C. V. Starr East Asian Library hosts Cal alumni in weekend event

Peter Zhou speaksVisitors look at exhibit items

Director Peter Zhou speaks during an event for members of the Cal Alumni Association's Chinese Chapter at the C. V. Starr East Asian Library on May 20, 2018; at right, visitors look at exhibit items during a tour. (Photos by Jami Smith for the UC Berkeley Library)

As part of its 10th anniversary celebration, the East Asian Library offered a behind-the-scenes tour to about two dozen members of the Cal Alumni Association’s Chinese Chapter on Sunday. 

The CAA Chinese Chapter was an important supporter of the East Asian Library and the Chang-Lin Tien Center for East Asian Studies. Peter Zhou, director of the East Asian Library, presented an update on the library’s recent acquisitions and its rising importance as a research institution. Curator Deborah Rudolph then led the group on a tour and offered an inside look at some of the library’s rare treasures. Rudolph spoke about the 10-year-old library’s architecture and shared stories about its creation. 

Treasures on display included one of only three known extant copies of the Qiaoshan tang edition of The Annals of the Three Kingdoms, in a newly cut, fully illustrated, large-print edition of the popular tale; an edition of the writings of Song scholar-official Qin Guan printed from woodblocks originally engraved in 1173; and a rubbing made by Qing antiquarian Wu Dacheng of a tiger tally dating to the 1st century.

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Visitors listening Rudolph leads tour

Curator Deborah Rudolph leads visitors through a tour of the library.