H. C. Fung Library

Calligraphy by Li Honglin, on display in the Fung Library

Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies Library Collection

In 1961, the Fairbank Center established its own library of social science materials focusing on the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, and contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 2005 the Fairbank Center Collection moved into the H.C. Fung Library.

This unique collection of materials, under the direction of librarian Nancy Hearst and with the assistance of Charlotte Cotter, is an invaluable resource to the community of China scholars. Specializing in difficult-to-find Chinese-language publications, including statistical sources and unpublished documents, these materials complement other collections at Harvard in the field of Chinese Studies. The library currently holds approximately 30,000 volumes, about half of which are in Chinese.

The Fung Library brings together the libraries of the former Coolidge Hall, including the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Library, the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies Library, under the aegis of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Holdings focus on international politics, foreign relations, foreign policy, economics, sociology, and political science of the respective areas and regions.

Available Resources

The Fung Library Fairbank Collection annually acquires a wide range of publications, documents, and other materials previously unavailable to the West. In recent years, the library has made notable advances in making research materials available for the benefit of faculty, students, and researchers. Acquisitions, obtained primarily during trips to Beijing by the librarian, continue to reflect the patron-focused responsiveness that has always been a hallmark of the collection.

The collection also keeps up-to-date with subscriptions to 150 periodicals and newspapers in Chinese and English for use by researchers. The entire collection is also searchable online.

See the library’s latest acquisitions from Summer 2023, and Fall 2023, and Winter 2024.

See the Fung Library’s latest acquisitions

Visiting the Fung Library

All individuals who hold a current Harvard ID, or an HCL Special Borrower Card have access to the Fairbank Center Collection at the library.

The library also provides access to its stacks to students, faculty, and researchers of other universities, colleges, and research centers who present a current institutional ID, letter from their faculty, passport, or other official form of ID.

Non-Harvard affiliates can inquire about their eligibility to access the Fairbank Center Collection with the Librarian.

All library users are subject to the terms of the HCL Patron Agreement, which is posted in student handbooks, and available at each HCL library.

The library is located at:

H. C. Fung Library, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Support the Library

In a time of increasing restrictions on academic freedom and decreasing availability of research materials in China, our collection at the H. C. Fung Library is more important than ever before.

The H. C. Fung Library welcomes donations of any size to help support the acquisition of new English- and Chinese-language materials on contemporary China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora. The library’s unique collection of hard-to-find materials make it one of the most treasured collections on China anywhere in the world. With your support, the library can continue to collect new materials and make them accessible to researchers from all over the world.

Gifts of all amounts help us to further our mission to advance scholarship on China. They can be made via mail, wire or stock transfer, or credit card. Donations can be completed online through our secure online giving form.

To donate by check, please make checks payable to “President and Fellows of Harvard College,” indicate “Fairbank Center” in the memo line, and mail to:

Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
1730 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138