• Index of this issue

No. 69, November/December 2010

After over a full year of preparations, National Central Library and the Taipei Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies collaborated to host a series of events in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the passing of Matteo Ricci, so as to express mankind's respect and gratitude for his tremendous contribution to East-West cultural exchange. Among the most significant cultural exchange events of the last ten years, is the Ricci Institute's generous entrustment of over 50,000 volumes to NCL, so that the volumes may be offered for reading to the public. For this purpose, NCL has established a new reading room on the sixth floor dedicated to works on Sinology and East Asian studies, the Matteo Ricci & Pacific Studies Reading Room. On 17 April 2010, an opening ceremony was held for the new reading room, at which the renowned sinology scholar, Louvain University Professor Nicolas Standaert, gave a special lecture session. In order for the exhibit to better present Matteo Ricci's vast contribution to East-West cultural exchange 400 years ago, NCL licensed of number of previously unlicensed images of rare materials, including images of artifacts from Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Curia Societatis Iesu, Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, and other such organizations. Furthermore, the Academia Sinica's Institute of Modern History and the Fu Jen Catholic University Theology Library provided display pieces for exhibit. Together, all the collaborating organizations, made an excellent exhibit possible, bringing together an exciting spirit of East-West collaboration manifest throughout the series of events.

The new Matteo Ricci & Pacific Studies Reading Room, located on the sixth floor of National Central Library, has the atmosphere of a sinological study and an elegant design; the room looks out to the graceful stand of green bamboos that sway gently in the wind. Readers who come to this pleasing room, will no doubt find themselves enveloped in a cozy and peaceful reading environment.

In the welcome remarks at the opening ceremony, Director-General Karl Min Ku said: "One of the great powers operating to advance civilization comes from exchange among civilizations. In the 16th Century, Matteo Ricci and other Jesuits of his era turned over a brilliant new stage in an East-West cultural exchange that has continued up to our modern globalized society, in which no one anywhere exists in cultural isolation; human societies need to view one another reciprocally as equals, and forge a new era of civilization based on mutual respect for one another.

The new special reading room is not merely part of NCL's quest to expand knowledge services; it is a new milestone in international Chinese studies collaboration. The significance of this new milestone has been widely recognized by the Vatican: on 18 April the Secretary-General of the Pontificio Consigliodella Cultura, Fr. Barthèlemy Adoukonou, and Fr. Theodore Mascarenhas came to visit the new reading room and the quatercentenary exhibits; on 22 April, the Vatican's representative to Taiwan, Chargé D'Affaires Monsignor Paul Fitzpatrick Russell and the Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences also paid a visit. All of these visitors affirmed the great importance of this collaboration with NCL. For NCL, cultivating and nurturing East Asian and international scholarship on Chinese and Pacific Studies is a long-term project; we hope everyone will join us in bringing about a new collaborative era of civilization.

Opening hours for The Matteo Ricci & Pacific Studies Reading Room:
Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-17:00; Closed on Mondays and national holidays.

On 22 April, the Vatican's representative to Taiwan, Chargé D'Affaires Monsignor Paul Fitzpatrick Russell (right) and the Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (center) also paid a visit.

The Matteo Ricci & Pacific Studies Reading Room