Tsien Tsuen-hsuin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tsien Tsuen-hsuin
錢存訓
Born	(1910-01-11)11 January 1910 Taizhou, Jiangsu, Qing Empire
Died	9 April 2015(2015-04-09) (aged 105) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nationality	Chinese
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	University of Nanking (BA) University of Chicago (MA, PhD)
Spouse(s)	Hsu Wen-ching ​ ​ (m. 1936; died 2008)​
Children	3
Scientific career
Fields	Chinese bibliography, Library science, history
Institutions	University of Chicago (1947–78)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	錢存訓
Simplified Chinese	钱存训
Hanyu Pinyin	Qián Cúnxùn
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qián Cúnxùn Gwoyeu Romatzyh Chyan Tswenshiunn Wade–Giles Ch'ien2 Ts'un2-hsün4 IPA [tɕʰi̯ɛ̌n tsʰu̯ə̌nɕŷn] Wu Romanization Zi Zən-shün

Tsien Tsuen-hsuin (Chinese: 錢存訓; pinyin: Qián Cúnxùn; January 11, 1910 – April 9, 2015), also known as T.H. Tsien, was a Chinese-American expert on books and libraries. He was a professor at the University of Chicago. He also managed its East Asian Library for many years. Tsien is famous for his studies on the history of Chinese books. This includes how paper and printing developed in China. He is especially known for his book Paper and Printing. This book was part of a big series called Science and Civilisation in China. He also bravely saved thousands of rare books during World War II. He smuggled them out of Japanese-occupied China.

Early Life and Challenges

Tsien was born on January 11, 1910. His hometown was Taixian (now Taizhou, Jiangsu) in China. He came from an important family. His family was descended from King Qian Liu. This king founded the Wuyue kingdom a long time ago. Tsien once said he was born "during the reign of the last Emperor of the Imperial Dynasty." His father was a well-known scholar of Buddhism.

Tsien started learning with a private teacher in 1916. Later, he went to Taixian No. 2 Senior Elementary School. He became involved in student protests at Huaidong High School. After graduating in 1925, he joined a group called the "Youth Society." He also helped edit their newspaper.

Because of their political activities, Tsien and his friends were arrested. A local military leader, called a warlord, named Sun Chuanfang arrested them. Tsien's family helped him get released. However, the principal of his high school was executed. Tsien could not stay in Taizhou. He moved to Nanking (now Nanjing) and never went back home. In 1927, he joined the army. He took part in the Northern Expedition. This was a military campaign to unite China under the Kuomintang government.

Protecting Chinese Treasures

Tsien went to the University of Nanking in 1928. He earned a degree in history in 1932. He also studied library science. After college, he worked at the Jiaotong University Library in Shanghai. Then he worked at the Nanking branch of the National Library. In 1936, he married Hsu Wen-chin.

In 1937, the National Library moved him to Shanghai. His job was to take care of many rare books. These books had been sent there in 1931. This was when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria.

Moving Books to Safety

By 1941, war with the United States made Shanghai unsafe. Tsien knew the books needed to be moved again. He carefully packed about 30,000 rare books and manuscripts. His plan was to ship them to the United States for safekeeping. To avoid the Japanese army taking them, he marked them as "new books." He shipped them in small groups. He waited for times when a friendly Chinese customs worker was on duty.

Tsien later said that if the Japanese had found out, he would likely have been executed. The Library of Congress in the U.S. later made copies of the collection. This made the books available to many more people.

After World War II ended, Tsien went to the United States in 1947. His job was to send these books back to China. But the Chinese Civil War made it impossible to ship the books. It also meant he could not return to China. In the mid-1960s, the United States gave the books to Taiwan. This is where the Republic of China government had moved. The books are now kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

A Career in Libraries and Learning

A professor named Herrlee Glessner Creel invited Tsien to the University of Chicago. Tsien's friends called him "T.H." His job was to organize about 100,000 Chinese books. These books were part of a collection Creel had built. Tsien then enrolled in the Library School. Soon, he became the manager of the Far Eastern Library. He also taught Chinese literature.

Tsien earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the Library School. He received his Ph.D. in 1957. His important research was published in 1962. It was called Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions.

Tsien worked hard to build good relationships between China and other countries. His master's research was about how Western ideas came to China through translations. This was published in 1954. He also wrote about how the Chinese emperor gave books to the Library of Congress in 1869. He wanted scholars from the East and West to share knowledge. So, he translated his English writings into Chinese and his Chinese writings into English.

Another important goal for Tsien was to help Chinese book collections grow outside China. He also wanted to promote librarianship as a respected job. Many Chinese librarians learned from him. Some of them later became leaders at major libraries. These included the Harvard-Yenching Library and the Library of Congress.

Even in his nineties, Tsien helped update his book Written on Bamboo and Silk. The second edition came out in 2004. He also arranged for it to be translated into Chinese. Tsien passed away on April 9, 2015, in Chicago. He was 105 years old.

Family and Legacy

Tsien's wife, Wen-ching Hsu (Chinese: 许文锦), was born in 1916 and passed away in 2008. She was one of the first teachers of Chinese at the University of Chicago. They had three daughters: Ginger Tsien (1936-2008), Mary Tsien Dunkel, and Gloria Tsien (born 1940). Tsien's nephew, Xiaowen Qian, helps manage the East Asian Collection at the University of Chicago.

Awards and Recognition

Tsien received special awards from the University of Chicago. He also got an award from Nanjing University. In 1999, the National Library of China gave him a Distinguished Service Award. In 2007, Nanjing University opened the T. H. Tsien Library in his honor. He gave thousands of books from his own collection to this new library.

Selected Publications

• Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions. 2nd edition, with Edward Shaughnessy.