Prof. Rulan Chao Pian, Professor Emeritus of Music and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, is a renowned musicologist proficient in the musicology of the East and the West.  She specializes in Chinese and is knowledgeable about other Asian music, including Japanese and Korean.  Professor Pian was a visiting professor and external examiner at the Music Department and a Wei Lun Visiting Professor.  Two batches of her donations were received in 2006 and 2010 respectively.  Donated materials include manuscripts, correspondences, diaries, photos, teaching materials, notes, over 7,000 audio-visual materials, more than 6,000 books and journals, and 18 musical instruments, etc.  It is Professor Pian's wish that her donation would set an example, inducing scholars to value the study of East Asian history and culture, and the preservation and sharing of such materials.

Professor Pian's collection is academically significant not just in music, it is coeval and intertwined with the 20th century history of China.  The Collection is, indeed, a repository, a treasury of contemporary Chinese history and culture.  A permanent exhibition of the collection, featuring manuscripts, teaching materials, LPs, cassette tapes, CDs, musical instruments and books, is housed in the Chung Chi Library.  Library users may access the catalogue via the Library Online Catalogue and listen to the digitized open-reel tapes.  For details, please visit http://rulanchaopian.lib.cuhk.edu.hk.