Texting China

An International Symposium Celebrating the Life of T.H. Tsien and the Opening of the University of Chicago's Mansueto Library

May 11-13, 2012

This symposium will bring together an international assemblage of scholars who use the entire span of pre-modern Chinese written materials in their research as well as librarians and curators responsible for the care of these materials to discuss issues of common concern. In addition and in particular, it will bring together preservation and conservation experts from China and the West to share their experiences and to develop plans for future international collaboration in the preservation of pre-modern Chinese books. The symposium will feature three themes: 1) manuscripts and manuscript culture; 2) printing and print culture; and 3) preservation, conservation, and digitization of books and manuscripts from pre-modern China.

The symposium, to be held in the University of Chicago’s University Library Special Collections Research Center, is intended to celebrate the opening of the Mansueto Library as well as the life and scholarship of T.H. Tsien, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Curator Emeritus of the University of Chicago Library’s East Asian Collection.