occupant..

In 1981, with an endowment from the C.V. Starr Foundation, the library was officially named as the C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

1. Mainland China

The imperial jade book, 1799, produced in the Jiaqing reign. The text in Manchu and Chinese inscribed on 10 jade blocks serves as an eulogy for the Yongzheng Emperor, as provided by his grandson Jiaqing, who offered an honorific, posthumous title to the grandfather while lauding his accomplishments. Special Collections, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

Scene in Death of a Salesman, featuring Ying Ruocheng, Li Shilong, and Mi Tiezeng, directed by Arthur Miller at Beijing People’s Art Theater, 1983.  Center for US-China Arts Exchange Records, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

The Chinese production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, directed by Arthur Miller, opened on May 7, 1983, at the Beijing People’s Art Theater, and played continuously to packed houses through the fall. The production, co-sponsored by the Center for US-China Arts Exchange and the Chinese Theater Association. The cross cultural collaboration grew out of a conversation among Arthur Miller, Center Director Chou Wen-chung, Chinese playwright Cao Yu, and actor/director Ying Ruocheng, when Cao and Ying visited New York in 1980. The production was acknowledged in the Chinese press as one of the most significant cultural events in China since the Cultural Revolution and a signature piece in the Chinese contemporary theater.

Finding Aid of the collection: https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-ea/ldpd_14433186

2. Taiwan

Postcards: Chun Shan Park, Taichung City; The Lighthouse of Eluanpi, Pingtung Hsien; The Hot Spring of Peitu, Taipei Hsien; The Fu Hsing Bridge, Taipei City, Trade Mark: Shepherd, the 1950s? Republic of China, Taiwan. Yu Feng Tse Papers, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

Taiwan Film Poster of Spider Lilies, which was directed by the known Taiwan queer film director Zero Chou and released in 2007. Taiwan Film Collection, C.V. Starr East Asian Library

Taiwan Film Collection has been established due to the library’s consistent efforts of seeking the donations and acquiring the films from Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (formerly Chinese Taipei Film Archive) and filmmakers, and enabled the library to organize  three successful cinematic events related to Taiwan Cinema: Documentary View of Taiwan  2013; Taiwan Cinema Yesterday and Today 2016, and Affirming Queer Intimacies in Sinophone Cinema 2023.

Clio record: https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/17070614                                                                            Streaming service: https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/mind-mhs-350d7zl51y

3. Hong Kong

Jackie Chan’s Dragons Forever (1988) (Japanese title: “Saikuron Z”), Japanese Movie Theater Program by Tōhō Shuppan Jigyōshitsu. The Makino Mamoru Collection on the History of East Asian Film, 1863-2015, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

The Makino Collection includes not only the resources on Japanese films but also the series and subseries covering East Asian and other international films. The movie program here is an example of something quite unique to the Japanese film culture. Japanese movie theaters sell a 20-40 page program that includes the synopsis of the film, reviews by critics, interviews with the director and casts, behind-the-scenes stories and other fun facts with many photos. It enhances the movie-goers’ understanding of the film and serves as a collectable souvenir. We learn from the program that “Dragon Forever” was released during the Golden Week  holidays of 1988, and it shows the popularity of Hong Kong action star, Jackie Chan, in Japan.

Postcards, Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong: A Cosmopolitan Shopping Center.  Swindon Book Company, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Small cargo junk sails across Victoria Harbour. Orient Publishing Company, Hong Kong. Date unknown. Patricia Koo and Kiachi Tsien Papers, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

4. Japan

Longing by Mizue Sawano, 1998.  Special Collections, C.V. Starr East Asian Library

The cherry blossom painting entitled “Longing (50’ x 72’)” was painted by the internationally known Japanese painter Mizue Sawano in 1998.  Ms. Sawano lives in Greenwich Village in New York and specializes in cherry painting.  Dr. Amy Heinrich, former Director of C.V. Starr East Asian Library, was a friend of Ms. Sawano and secured the donation of the painting in 2008, which was installed and admired during a reception in the reading room of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library attended by the artist, library administrators, and officials from the Consulate General of Japan, friends, and Columbia faculty and staff in 2010. 

Starr Library Blog: https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/starr/2012/09/20/some-thoughts-on-the-japanese-art-work-longing-on-the-wall-of-the-c-v-starr-east-asian-library-reading-room-at-columbia-university-by-director-jim-cheng/

Scene at the Dragon Palace                                       Scene where Taro opens tamatebako treasure box

Urashima Tarō. Japan: publisher not identified, late 17th or early 18th century.  Special Collections, C. V. Starr East Asian Library

These volumes are fine examples of a genre known as Nara e-hon (Nara illustrated books, although with no known connection to the city of Nara or the historical Nara period, 645-794). The beautiful manuscript books and scrolls were actually produced in the late Muromachi (1336-1600) and early Edo (1600-1868) periods. This volume recounts the earlier version of the folk story of a young fisherman, Tarō Urashima, from Tangrō Province. One day, he catches a turtle and releases it out of mercy. The next day, a beautiful woman alone on a boat appears and  asks him to take her back home. The turtle is the transformation of the Princes from the Palace of the Dragon King. Tarō enjoys his time at the Palace as her husband, but becomes too homesick. Returning to his home, he discovers that 700 years have passed. Opening the Tamatebako box from her, Tarō ages drastically and turns into a crane, a symbol of longevity.

Featured in  Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections exhibit: https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/jewels/item/11154

Image in DLC: https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/catalog/ldpd:143862

5. Korea

Yongbi Ŏch’on’ga (Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven). Korea: s.n., 15th century. Special Collections,  C. V. Starr East Asian Library

These two volumes are from Yongbi Ŏch’on’ga (Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven), volumes 9 and 10 (of 10), printed in the late fifteenth century from the original blocks. Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven is a poem in 125 cantos, written in Korean, with a Chinese translation following. It was commissioned by King Sejong (1419-1450) and was compiled in 1445 by three court poets and scholar-officials. King Sejong recognized that the Chinese writing system, which was used at the time for all government business, was inappropriate for the sounds of Korean; furthermore, he believed it was important to convey the spoken language in writing. King Sejong invented the Korean script (called han’gul or “Korean writing,” since about 1913), in late 1443 or early 1444.

Featured in Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections exhibit: https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/jewels/themes/east_asian/20

Kŭmgang 5- che (Scenery with Waterfall) painting by Ko Hŭi-dong (1886–1965) in 1934. Special Collections, C.V. Starr East Asian Library

Ko Hŭi-dong, also known by the pen name Ch’ungok, was born in Seoul. He was the first Korean artist to adopt the Western style of painting. Ko later turned to a synthesis of Western and East Asian styles and painted the Kŭmgang Mountain, a site of near-mythical status since at least the 7th century in Korea, many times beginning in the 1930s. Kŭmgang 5-che, is one of his early depictions of the Kŭmgang Mountains.

The painting Kŭmgang 5-che was donated to the C.V. Starr East Asian Library by the Columbia Korean Student Association during the 1930s and restored with the support of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures in 2015.

6. Tibet

Tibetan Inkpots, Metal ink pots from Central Tibet, 20th century. Special Collections, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

Inkpots, or nakbum in Tibetan, like these were an essential writing accessory that an aristocrat or government official in Central Tibet always had on hand. Inkpots held ink made primarily of wood ash, water, and a natural glue substance. Typically, an inkpot was stored in a small, round cloth container that was tied to one’s belt, along with a metal pen-holder for a stylus, for easy access away from one’s desk. When there was no convenient writing surface, the writer employed a kind of lap-writing, where paper, folded accordion-style, is held in the palm of the hand, with the hand placed on one’s lap. The top exposed panel is written upon (the hand serving as a stable surface), and then folded underneath the expose a new panel for continued writing.

Featured in Engaging Digital Tibet: https://digitaltibet.ctl.columbia.edu/object/inkpot/

Mañjuśrī, Ground mineral pigment on cotton. Tibet, 2010. Special Collections, C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

This traditional Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting, or thangka, depicts Jampelyang, or Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, brandishing a sword of wisdom. and a lotus flower that holds a Perfection of Wisdom Sutra text. The painting, mounted on brocade, is donated to  C.V. Starr East Asian Library by Aye Lama Tulku and Jane Werner-Aye in 2010.