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Asian History: China

Reference Materials: Chinese History

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, etc.

Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy
Main Ref B126 .E496 2003

Cambridge Encyclopedia of China
Main Libr DS705 .C35 1991

Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, It's History and Culture
Main Ref DS 705.P47 1999

Cultural Atlas of China
Main Ref DS721 .B56 1998

Cambridge History of China
Main Libr DS735 .C3145
Continuing Series

Historical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China
Main Ref DS777.55 .S835 2007

Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China
Main Ref DS 777.75 .D53 1998

China: Facts & Figures: Annual Handbook
Main Ref DS779.15 .C48
1978-present
Earlier years in Main Libr.

Republic of China 1988
Main Ref DS799.83 .R46 1988

China Statistical Yearbook
Main Ref HA4631 .S832
1995-present
Earlier volumes in Main Libr.

The State of China Atlas
Main Ref folio G2305 .B46 2005

The Columbia History of Chinese Literature
Main Libr PL2265. C65 2001

Chinese-American calendar for the 102 Chinese years commencing January 24, 1849, and ending February 5, 1951
Govt Doc L 3.2:C

Bibliographies and guides

"Chinese Studies" via Oxford Bibliographies

Chinese history : a new manual, Endymion Wilkinson.
Main Ref DS735 .W695 2018
A fabulous resource, with short essays putting each topic in context and many secondary sources in English. Many sources are in Chinese.

East Asian Studies Research Guides, Princeton University Library
Large collection of links and citations to materials in East Asian Studies.

Twentieth Century China: an annotated bibliography of reference works in Chinese, Japanese and Western language.
Main Ref Z1035.8 .C5 C45 2004

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature
Main Ref Z3108 .L5 I53 1986

Primary Sources: Chinese History

Chinese Cultural Revolution Collection
George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library
Varied material from the era of China's cultural revolution.

A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization
Covers geography, archaeology, religion, calligraphy, military technology, painting, homes, gardens, clothing, and the graphic arts.

Chinese Philosophical Etext Archive
This Etext archive is based at Wesleyan University. You will find three kinds of materials here: Electronic versions of Chinese philosophical texts created by the Confucian Etext Project; Electronic versions of Chinese philosophical texts from other sources; and Information on and links to more information on the preparation and use of these texts.

See also the Newspapers & Periodicals tab (this guide).

Visual Collections

The database Historical Photographs of China resulted from a collaboration between the University of Bristol, the University of Lincoln, the Institut d'Asie Orientale, and TGE-Adonis to locate, archive, and disseminate photographs of modern China from private collections overseas. Images range from the 1870s to the 1950s.

Hosted by the Institute d'Asie Orientale, Virtual Shanghai incorporates four sets of documents: essays, original sources, photographs, and maps to document the history of Shanghai from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The website platform relies on the use of NTIC and GIS technologies to display various ways to step into the history of the city and follow its trajectory at different levels over time.

The Joseph Needham Photography Collection features over a thousand images taken by Joseph Needham in southwest China during the 1940s. Needham came to Chongqing at the behest of the British Council to aid in the war effort by distributing laboratory equipment and scientific publications to Chinese academics. He traveled extensively throughout Sichuan, Yunnan, and other parts of western China not under Japanese occupation. His experiences in China served the foundation for his acclaimed research in the postwar, namely the history of Chinese science, technology, and medicine.

The Sidney D. Gamble Photographs , hosted at Duke University, showcases the work of Sidney Gamble who captured the daily life of China and its people between 1917 and 1932. A sociologist and renowned China scholar, Gamble took photographs of urban and rural life, public events, architecture, and religious statuary as he traveled throughout the country to collect data for social-economic surveys.

Call Numbers: History of China

You can browse the shelves in this call number range for Chinese history: DS 701 - DS 799.9, including these historical periods:

Call numbers: History of China
DS 741 - DS 747.23 Earliest to 221 B.C.
DS 747.28 - DS 749.76 221 B.C.-960 A.D.
DS 750.52 - DS 753.7 960-1644
DS 753.75 1644-1662, Southern Ming Dynasty
DS 753.82 - 1644-1912
DS 754.2 - DS 754.84 1644-1795
DS 755 - DS 760 1796-1861
DS 761 - DS 773.6 1861-1912
DS 773.83 - 1912-1949
DS 776.4 - DS 777.462 1912-1928
DS 777.47 - DS 777.514 1928-1937
DS 777.518 - DS 777.534 1937-1945
DS 777.535 - DS 777.544 1945-1949
DS 777.545 - DS 778.7 1949-1976, People's Republic
DS 779.15 - DS 779.32 1976-2002
DS 779.35 - DS 779.49 2002-