About Us
The Library of the Western Belvedere (in Chinese: Xiguan
cangshulou
 ) at Fuzhou University is the first
library in China specialized in the humanities and social
sciences of the West.
The Library fulfils its mission through the systematic
acquisition of all major and representative works in their
original language, as well as, when available, in their
Chinese and English translations. It makes these works available
to educators, researchers, students as well as to interested
members of the public all over China.
The name of "Western
Belvedere" has been chosen in reference to China's first great library,
founded during the Eastern Han dynasty (25 to 220AD). This library was
situated in a multi-storied belvedere (guan )
on the east side of the imperial palace in Luoyang, the capital of China
in those times. Hence it was called "the Library of the Eastern
Belvedere (Dongguan )." By giving our
library the name of "Western Belvedere" , we not only indicate
that this is a library of the Western books, but moreover wish give
expression to our hope that it may function as a place where people in
China can have access to the sources of Western civilizations.
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Library building |
The Library of the Western
Belvedere was founded in 2001. It is situated in its own library
building on the campus of Fuzhou University. During more than one year
the ancient library building has been restored and transformed into a
modern facility with humidity controlled storage rooms, a large reading
room, a lecture room and up to date electronic equipment.
The Library was officially
opened on October 25, 2003. At present, it has already more than
ten thousand volumes of Western and Chinese books. Our aim is to develop
these holdings so that they may one day encompass all the important
written sources and reference materials of the humanities and the social
sciences of the West.
The founders of the Library
of the Western Belvedere are Professor Kristofer Schipper and Dr.
Bingling Yuan. Professor Schipper is emeritus professor of Chinese
Religions at the Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris, France and
emeritus professor of Chinese History at the University of Leiden, The
Netherlands. His field of research is the history and anthropology of
Chinese religion, in particular of Daoism. He has extensively published
on the subject, his most well-known work being The Taoist Body (University
of California Press, 1993).
Dr. Yuan has a PhD of the University of Leiden and is specialized in
the history of the Fujian region and its overseas expansion. Her
most well-known publication is: Chinese Democracies – A Study of the
Kongsis of West Borneo (1776-1884) published in 2000 by CNWS,
Leiden. Dr. Yuan is presently professor of Fujian History and Vice-Dean
of the Faculty of Letters at Fuzhou University.
Professor Schipper and Dr. Yuan have donated their own books to the
Library of the Western Belvedere.
Apart from receiving the active support of Fuzhou University and the
Government of Fujian Province, the Library of the Western Belvedere is
subsidized by the Yimen Foundation, a non-profit organization registered
in the Netherlands. The Yimen Foundation has received a generous grant
from Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands. It
has also obtained gifts from individual benefactors. |
