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Yuan Tongli
Yuan Tongli (1895–1965), a librarian and bibliographer, was deputy director and later director of the National Library of Peiping and compiled many bibliographies.
In an archive hall, tall wooden shelves hold scrolls and bound books with small tags, and one person climbs a ladder with their back turned; a long table in front holds an unrolled river map, a bronze lamp and a copper jug, with a city wall seen through the window.
Also known as Shouhe (courtesy name)
- Roles
- Historian
Yuan Tongli, courtesy name Shouhe, was born in Beijing, with ancestral roots in Xushui, Hebei. He graduated from Peking University in 1916 and from the New York State Library School in 1923. In 1924 he became director of the Peking University Library; after the National Library of Peiping was formed he was its deputy director in charge of daily affairs and, after Cai Yuanpei's death, its director. He compiled bibliographies including a study of the Yongle Encyclopedia (1924) and a survey of private libraries of the Qing (1926), led part of the staff south in 1937, and went to the United States in 1949.
Life and times
Dates 1895–1965