Xu Jin (center right in stripes), a businessman from Sichuan, made a $500,000 donation to the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University to help it maintain its East Asian archives. Jim Cheng (center left in black), director of the library, said that there will be an honorary brass plaque put up celebrating the donor. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

A Chinese businessman donated $500,000 to the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University, the largest amount ever given by a Chinese donor.

The donor, Xu Jin, said that the donation is to help maintain the collection at the library, which is one of the major collections of East Asian works in the United States.

The library has more than one million volumes in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu, as well as Western-language books on Asia.

“My parents were both school teachers, and I have always wanted to contribute to education,” Xu told China Daily.

“I’ve been deeply inspired by Mr and Mrs Chennault, who have done a lot for Sino-American relations and our generation should carry on what they have started,” he said, referring to Claire Lee and Anna Chennault.

Claire Lee Chennault was the founder and commander of the Flying Tigers, a volunteer group of American pilots that helped China fight against Japanese invaders during World War II.

Anna Chennault was a prominent Asian-American politician, serving as national committeewoman for the District of Columbia of the Republican Party. She also founded the Organization of Chinese Americans.

“The East Asian Library has maintained a lot of Chinese archives, and when I met the director I learned they didn’t have enough to maintain and keep up the collection,” said Xu, a 53-year-old businessman and investor from Sichuan who declined to talk about his businesses.

Jim Cheng, the director of the library, said that Columbia University will have an official reception for Xu later in the fall, and will have an honorary brass plaque installed in appreciation of the gift. He declined to discuss how the funds will be used prior to the school’s official announcement of the donation.

The East Asian Library was founded in 1902 after a donation helped established the Chinese department at Columbia University. At the time, the president of the university, Seth Low, wrote to E. H. Conger, America’s minister to Beijing, asking for help to build the Chinese library. The Chinese prime minister to the Empress Dowager at the time, Li Hungchang, gave a 5,044-volume encyclopedia to the school, which formed the foundation of the library’s Chinese collection, according to the library’s website.

The East Asian Library last received donations from establishments in Taiwan, including the National Central Library and eight other academic university presses. The donation in May 2014 consisted of 476 books.

Hezi Jiang contributed to this story.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com