UNC-Chapel Hill's collection on Chinese language and literature affords material for research to undergraduate students in the Asian Curriculum and graduate and postgraduate researchers in many of the university's academic departments. The smaller collection of Japanese language and literature consists mainly of works dealing with the language itself, literary works received as gifts, and English-language translations; the same is true of the even smaller Korean-language material. This arrangement reflects the agreement reached in the 1960s between Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill to divide East Asian studies into Chinese at UNC-Chapel Hill and Japanese and Korean at Duke.

The Library contains approximately 104,300 volumes of Chinese-language materials, 4,800 volumes of Japanese-language materials, and 300 volumes of Korean-language materials. There are almost 1,000 reels of Chinese-language microfilm, 7,500 sheets of microfiche, and more than 130 videocassettes. The 220 reels of Japanese-language microfilm are gifts from library patrons and researchers.

Both Chinese and Japanese collections support the language instruction programs on campus. Chinese literature from the classics through to modern belles-lettres and criticism provide ample material for study. Tu Fu, a T'ang dynasty poet, and Lu Hsun, a modern writer, are collected in some depth. Among the many titles of Chinese collectanea in the collection are Ssu pu pei yao, Ssu pu ts'ung k'an, Ssu k'u ch'uan shu chen pen, and Min kuo ts'ung k'an, all basic resources in Chinese studies. In history there is an emphasis on late imperial China, beginning with the Ming dynasty and continuing to the present day. Specific topics of research are Christian missions and modern Chinese foreign relations. There are also significant holdings in Chinese religion, Buddhism, and traditional medicine.

Periodicals, both current and retrospective, furnish an abundant supplement in all the areas of Chinese studies. Covering the humanities, the social sciences, and the pure sciences, the library offers 611 current titles and 1,006 retrospective titles in the Chinese language, 90 current and 101 retrospective Japanese titles, and 4 current and 31 retrospective Korean titles.

Van Gulik collection: Chinese books on microfiche. Ming Ch'ing tang an. Red Guard publication.