The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Yuan, T'ung-li (Yuan, Tongli) Papers 1940-1964
© 2014 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Yuan, T'ung-li (Yuan, Tongli). Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1940-1964 |
| Size: | 6.75 linear feet (11 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Yuan T’ung-li (1895-1965) was a Chinese library administrator, bibliographer, and later consultant in Chinese literature and librarian at the Library of Congress of the United States. He pioneered the modern library movement in China and published several bibliographies on China-related topics. The collection contains correspondence, notes, invoices, manuscripts and typescripts, newspaper clippings, calligraphies, and maps dating between 1940 and 1964, with the bulk of the material dating after 1949 when Yuan moved to the United States. Materials in this collection are in Chinese and English as well as several other languages. The papers primarily document Yuan’s research for his published bibliographies. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Yuan, T'ung-li (Yuan, Tongli). Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Yuan T’ung-li (Pinyin: Yuan Tongli, Traditional: 袁同禮, Simplified: 袁同礼), courtesy name Shou-ho (Pinyin: Shouhe, Traditional: 守和, Simplified: 守和), was a Chinese library administrator, bibliographer, and later consultant in Chinese literature at the United States Library of Congress. Born to a scholarly family in Beijing, Yuan graduated from Peking University in 1916. Upon graduation he became a librarian at Tsinghua College (today’s Tsinghua University). In 1920, with a scholarship from Peking University, he enrolled at Columbia University in New York. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922. In 1923 he graduated with a Bachelor of Library Science degree from New York State Library School in Albany.
Upon his return to China in 1924, Yuan became librarian of Kwangtun University (today’s Sun Yat-sen University) in Guangzhou (Canton). In 1925 he was appointed librarian and professor of bibliography at Peking University. In 1926 he became librarian of the newly formed Peking Metropolitan Library, which in 1929 merged with the old National Library to form the National Library of Peiping (predecessor to the current National Library of China). Yuan was appointed associate director of the new library before succeeding its first director Ts’ai Yuan-p’ei (Cai Yuanpei) in 1942. During his tenure at the National Library of Peiping revolutionized library administration and services by introducing catalogue cards, establishing bibliographical journals and bulletins, editing and publishing bibliographies on books and libraries in China, and fostering international exchanges and cooperation. Through his work as librarian he also became acquainted with some of the most important thinkers in China of the time, including co-founder of the Communist Party of China Lee Ta-chao (Li Dazhao).
After the Japanese invasion and occupation of northern and eastern China in 1937, Yuan, having moved some of the rare books and manuscripts of the National Library of Peiping to the Library of Congress for safekeeping, left for southwestern China where many Chinese universities had also moved to form the Associated University at Kunming. Yuan provided library services at Kunming before setting up an office of the National Library of Peiping in Chongqing, China’s wartime capital, in 1942. Through international campaigns and an extensive use of microfilms Yuan secured the access of Chinese students and scholars to books, academic journals, and the latest developments in research at the time of war.
After the Second World War, Yuan was involved as a representative of the Republic of China in various functions of the newly formed United Nations. In 1949 when the Communists took over and expelled the Republican Chinese government to Taiwan, Yuan moved to the United States. He became consultant in Chinese literature and later librarian at the Library of Congress where he served until his death in 1965.
In the United States Yuan published numerous bibliographies on China-related topics. His most important publications from this period are China in Western Literature: A Continuation of Cordier’s Bibliotheca Sinica (1958) and several Guides to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students detailing Chinese scholars and students overseas. Other major publications include editions of the unpublished works of Hu Shih (Hu Shi) after the latter’s death, bibliographies on Sinkinag (Xinjiang, Chinese Turkestan) and Chinese art and archeology.
Yuan was a friend of Tsien Tseun-Hsuin (Qian Cunxun), Professor Emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Curator Emeritus of the East Asian Library of the University of Chicago.
The Yuan, T’ung-li (Yuan, Tongli) Papers contain correspondence, notes, invoices, manuscripts and typescripts of Yuan’s published works, newspaper clippings, calligraphies, and maps, with the bulk of the material dating from between 1949 and 1964. The papers primarily document Yuan’s research in the United States. The collection is organized into three series: Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Research; and Series III: Oversize.
Series I, Correspondence, contains outgoing, incoming, and third-party mail, arranged according to subject matter. Letters in this series do not directly relate to Yuan’s bibliographical research but are of personal and logistical nature. They include Yuan’s personal correspondence with friends and other researchers; exchanges with publishers and booksellers; invoices and purchasing letters of Yuan’s publications from individuals, university libraries, and other institutions. They are mainly written in Chinese and English, as well as in French and German to a lesser extent.
Series II, Research, consists of material related to Yuan’s published bibliographies and other research projects. Materials in this series are arranged according to subject matter, then chronologically. The series contains Yuan’s research notes, which are mostly in Chinese, newspaper clippings, book catalogues, student rosters, and drafts of his published bibliographies. It also contains Yuan’s research correspondence, including inquiries worldwide for books and archival materials and for information on Chinese students overseas. The bulk of these materials served Yuan’s publications on China in western literature; Chinese scholars and students overseas; the unpublished writings of Hu Shih (Hu Shi); Sinkiang (Xinjiang, Chinese Turkestan); and Chinese mathematicians.
Series III, Oversize, contains two undated maps on Chinese Inner Mongolia and its borders with Mongolia and the Soviet Union. They presumably date before the Communist takeover of China in 1949.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Series I: Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Chang, Lucy, 1960-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Graves, Mortimer, 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Koo, Vi-Kyuin “Wellington” (顾维钧), 1960-1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Liu Lin-Sheng (刘麟生), 1963-1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Luo Chia-Lun (罗家伦, Luo Jialun), 1/2, 1951-1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Luo Chia-Lun (罗家伦, Luo Jialun), 2/2, 1960-1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Watanabe Hiroshi (渡边宏), 1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Won, C., c. 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Yu Yu-Sen (余又荪, Yu Yousun), 1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, 1954-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Commercial Press of Taiwan, 1963-1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Sun Wah Printing Corporation, 1963-1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Universities’ China Committee in London (UCC), 1963-1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | University of Washington, 1959-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Correspondence regarding Yuan’s publications, 1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Correspondence regarding Yuan’s publications, 1963-1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Correspondence from Pre-Communist era, 1949-1955 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Correspondence from Hong Kong and Macao, 1954-1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Correspondences from Japan, 1959-1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Correspondences from London, 1955-1957 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Correspondence in the United States, 1952-1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Correspondence in Chinese, 1949-1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Correspondence in Chinese, 1949-1957 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Correspondence in Chinese, 1960-1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Correspondence in Chinese, 1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Correspondence in western languages, 1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Correspondence, miscellaneous, 1949-1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | Correspondence, miscellaneous, 1961-1962 |
| Box 2 Folder 14 | Correspondence, miscellaneous personal, 1962-1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 15 | Correspondence, miscellaneous research, 1957-1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 16 | Correspondence, miscellaneous research, 1959-1963 |
| Box 2 Folder 17 | Two letters, 1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 18 | A letter, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 19 | Correspondences regarding the publication of Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1963), 1961-1962 |
| Box 2 Folder 20 | Purchases of and later correspondences regarding A Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in America, 1961-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Purchases of and later correspondences from the United States regarding Yuan’s published bibliographies, 1961-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Purchases of and later correspondences regarding Yuan’s publications, 1962-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Purchases of and later correspondence concerning Yuan’s bibliographies on Sinkiang and on Western publications on China, 1962-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Purchases of and Later Correspondence regarding Bibliography of Chinese Mathematics, 1962-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Purchases of and later correspondences from Europe regarding Yuan’s published bibliographies, 1962-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Purchases of and Later Correspondence regarding Classified Bibliography of Japanese Books and Articles concerning Sinkiang, 1886-1962 (1962), 1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Purchases of and Later Correspondence regarding Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in America 1905-1960 (1961) and Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1963), 1916-1961, 1963-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Purchases of and Later Correspondence regarding Yuan’s bibliographies, 1961-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | Purchases of Yuan’s bibliographies, 1963-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Purchases of Yuan’s publications on Sinkiang, 1963-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | Purchases of Yuan’s publications, 1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Purchases of Yuan’s publications, 1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | Purchases of Yuan’s publications, 1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 14 | Book purchases and shipments, 1946-1955 |
| Box 3 Folder 15 | Book purchases and shipments, 1962-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | Inquiries on booksellers in the United States, 1962-1964 |
Series I: Research |
| Box 3 Folder 17 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials, 1950-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 18 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials, 1962-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 19 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Australia and New Zealand, 1955 |
| Box 3 Folder 20 | Inquiry on publications and archival materials in Australia, 1957 |
| Box 3 Folder 21 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Belgium and the Netherlands, 1954-1955 |
| Box 3 Folder 22 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Britain, 1950-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Britain and Ireland, 1955-1957 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Burma (Myanmar) and Siam (Thailand), 1955-1956 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 1950-1957 |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in France, Germany, and Switzerland, 1957-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in German, 1951-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in India and Indonesia, 1951-1956 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Italy, 1954-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Japan, 1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Portugal and Spain, 1954-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Inquiries on Russian publications on China, 1959-1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Singapore, 1951-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | Inquiries on publications and archival materials in Switzerland, 1950-1955 |
| Box 4 Folder 13 | Drafts of prefaces to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in America, A Guide to Doctoral Dissertation by Chinese Students in Great Britain, and Russian Works on China, 1918-1960, c. 1960 |
| Box 4 Folder 14 | Drafts of bibliographies of doctoral dissertations of Chinese students in Europe, c. 1962 |
| Box 4 Folder 15 | A draft of A Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in Continental Europe, 1907-1962, c. 1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 16 | Information gathered on Chinese students overseas, 1955-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 17 | Information gathered on Chinese graduate students overseas, 1959-1962 |
| Box 4 Folder 18 | Information gathered on Chinese graduate students overseas, 1960-1962 |
| Box 4 Folder 19 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas in 1961, 1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 20 | Inquiries on Chinese graduate students overseas, 1963-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 21 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – the Americas, Institutions A-L, 1960-1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 22 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – the Americas, Institutions M-Z, 1960-1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 23 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – the Americas, last names A-K, 1960-1961 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – the Americas, last names L-M, 1960-1961 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – the Americas, last names N-Z, 1960-1961 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Inquiries on Chinese graduate students overseas – Belgium and Italy, 1961-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Information gathered on Chinese students overseas – Britain and Ireland, 1943-1955 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Information gathered on Chinese students overseas – Britain and Ireland, 1961-1962 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Britain and Ireland, 1961-1962 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Britain and Ireland, 1961-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Canada and the United States, 1960-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Canada and the United States, Institutions A-L, 1960-1961 |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Canada and the United States, Institutions O-Y, 1960-1961 |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | Inquiries on Chinese students completing a doctoral dissertation overseas – Canada and the United States, 1961 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Information gathered on Chinese students in the United States, 1956-1958 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Information gathered on Chinese students studying in Europe, 1963 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Information gathered on Chinese graduate students overseas – France and Germany, and drafts of A Guide to Doctoral Dissertations by Chinese Students in Continental Europe, 1907-1962 (1964), 1962-1963 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Information gathered on Chinese students overseas and their dissertations – Germany, 1960-1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Inquiries on Chinese graduate students overseas – Germany, 1963-1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | Inquires on Chinese graduate students overseas – Hong Kong and the Philippines, 1961 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Information gathered on Chinese students overseas – the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, 1962-1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Information gathered on Chinese graduate students overseas – South America, 1951 |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Information gathered on Chinese scholars awarded with honorary degrees overseas, 1960-1961 |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | Inquiries on Chinese graduate students overseas and other miscellaneous correspondences, 1959-1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 11 | Information gathered on alumni and alumnae of Tsing Hua University studying overseas, 1940-1961 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Rosters of Chinese students overseas and alumni of Chinese universities, 1958-1963 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Rosters of students, professors, politicians, and other personnel in Taiwan, 1951-1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | Copies of old newspaper anthologies, articles on early Chinese students overseas, c. 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Information gathered on Chinese geologists and geographers, c. 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Inquiries on western publication on China and publications by Chinese scholars overseas, 1952-1957 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Research notes and correspondence on western publications on China, 1950 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Research notes and correspondence on China, 1951-1961 |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Research materials, notes, and correspondences regarding Communist China, 1952-1957 |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | Research materials, correspondences, and newspaper clippings regarding Communist China, 1956-1959 |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | Scores of Chinese folk music, c. 1955 |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | Research materials on China in British Politics during the Nineteenth Century, c. 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 12 | Correspondence regarding Monumenta Senica, 1960-1961 |
| Box 7 Folder 13 | Research notes and correspondence for Bibliography of Chinese Mathematics, 1960-1963 |
| Box 7 Folder 14 | Research materials, notes, and correspondences regarding Bibliography of Chinese Mathematics, 1961-1963 |
| Box 7 Folder 15 | A Draft of Bibliography of Chinese Mathematics 1918-1960, 1963 |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Research notes and correspondence for Bibliography of Western Writings on Chinese Art and Archaeology (unfinished, published posthumously 1975), 1960-1963 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Research notes on Chinese diplomatic history and treatises during the early 1900s, c. 1952 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Correspondence, notes, drafts of a proposal for grant for a bibliography of Chinese anthropology and archaeology, 1964 |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | An errata list for a journal on Taiwanese art, c. 1955 |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Research notes, materials, and correspondences on Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan), 1951-1964 |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Research notes on Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan), c. 1955 |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Research materials on Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan), 1958-1962 |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Research on Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Drafts of reprints of Xin Jiang Jian Zhi Zhi by Song Bolu and Xi Chui Yao Lue by Qi Yunshi, 1959-1964 |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | Research notes, materials, and correspondence on Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan), 1961-1962 |
| Box 8 Folder 10 | Research notes and correspondence on the history of Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan), 1962 |
| Box 8 Folder 11 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Correspondences regarding and drafts of Classified Bibliography of Japanese Books and Articles concerning Sinkiang (1962, in collaboration with Hiroshi Watanabe), 1962 |
| Box 8 Folder 12 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Correspondences regarding and drafts of Xin Jiang Yan Jiu Cong Kan, c. 1962 |
| Box 8 Folder 13 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Research notes and drafts for a republication of Jin Shao Chou Bi by Zeng Jize (1966), 1962-1963 |
| Box 8 Folder 14 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Correspondences regarding and drafts of Zhong E Xi Bei Tiao Yue Ji (1962, or Russo-Chinese Treaties and Agreements Relating to Sinkiang, 1851-1949), 1962-1963 |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Research notes and drafts for a republication of Xi Jiang Jiao She Zhi Yao by Zhong Yong (1963), c.1963 |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Research on Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) – Drafts for a reprint of Xi Jiang Jiao She Zhi Yao by Zhong Yong (1963), c.1963 |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Research Notes on Sino-Russian Borders, c. 1950 |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | Research notes on Tannu Tuya (Tannu Uriankhai), c. 1955 |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | Research notes and newspaper clippings on Mongolia, c. 1955 |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | Research materials on Tibet, 1953-1955 |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | Bibliographical research on Central Asia by Lawrence Krader, 1955 |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | A copy of Selected Bibliography of Dr. Hu Shih’s Writings in Chinese, autographed, c. 1957 |
| Box 9 Folder 9 | Posthumous processing and bibliographical research on the works of Hu Shih (Hu Shi, d. 1962), 1962-1963 |
| Box 9 Folder 10 | Bibliographical research on the works of Hu Shih (Hu Shi, d. 1962), 1963-1964 |
| Box 9 Folder 11 | Research notes and correspondences on Japanese and Chinese law, 1958-1962 |
| Box 9 Folder 12 | Research materials and correspondences in relation to Japan, 1960-1962 |
| Box 9 Folder 13 | Research materials and correspondences on Marco Polo, 1954-1964 |
| Box 9 Folder 14 | Research notes and correspondence on Marco Polo, 1959-1964 |
| Box 9 Folder 15 | Records of disseminations of his published bibliographies, c. 1962 |
| Box 9 Folder 16 | Miscellaneous notes and correspondence regarding Yuan’s publications, 1952-1957 |
| Box 9 Folder 17 | Notes, c. 1960 |
| Box 9 Folder 18 | Miscellaneous research materials and correspondences, 1962-1963 |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | Research notes and correspondence, miscellaneous, 1962-1963 |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | Miscellaneous research notes and correspondences, 1963 |
| Box 10 Folder 3 | Miscellaneous, 1963 |
Series III: Oversize |
| Box 11 Folder 1 | Two Maps of Inner Mongolia, c. 1947 |