Library News, Projects, and Recent Acquisitions

Online Library Catalog Inaugurated October 6, 2004

On October 6 (birthday of Matteo Ricci), the Institute inaugurated web-accessible online library catalog service. After successfully concluding beta testing, the site went live on September 21, 2004. Since then, Ricci Institute Research Fellow, Fr. Michel Marcil, S.J., and USF MAPS graduate students Ms. Michele Gibney and Mr. Jan Vaeth have been working intensively on a retrospective conversion of the card catalog into the new electronic format, while records from the old local online system are imported. The technical and linguistic requirements of this task are formidable, and we are most fortunate to have Fr. Michel, Michele, and Jan on the team. Providing web-access to our holdings will further support scholars and research in the field of East-West cultural relations.  -- Mark Stephen Mir, Technical Services Director.

Recent Acquisitions (October 2004)

The Ricci Institute has received two new recordings by the ensemble XVIII-21, Musique des lumières, who have produced a series of CD’s of performances originally written and performed by Jesuits of the China mission of the 17th-18th centuries. Led by conductors Jean-Christophe Frisch and François Picard, the titles are:

Chine: Jésuites & courtisanes. China: Jesuits & courtiers, compositions performed during the 18th century at the Summer Palace and Vêpres à la Vierge en Chine, a collection of Marian vespers performed by the Chœr du Beitang in Beijing. Many of the selections were composed or adapted by Fr. Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot (錢德明, 1718-1793), S.J. Both Chinese and Western religious melodies, instruments and musical conventions are explored in these examples of early artistic interchange.

Online Library Catalog Project underway (Fall 2004)

The Ricci Institute is currently beta testing a web-based online library catalog, which will make our holdings accessible to a much greater audience. Initially we will only be transferring selected records from our existing online catalog, so the entire process will take some time. The site is scheduled for public launch on September 21, 2004.

Previously, scholars had to be physically present at the Ricci Institute offices to use either the local network or card catalog, so the critical requirement for a web-based online catalog was obvious for some time. Though several commercial  products support CJK languages, cost and performance was a consideration, and other issues such as archive jurisdiction, Institute identity and independence, and the special requirements of our collection encouraged us to seek another solution.

Because of our extensive experience with the Ricci 21st Century Roundtable database, it was decided to design an online catalog based on the Bibliographies section, expanded and modified with discrete fields based on the MARC format and customized to fit our specific requirements. We could thus transfer already mature Roundtable multilingual capabilities, administration controls, and functionality directly over to the new online catalog.

For technical help with this important project, we turned once again to eLine.com, the San Francisco company that several years earlier redesigned the Roundtable database. Functional specifications and layouts were prepared by Mr. Mark Mir of the Ricci Institute. The Ricci Institute staff, with Center for the Pacific Rim Associate Director Mr. Ken Kopp, participated in design development with eLine CTO Mr. Peter Marinac and Project Manager Mr. Jesper Helweg. Development and beta testing has progressed rapidly. We fully anticipate that the successful completion of this project will represent a milestone for the Ricci Institute and a worldwide benefit to scholars in the field of Chinese-Western cultural history. (top)

Recent Acquisitions (Summer 2004)

La Fábrica de las Ilusiones: los jesuitas y la difusión de la perspectiva lineal en China (1698-1766), by Elisabetta Corsi. México : El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios de Asia y África, 2004. ISBN 968-12-1125-1. 242 pp. (In Spanish)

Jidu zongjiao yishu zai Hua fazhan shi : Tang, Yuan, Ming, Qing shiqi 基督宗教藝術在華發展史 : 唐元明清時期 (A History of Christian Arts in China : During the Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties), by Gu Weimin 顧衛民. Hong Kong, Daofengshan Jidujiao conglin 香港道風山基督教叢林, 2003. ISBN 962-8294-12-1. 345 pp. (In Chinese)

These two volumes by friends of the Ricci Institute, Prof. Elisabetta Corsi and Prof. Gu Weimin, each examine the historic influence of the Jesuit introduction of Western art and visual theory in China. Prof. Corsi’s book focuses on the introduction of Western theories of linear perspective contained in the works of Fr. Andrea Pozzo, S.J. (1642-1709) in Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum through the person of  the scholar Nian Xiyao (1671-1738) and his work, the Shixue (Science of Vision). Prof. Corsi demonstrates that, as with the introduction of other Western scientific techniques, Chinese scholars were stimulated towards a “redescubrimiento” of their own traditions, particularly those that developed during the Northern Song dynasty of the 10th-11th centuries.  

Prof. Gu’s book takes a broad historical approach, looking specifically at Christian art brought into China beginning with the Syriac Eastern Church of the Tang dynasty and chronologically examining Christian painting, sculpture, church architecture, and iconography in various locations in China. A large section is devoted to the Jesuit era, and in a few cases both authors use similar illustrations to demonstrate their theses.

Both volumes are excellently produced paperbounds, with color plates and clear illustrations on good paper. These two books are nicely complementary in content, and will be enormously valuable to art historians, architects, and those interested in the Jesuit missions of the Qing dynasty. (top)