Columbia University: C.V. Starr East Asian Library

Columbia University: C.V. Starr East Asian Library

300 Kent Hall 1140 Amsterdam Ave
M.C. 3901
New York, NY 10027, United States
Located in Kent Hall, the C. V. Starr East Asian Library is one of the major collections for the study of East Asia in the United States, with nearly 750,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, and Western-language materials and over 5,000 periodical titles.

Collection Sampling

The Tharchin Collection, 1901-1975, bulk 1923-1963

The Tharchin Collection consists primarily of correspondence, publications and drafts, photographs, daybooks and financial accounts, and autobiographical materials. The geographic coverage of the collection spans both sides of the Himalayas, in particular, the activities of intellectuals, officials, missionaries, and other historical figures in India, Sikkim, and Tibet.

Collection ID: 6905093

Ta-Chun Hsu papers, circa 1904-2016, bulk 1938-2008

The Ta-Chun Hsu papers (徐大春檔案) document his personal life and provide a glimpse of his career in China and in the United States. The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence related to his family and his personal life as a Chinese-American and an immigrant living in New York. The correspondence also highlights his relation to a prominent Chinese educator and philosopher, Hu Shih (胡適) and his family. There are also materials related to his father, Hsu Singloh (徐新六), who was a major finance and banking leader during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Also included are immigration and travel documents of T.C. Hsu. Other materials also include news clippings, articles, financial records, printed materials, portraits and photographs, maps and postcards.
Collection ID: 14362723

Li Xianting Film Fund collection of the 9th Beijing Independent Film Festival, 2012

The Li Xianting Film Fund Collection of the 9th Beijing Independent Film Festival (栗宪庭电影基金之第九屆北京獨立影像展收藏/栗宪庭电影基金之第九届北京独立影像展收藏) consists of 87 films screened during the film festival in Beijing, August 2012. The films featured at the festival include fictional, documentary, experimental films, and animation. The films emphasize the contemporary subjects and matters.
Collection ID: 13494917

Center for US-China Arts Exchange records, 1956-2010, bulk 1978-2001

The Center for US-China Arts Exchange records (美中艺术交流中心档案; 美中藝術交流中心檔案) document the activities of the Center's art and music related cultural exchange initiative and projects primarily between the United States and China, dating from 1978 to 2002.
Collection ID: 14433186

Shoichi Yui Collection of Audio Jazz Files, 1948-1994

The collection contains 383 digital audio files recorded from 1948-1994, with music performances, radio programs, conferences, interviews, and lectures.

Collection ID: 13533503

Oracle Bones collection, circa 1300-1050 B.C.

The Oracle Bones collection comprises 128 authentic, forged, and unconfirmed pieces of ox scapula and tortoise shells, also known as oracle bones (jiagu, 甲骨), that were used as a form of divination in ancient China during the late Shang dynasty, dating from circa 1300-1050 BCE.
Collection ID: 15618192

The Makino Mamoru Collection on the History of East Asian Film, 1863-2015, bulk 1920s-1990s

Over the course of fifty years, the former documentary filmmaker Makino Mamoru (1930-) developed an extensive collection on the history of East Asian film, which covers the history of Japanese cinema spanning over a hundred years. The collection as a whole contains approximately 80,000 items, and focuses on print materials. The materials cover various film events and festivals across multiple genres of films: experimental films, educational films, documentary films, news films, amateur films, and animated films, among many others. The collection contains books, correspondences, handbills, magazines, manuscripts, newspapers, notes, photographs, postcards, posters, scripts/scenarios, slides, glass plate negatives, video cassettes, and other printed materials.
Collection ID: 7755896

The Barbara Curtis Adachi Bunraku Collection, 1964-2003

This collection contains slides, photographs with corresponding contact sheets and negatives, audio and video materials, performance-related printed materials, realia objects and personal papers. Visual, audio, video and printed materials, and realia objects are described at the item level with play titles, production dates, and performer names and other descriptors, if applicable. Personal papers are described at the folder level. 178 plays, 290 productions, and 183 performers of the National Bunraku Troupe are cited in this collection. Visual and printed materials for fifteen Living National Treasures of Japan in Bunraku are also included in this collection.

Collection ID: 6226404

Morton H. Fried papers, 1945-1996, bulk 1961-1986

The collection consists of published works and writings, including drafts, articles and reprints, drafts for "Halls of the Ancestors", field notes and research, lectures, papers presented and miscellaneous reports as well as correspondence and reports from his travels.

Collection ID: 10207756