This fundraising auction, offering over 30 lots, is dedicated to the University of Oxford China Centre, Europe’s leading interdisciplinary centre for the study of China. The Centre draws on Oxford’s historic links to China, dating to 1604 when the Bodleian Library acquired its first Chinese collection and the 1687 arrival of the scholar Shen Fuzong, the first Chinese visitor to the United Kingdom. The items donated from alumni and friends will help fund the centre’s new building, bringing together academics and research that will increase understanding, dialogue and collaboration between East and West on a range of subjects from Chinese art and literature to public health and energy issues.