Chinese Canadian Library Weblog

Walking along the beach then into the Hilton Village and Ballroom, I saw a whole lot more attendees on March 30th. This is the first time when Chinese, Japanese and Korean librarians meet for common interest instead of having separate committee meetings. The new format worked out nicely, but we could still cut some speakers out due to their emptiness.

The SCSL dinner and the Second General Meeting, also called 神仙会。The meeting lasted too long, so I brievely talked about our rare collections, my experience of studying Pang Collection and the challenges we are facing in terms of preservation and digitization. I enjoyed the afternoon and evening meetings because I spent some quality time with my mentors, Haihui, Wu Ge, Xu Hong, etc. and I met with new friends–Wang Jun, Li Yan and his funny assistant.

We were lucky having Dr. Evelyn Rowsky again this year telling us her own experience of the enormous improvement of electronic data transmission. As the Qing history scholar, Evelyn confirmed the impact of the e-resources on the climate of East Asian studies. She suggested some areas that need further attention in the near future.

Paula Mochida, Interim University Librarian, University of Hawaii at Manoa, convinced us the pressure of reducing duplicates and print collection at academic libraries in North America. Sharon mentioned about nCiku, which has been linked to my subject guides, but hasn’t been really recommended to our students yet. Hope some folks have already picked it up. After a whole day program, I enjoyed the sunset on Waikiki.

Started greeting my CEAL fellows at Hilton’s Lagoon. We were all very happy for this annual reunion. The OCLC CJK User Group discussion on the 29th of March was open and forward looking, which made me admire Sharon more. I learned a great deal from this open discussion. Sharon wrapped up the session as scheduled. We quickly gathered around Ye Ding, and he led us to the exhibit at University of Hawaii–Reformer’s Brush: Modernity and traditional media in China. Works include paintings and calligraphy from late 19th- and early 20th-century China on loan from the collections of Ernest and Letah Lee and Chin-tang Lo. The Reformer’s Brush showcases the artworks, lives and ambitions of leaders Chiang Kai-shek, Mei Lanfang, Liang Qichao, Kang Youwei, Guo Moruo and others. Every display item has bilingual intro and portrait of Minguo figures. I especially like the painting and Lychi and Green Peppers by Qibaishi and Zhang Zhidong’s calligraphic work 读书行路觉悟，知足惜福感恩. We enjoyed the special guided tour and wanted to learn more from the exhibit catalogue.

Ye Ding took us to the well-known East-West Center on U. of Hawaii Campus. Despite the funding shortage, we saw many people gathered. The Japanese tea house and the pond in the garden reminded me our Nitobe.

Managed to attend a couple sessions of this two-day conference. I am impressed by my junior fellows who organized the conference around the lastest issues, such as Jasmine Protest and Japan’s triple disaster. They invited experts like the former ambassador, Joseph Caron, and Victor Radujko from Privy Council Office. Many profs chaired the panel or roundtable discussions, and they helped with more in-depth analysis.

Ben’s presentation on individual philanthropic giving in Asia went really well. He appreciates the library support he received with the latest charity blue book in China. I enjoyed the big laughs at the evening reception, met our alumni members, such as Erin, who is working for the Foundation now, Rene from UCSD, graduate students from George Washington U, University of Ottawa. One even came all the way from Japan. The quiz questions are tricky. My favourite ones are the founding year of IAR and the favourite color of Dr. Dierkes’.

Prof. Rea just requested the newly released Chinese movies. How do we get them if they are not legally on DVD yet? I know lots of people have seen them online, but I am not supposed to refer him to do the same thing, or can I? I am sure more and more students only see movies with PPS, that’s why our DVD collection is not moving much.

Last night’s event lasted much longer than it was scheduled. I was impressed by our international students who all spoke fluent English, experienced the globalization and about to launch their career world-wide. The French guy raised the good question on how to make his experience in Canada transferable. Chatted with a few students from Ukriane, who told me the common value of Ukrianian and Chinese culture. The hard-working girls from India and Japan in Forestry wonder about SLAIS program, and the sweet young guy from Thailand told me how much his sister enjoys working for the Indian software industry…

The Chinese students reminded me my own humble start. As of advice, I told them we all need to learn about ourselves first, and know what we really want to do, so we can land a career that will make us shine and enjoy working. While we try to cope with the study and learn the local culture and game rules, we should never lose our connections with our home town, where our strength came from the first place. I wasn’t surprised to hear their parents’ influence in their career choice. They already took their first step and came this far. I am really glad to see they have the help and support at the early stage at UBC.

Prof. Brook can’t wait to read the newly arrived 嘉興文獻叢書, especially the Diary by Feng Mengzhen (1548-1595)–《快雪堂日記》. I remember his presentation at the last BC China Scholars’ Forum. Tim was desperately looking for living cost in Ming Dynasty and expenditures on collectables, etc. I finally found them in Feng’s diary. This poor scholar 500 years ago could hardly keep him and the family fed, but he collected well-known 《江山雪霽圖》and other antiquities ignoring the high cost.

Zhang Ying (颖) has lost her fight with cancer. I am so shocking and sad loosing this young professional friend. She not only helped us and our users with publications from China, was the first one providing us with MARC records, taught us the publishing trends, but also influenced us with her passion for life and work. During my last trip to Beijing, I didn’t visit CNPIEC for I heard she’s going through some treatment in the hospital. I emailed her instead and received a cheerful reply as usual. I was relieved then but so saddened now. Ying lived a cherished life. She even led her last year with courage, peace and inspiration. I was so moved that she brought our Chinese librarians so close to each other even after she left us. I saw most email replies about contribution to her family, the record high in our list’s history. Her big smile will be always with me!

When Meng was finishing up his PhD, I just started at UBC. A few years ago, he came back to visit during the holiday season and summarized his rich post-UBC life into an hour story telling. We were excited and sighed together.

I was transferring my Dreamweaver homepage to the LTK Guide when Meng knocked on my door. I looked back and shouted out his name right away. We both were suprised to see much happier each other, and 晒了晒各自的幸福生活。The article I read over the weekend came to mind about Zhang Ling and her attacker. Zhang said the most important is not others, but always your own mind. Dr. Meng’s wife, Mengying, a sweet and beautiful girl from Taiwan came with him this time. I am really happy for both of them.

Besides the pretty Christmas cards, Meng’s visit reminds me those who spent years here at UBC. I hope to see them this season or in the summer time when the campus is peacefully quiet, and when I have time to look back and rethink what really matters. I miss those old friends who left UBC and act globally now: Mindy, Heather, Liu Shu, Xuemei, Li Hua, Henry, Tim Sedo, Lao Dai and Liaoyin in Oxford. Wish them all happy!

Walked along the Marine down to the beach, so bright and warm. The scent of cedar trees and the lawn are in the air; bold eagles are peacefully sitting on treetops…reminding me about the walks in the summer time. Only the new snow on top of the opposite mountains can tell the season. We are lucky wrapping up the year with this kind of weather.