“Books on the move”: Rare Chinese collections at the University of British Columbia

This paper provides an overview of the Chinese Puban (蒲坂) and Pang Jingtang (龐鏡塘) collec¬tions, exploring their formation in China, their survival and eventual acquisition by the University of British Columbia, and their continued movement and transformation in their new home. Both collections were originally owned by Chinese elite families and contain very rare and unique materials. The Puban Collection, consisting of 45,000 volumes, best represents Canton and southern Chinese civilization, while the Pang Jingtang collection derives from Shandong Province and has connections with famed northern Chinese scholars. We identify several patterns of movement that have affected these collections: the coming together of the materials that make up the collections; their travels from a once troubled homeland to Canada; their recent resettlement from the Asian Library to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library at UBC; and, finally, their planned return in digitized form to their country of origin. Along the way, we examine highlights of the collections, their intellectual value for research and their emotional value as objects of cultural heritage. We also emphasize issues affecting the preservation and use of the collections. In addition, connections regarding both preservation and digitization between UBC and institutions in China are also described.