Abstract: [Purpose/Significance] Chinese culture is an important part of global civilization. Enhancing the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization is the inevitable way to strengthen the country's soft power and discourse power. Constructing a Collection Index aims at quantifying and evaluating the global influence of Chinese civilization, and addresses the current lack of quantitative research and systematic evaluation metrics in the study of Chinese civilization's international impact. [Design/Methodology] In this study, a total of 130 Chinese classic books and 100 overseas national libraries and public libraries were selected as samples. Data such as the total number of Chinese classics in overseas libraries, the number of non-Chinese editions and their latest publication dates were retrieved through multiple channels to construct the collection index and its index system. [Findings/Conclusion] The research shows that the number of Chinese classics in the libraries is directly proportional to the degree of correlation with Chinese history. High-quality Chinese classics have extensive international influence, and the projects to promote Chinese classics "going out" have yielded positive effects. [Originality/Value] This study reveals the distribution characteristics of Chinese classics in overseas libraries and analyzes the possible causes for their formation, thereby effectively validating the practical feasibility of using the Collection Index for quantitative research on the global influence of Chinese civilization.

Keywords: Overseas library, National library, Public library, Chinese classics, Chinese civilization, Civilization influence measurement, Collection Index