East Asian Library

The East Asian Library, in the sub-basement of Wilson Library, holds over 160,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language materials. It is among the twenty largest East Asian collections in America.

About the library

The East Asian Library was established in 1965, and serves the East Asian studies program, in addition to learners from around campus and the region. Subject strengths of the collection include Chinese and Japanese history, language and literature, art history, and law history. Ming history is the gem of the collection.

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language materials are housed in the East Asian Library. Materials about East Asia in English and other languages are housed in Wilson Library’s general and reference collections. 

Find the new books and recent events at the East Asian Library News page.

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Topic guides

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Digital projects

Discovering Chinese Culture Through Arts

The project digitizes and catalogs 1,260 Chinese art objects selected by the renowned ceramic scholars Harry Garrner and Margaret Medley from 75 museums around the world found in Chinese Art in Three-Dimensional Colour(donated by Mr. Jonathan R. Gross to the East Asian Library) published by the Asia Society for the Gruber Foundation in 1969.

The material from the Chinese Art publication including the Gruber images may not be used for lectures, prints, publications,on the internet or for any commercial purpose without written permission from the Gruber Foundation or the Gruber family.

Explore the photographs of Chinese art University's Digital Content Library.

Photographs of Pre-1949 China

Taken from the YMCA Archives, this collection of 717 black and white photos taken by YMCA employees in China between 1896 and 1949 were digitized and cataloged in this project.

These photographs, gathered by ordinary young American college graduates, provide rare views of 17 Chinese cities, documenting activities such as sports and physical education, industrial training, public health campaigns, science lectures, and protest movements.

Presented as a group, the photographs comprise an extremely valuable resource for scholars and students who are interested in history in general and Chinese history in particular.

Explore the project in the Digital Content Library.

The China photographs are the physical and intellectual property of the YMCA of the USA. Please contact YMCA Archives for details regarding copyright issues.

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Hours and location

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Staff

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