"If you plan for a year, plant a seed.
If for ten years, plant a tree.
If for a hundred years, teach the people.
When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest.
When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests"
-The Book of Master Kuan
For over a hundred years Asian studies have been a vital and evolving part of teaching and research on the Berkeley campus. Because of the foresight of University founders, Asian studies courses were offered soon after the University's inauguration. Early programs, concentrating on language, literature, and history, laid the foundation for the development, after World War II, of full blown academic programs encompassing most humanities and social science, science, and professional disciplines. In the last two decades the burgeoning economies of the Asian countries have catapulted a once esoteric branch of knowledge to prominence throughout the University.
A Hundred Harvests: the History of Asian Studies at Berkeley was an exhibit in the Brown Gallery of Doe Library from June 20, 1997 through February 1, 1998. It lives on here as a virtual exhibit. Through archival holdings and matchless library collections showcased in the exhibit, the story unfolds of the scholars and philanthropists who founded and nurtured the Asian programs that today are consistently rated the best or among the best in the country and that attract scholars and students from all over the world.
by Richard M. Buxbaum, Dean of International and Area Studies
In the words of the 12th century Buddhist hermit, Kamo No Chomei: "The flow of the river is ceaseless and its water is never the same." For well over one hundred years Asian studies have been central to the teaching, research, and service missions of the Berkeley campus. Because of the foresight of University founders, Asian studies courses were offered soon after the University's inauguration.
Early programs concentrated on the languages, literatures, and histories of the region. They laid the foundation for the development, after World War II, of fullblown academic programs encompassing the humanities and social sciences, the natural and physical sciences, and the professional disciplines. In the last two decades the burgeoning economies of Asia have catapulted a once esoteric branch of knowledge to prominence throughout the University.
Berkeley's Asian programs consistently rate among the very best in the country and attract scholars and students from all over the world. Because of its location on the Pacific Rim, the campus shares a special kinship and lively interaction with the countries of Asia. The Asian community, desiring to preserve an ancient heritage and to promote a deeper understanding of the region's modern societies and cultures, has provided scholarly and professional expertise and an unprecedented measure of generous support for Berkeley's many Asian programs, which we are proud to represent through this splendid exhibit.
A Hundred Harvests: the History of Asian Studies at Berkeley pays tribute to the scholars and philanthropists who founded and continue to nurture the programs that enrich the University of California, Berkeley. Through the archival holdings and matchless library collections showcased in the exhibit the ceaseless flow of the river unfolds.
