Last week, Queen Máxima opened the Asian Library in Leiden's Pieterskerk:a separate department of the university library with over thirty kilometers of books and manuscripts from Asia. This makes it one of the largest Asia collections worldwide. NEMO Kennislink was present at the opening and took a look at the new library.
Today, the Pieterskerk is full of people:not only from the Leiden academic community, but there are also many foreign guests. We're here for the official opening of the Asian Library, which were preceded by years of renovation. Before Queen Máxima enters, we are welcomed with a Balinese music and dance performance. The dancers carry bowls full of flowers decorated with ribbons, and perform a welcome dance common in Balinese temple ceremonies. The flowers are scattered around as a gesture of welcome to the public. This way we really imagine ourselves in Asian atmospheres under the vaults of this old Dutch church.
The Queen has now had a private tour of the new library, we learn. After the musical opening, she enters the church in the company of Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker, the director of the university library Kurt De Belder and the mayor of Leiden. The Rector Magnificus talks about Leiden's long tradition of studying Asia, and the university's reputation as a center of expertise worldwide. There is also a great deal of knowledge about Asia within the Leiden museums, and there is a lot of collaboration with that.
World Heritage
De Belder tells a little more about the collection. It is so large, because Leiden has been researching Asia for centuries. But also because other large collections are housed there. The Asian Library houses the collections of the Royal Institute of Linguistics, Land- and Ethnology (KITLV), of which Queen Máxima is patroness, and the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). As a result, Leiden now has the largest collection on Indonesia worldwide. In addition, the library owns two manuscripts that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The university is doing everything it can to make the collection accessible online to a large audience. To this end, digitization projects are underway and funding is still being sought in part.
Today's guest speaker is Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford. He will return to Leiden in the autumn as a guest researcher at the Scaliger Institute, where research is conducted into the university's special collections. He praises the enormous collection, including 'thousand-year-old Sanskrit texts' and the 'autobiographical manuscript of the Javanese prince Diponegoro (1785-1855), which has been awarded World Heritage status'. But there are also more modern sources, such as a database of North Korean propaganda posters.
Joseph Scaliger
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Of course, the name of the French scientist Joseph Scaliger must be mentioned, who was affiliated with Leiden University from 1593. In a sense, he laid the foundations for the Asian Library. In his time he enjoyed world fame, which attracted other big names to Leiden, says Frankopan. After his death, Scaliger left all his manuscripts and books in oriental languages to the library. To this day, this forms the core of the collection.
“Scaliger wanted to understand the whole world. He learned Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, in addition to Greek, Latin and modern European languages. Being able to read the writings of scientists from other parts of the world was essential to him. According to Scaliger, history could not be understood without knowledge of great civilizations such as the Egyptians, the Jews, the Persians and the Babylonians.” According to Frankopan, this message is also topical today. After all, the large migratory flows are causing growing intolerance between peoples.
Mutual understanding
“We can draw important lessons from history. Not only about hostility, but also about cooperation:how our ancestors not only traded, but also learned from each other, imitated each other to improve themselves.” He refers to the Silk Road, the age-old connection between Europe and Asia, which was not only about products like silk, but also about 'the exchange of language, fashion and ideas'. Current globalization is "nothing new," Frankopan said. “We all know that mutual understanding is the foundation of friendship and happiness.” Here he quotes Scaliger:“Enmity and division come from only one source:ignorance.”
After these wise words, the Rector Magnificus hands over the book Voyage of Discovery to Queen Maxima. The book is a collection of articles about the rich collection of the Asian Library. After the official part, the public can finally visit the inside of the library. The long rows of book spines with graceful characters look impressive. The many reds in the building exude an oriental atmosphere. It is noticeable that there are many study places. This is because more and more books are available digitally, says our guide, and so less cupboard space is needed. There is also a conservatory-style study area filled with tropical plants. You see the people in our group, mostly Leiden alumni, thinking:if only I were a student again.