Chinese Studies: Databases & online collections
Key Databases
- Foreign Office files for China, 1919-1980 This link opens in a new windowThe six parts of this collection make available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980:
1919-1929: Kuomintang, CCP, and the Third International
1930-1937: The Long March, civil war in China, and the Manchurian Crisis
1938-1948: Open Door, Japanese war, and the seeds of communist victory
1949-1956: The Communist revolution
1957-1966: The Great Leap Forward
1967-1980: The Cultural Revolution
Files can be downloaded in pdf format.
- Hong Kong Macau Periodicals Network 港澳期刊網 (Chinese)contains academic journals published in Hong Kong in Chinese or English from 1990 to date, maintained by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services(Chinese, traditional) 臺灣電子期刊服務網The article database covers many of the journals published in Taiwan in humanities and social sciences.Some resources are free
Online archive collections
- Chinese Land Records (1584-1978)A collection from Pittsburgh University Library documenting the land ownership in different historical periods, land tenure changes and the land management systems of China.
- Chinese Marriage Documents, 1909-1997A collection from Pittsburgh University Library - contains marriage documents from 1909 to 1997, including marriage certificates, wedding and engagement invitations, child bride agreements, uxorilocal marriage documents, remarriage agreements, divorce certificates and documents of marriage law.
- Collections de l'Institut des hautes études chinoises (IHEC) (Collège de France)A catalogue that allows cross-searching of Chinese prints from a number of large collections
- Columbia University Library:"Ling long women's magazine, published in Shanghai from 1931 to 1937, was popular during a time of dramatic material, social, and political change in China. Today, the magazine offers researchers a unique glimpse into women's lives in Republican-era (1911-49) Shanghai"
- CRL Digital Delivery SystemA collection of cartoon books, pamphlets, postcards and magazines published in Hong Kong and in Mainland China, particularly Shanghai, in the years 1947-1954.
- Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare BooksNational Institute of Informatics: Digital Silk Road Project - includes rare books and other documents and photographs referring to the Silk Road
- Digital East Asia Collections (Bavarian State Library)Chinese, Japanese and Korean printings from 7th-19th century held by the Bavarian State Library
- Digitized Collections (Berlin State Library)Digital copies of books, manuscripts, and other media that are held physically by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
- Full-Text Image System for Books of Japanese Ruled Period in Taiwan 日治時期圖書影像系統Mainly focus on the books and materials of the Japanese-ruled period
- Harvard-Yenching LibraryThe East Asian collection from Harvard. Click on the collection you are interested in, Search and then refine by Online on the right hand side of the screen
- The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road OnlineThe British Library's collection of manuscripts, paintings, textiles and artefacts from Dunhuang and archaeological sites of the Eastern Silk Road
- Ivy Plus Libraries' Digital Projects on East Asia (Duke University Library)A platform for Ivy plus member libraries to share their published and ongoing digital projects.
- Ming Qing Women's Writings Digitization ProjectA collaboration between several libraries dedicated to the digitization of collections of writings by women in late imperial China (1368-1911).
- Modern Chinese StudiesUniversity of Pittsburg - "Text collection from the 1930s-1970s that provide insight into the political, economic, and educational conditions of China, including during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).".
- National Central Library of Taiwancontains many online resources including the Union Chinese Rare Books Catalog
- Princeton University Library' s East Asian Library Digital Bookshelfhighlights some of the outstanding, rare, and unique items from this collection, including books, manuscripts, maps, and albums from many eras. Languages such as Manchu or Tangut are represented too.
- Crossasia.orgCrossasia provides a list and links to over 2000 free full-text journals held on the National Social Sciences Database of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Titles are arranged in alphabetical pinyin order.
- Chinese Text ProjectOnline open-access digital library of pre-modern Chinese texts with over thirty thousand titles and more than five billion characters. Both English and modern Chinese translations are provided (where copyright allows).
- China Biographical Database ProjectBiographical information for about approximately 370,000 individuals as of April 2017, primarily from the 7th through 19th centuries in China.
- University of Pittsburg East Asian Library Digital Collections and ProjectsDigitized Collections of 220 Chinese land records from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the mid-twentieth century, photos of Chinese political prisoners between 1924 and 1946, and 25 Chinese marriage documents from 1909 to 1997.
- Hong Kong University Libraries Digital InitiativesFree online access to some of HKUL's digitized collections. Please note some collections are only available to HKU staff and students, these are clearly labeled on the site. The collection includes archived papers, journal collections, and images.
- Academia Historica - Taiwan.The Academia Historica was established in Nanjing in 1947 and reopened in Taiwan in 1957, it is the official source of Taiwanese presidential and vice-presidential records and artifacts. Some documents are available full-text online, others are just indexed and cannot be accessed online.
- Taiwan eBookFree digitised collection of traditional Chinese books. Subject content includes general, religion and philosophy, science and engineering,
agriculture and fishing, medicine and home management, economics and finance,
education, society, politics and law and military affairs, history and geography, language and literature, and art. - China Vitae 中國名人錄biographical information on more than 5000 Chinese leaders in government, politics, the military, education, etc.
- Archive it - Greater China Archival Resources Web ArchivePart of the Internet Archive collects websites belonging to established, physical archives and learned archival societies located in the Greater China region, and archival projects from or about the Greater China region.
- Exploring Republican China in the USC Digital Library- An Experimental Metadata Analysisincluding photographs, videos, audio recordings, manuscripts, diaries,
letters, documents, and maps.
Many of these archival collections focus on Republican China (1911-1949) - Kangzhan wenxian shuju pingtaiMainly focused on the Sino-Japanese War and Sino-Japanese relations, it gives access to a wide range of resources from the Republican Period. These include archives, books, newspapers, journals, communist publications, audio recordings, photographs, and even musical scores.