Many Treasures of Chinese Literature, Printing, and Art To Be Found in Comprehensive Library of Yenching Institute

With the addition of several thousand volumes in the past few months, the collection of Chinese and Japanese books in the library of the Harvard--Yenching Institute in Boylston Hall has become one of the largest of its kind in the country. Numerous rare and antique volumes, many of them dating back as far as the 9th century, have been recently added to the library collection.

The institute, which was established in 1928, has as its purpose the conducting of research, instruction, and publication in the culture of China and other Asiatic countries. Branches are maintained both at Harvard and Yenching University in Peiping, China, and the Chinese Library at Harvard is supported by it. Under the direction of A. H. Chiu, librarian, the collection has been increased from $4,526 volumes in Chinese and 1,668 in Japanese in 1927 to approximately 80,000 in Chinese and 4,200 in Japanese at the present time.

Although the collection is primarily a working one, many treasures of Chinese literature, printing, and bookbinding are to be found among its volumes. Among the most valuable of these recently received are two books are the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedia over complied in the history of mankind, done by a commission of 2000 scholars at the behest of the emperor Yung--lo, of the Ming dynasty, who reigned from 1403 to 1424. Only one set was printed; it contained 22,211 books bound in 11,095 volumes, or over 500,000 pages. Most of it was destroyed by the great fire in Peking in 1900 when the allied troops captured the city, but some 286 volumes of the original set have been discovered, and are new scattered throughout the world.

An original palace edition of an anthology of prose from authors of all ages down to the end of the 12th century, compiled for the Emperor K'ang-hsi, is printed on specially treated paper in multiple colors, using black, red, yellow, and green inks to produce a brilliant display. The colors have remained fast to the present day. Many monumental works were produced in the reign K'anghsi, who was a great patron of letters. In the Harvard Chinese library is the original palace edition of a concordance of phrases found in classical, poetical, historical, and philosophical literature, arranged by rhymes. The complicated system of symbols used in the Chinese alphabet at this period rendered the task a life work for a large commission of scholars, who were commanded to devote themselves to it by the emperor.

Chinese poetry is also well represented in the Library, which contains the works of several lyricists of the 6th century and earlier, re-edited and printed during the Ming dynasty.