Lee Shau Kee Library, University Archives and Special Collections

The university library at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was named the Lee Shau Kee Library in 2006 in honour of its benefactor (see Institutional Chronology^※ and Donors and Naming^※). This piece homes in on two frequently overlooked dimensions—the University Archives and Special Collections—alongside the digital infrastructure that underpins them. It should be read as an extension of Libraries and Digital Education^※, which focuses on the library’s modern services and IT, whereas this article concentrates on the archives, special collections, and the preservation of historical materials.

# 一、University Archives: HKUST’s own “memory bank”

For a university that opened its doors only in 1991, systematically preserving its own institutional memory is a task that must be tackled early. HKUST did not delay.

According to the Library’s official page^※, the University Archives were established in 1996^※ with a mission “to collect, preserve, manage and provide access to university records of enduring value,” encompassing documents of legal significance as well as historically meaningful materials relating to HKUST and its regional impact^※.

In scale, the same page reports that the University Archives currently hold more than 1,200 linear feet of archival records and collections^※. A “linear foot” is the archival profession’s standard unit for measuring paper-based holdings; over 1,200 linear feet means that laid end to end, the materials would stretch for more than 360 metres—a substantial accumulation of institutional memory for a university barely three decades old.

These records, according to the Digital Archives page^※, include internal administrative records, publications, newsletters, press releases, and public videos^※. They serve both as primary sources for research into the university’s history and as a vital reference layer for an unofficial-history site such as this one when it traces and verifies facts.

# 二、Special Collections: rare books and antique maps with a focus on China and its neighbours

Beyond documenting its own history, the Library has also built Special Collections aimed at the wider scholarly world. According to the official Special Collections page^※, these collections preserve a range of original primary materials, including antique maps, rare books, photographs, and archival documents, with an emphasis on China and its adjacent regions^※.

A particular highlight is the Antique Maps of China Collection. A significant portion of the materials in Special Collections, the page notes, has been digitised, and the Antique Maps of China Collection is one such example^※. These maps are records of geographical history as well as precious windows onto the history of China’s interactions with the world and the evolution of territorial conceptions—the fact that HKUST, a university known for science and technology, holds such humanities-focused special collections is a reminder of the place that the humanities, social sciences, and historical research occupy within its disciplinary landscape.

# Over 300 antique European maps: one of the largest such collections in East Asia

Information from the Rare & Special e-Zone shows that the Antique Maps of China Collection specifically comprises over 300 maps, charts, drawings, and atlases, making it the largest collection in East Asia focused on European-printed maps of China^※; the holdings span the most representative maps of China produced by European cartographers from the 16th to the 19th centuries, vividly documenting the long history of cross-cultural exchange between China and the West^※. The shaping and expansion of this collection have depended on the sustained support of a named donor—according to the library, the generous contributions of Dr. Ko Pui Shuen made the collection’s digitisation and continued growth possible^※; in 2016, Dr. Ko’s donation funded a rigorous research project that led to the first carto-bibliography monograph on early European-printed maps of China^※. From “donating a map collection” to “funding the publication of a monograph,” the trajectory of this collection illustrates how special-collections philanthropy can extend from preserving artefacts to catalysing new scholarship.

Alongside the antique maps of China, the Special Collections banner also covers a series of named sub-collections with their own thematic focuses, including Ancient East Asian Maps, Maps of China Late Qing Dynasty–1949, Rare Books on the History of Science, Western books about China before 1949, the James Lee Collection, the Sha Fei Photographic Collection, the Paul Lin and Soong Ching-ling Correspondence, Paul T. K. Lin’s Hsinhua Photo Collection, and the Walter R. Kent Collection—the list sketches how a university anchored in science and engineering has quietly amassed a considerable body of first-hand materials on modern Chinese history under its special-collections remit.

# The Sha Fei photographs and the Soong Ching-ling letters: two histories re-discovered

Within these named collections, two stand out for the weight of the history their materials carry.

The Sha Fei Photographic Collection is tied to a rather dramatic story. According to the Rare & Special e-Zone, Sha Fei (1912–1950) was arguably the most influential photographer of his era, capturing some of the most iconic images of China’s war of resistance from the late 1930s through the 1940s^※; however, after his execution in 1950 he was temporarily erased from history, only to be rediscovered in the 1980s through the efforts of his daughter Wang Yan^※—who subsequently donated 63 museum-quality original prints to the HKUST Library Archives, forming the present collection^※. That a war photographer once “erased” from history should have his surviving representative works end up in the special collections of a young science-and-technology university in Hong Kong is a quietly intriguing detail in the journey these materials have taken.

The Paul Lin and Soong Ching-ling Correspondence collection, meanwhile, offers first-hand material for the study of contemporary Chinese history. According to the Rare & Special e-Zone, the exchange of letters and cards spans more than three decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s, and comprises around 70 items^※, drawn from the “Paul T.K. Lin Papers” donated to the Library in 2016 by his wife, Eileen Lin^※. Paul Lin Ta-kuang (1920–2004) was a Chinese-Canadian political scientist and peace activist who first travelled to China with his family in 1950 and soon got to know Soong Ching-ling^※; the collection’s description notes that most of the letters between the two were written between 1967 and 1976, and their contents frequently touch on the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), its effect on Soong Ching-ling’s family and acquaintances, and its wider significance^※. This correspondence is therefore not merely private; it is a rare primary window into the state of mind of Chinese political figures during the Cultural Revolution era.

# 三、Digital infrastructure: making historical materials “searchable”

The Library has invested considerable effort into the digitisation and online open access of its special collections and archives, consistent with its overall positioning as an early mover in digital education (see Libraries and Digital Education^※).

• Digital University Archives: Described on the official page^※ as the central digital repository for HKUST’s archives, it provides online access and full-text search capability^※ for digitised archival records. “Full-text search” means researchers can quickly locate the materials they need within a vast archive without having to leaf through physical documents on site.
• Rare & Special e-Zone: As the Special Collections page^※ explains, digitised special collections are openly accessible online here, while viewing the physical originals requires a prior appointment in the University Archives and Special Collections Reading Room^※. This dual-track model—digital open access plus physical appointment—strikes a balance between broad availability and the protection of rare originals.

# 四、Why the archives and special collections deserve their own section

Among a university’s many facilities, archives and special collections are often the quietest part of the operation—they do not produce the headline-grabbing results of a lab, nor do they face students as directly as a classroom. Yet for an unofficial-history site, they matter enormously:

1. Roots that can be traced. This site’s principle of “every claim must cite its source” ultimately depends on primary materials. The press releases, annual reports, and newsletters preserved in the University Archives are one of the very sources that allow key facts of institutional history to be verified.
2. A hedge against institutional memory loss. Systematic archival preservation is the fundamental defence against “institutional amnesia”—it ensures that three decades of a young university’s decisions, controversies, and achievements do not simply fade away.
3. A reflection of a humanistic undercurrent. The special collections, exemplified by the antique maps of China, serve as a reminder: although HKUST was founded with “science and technology” in its name, it is not only about engineering and business; its intellectual map also has depth in history and the humanities.

Note: The founding year of the Archives (1996), the size of the holdings (over 1,200 linear feet), and other details in this article are as stated on the Library’s official pages and reflect a particular point in time; holdings continue to grow, and digitisation progresses continually. Accessing physical special collections and archives requires a prior appointment; please consult the Library’s official announcements for current rules.