Primary Sources for East Asia
- Chinese Pamphlets: Political communication and mass education in the early period of the People’s Republic of ChinaMass education materials published in Hong Kong and in Mainland China, particularly Shanghai, in the years 1947-1954. These cartoon books, pamphlets, postcards and magazines, on topics such as foreign threats to Chinese security, Chinese relations with the Soviet Union, industrial and agricultural production, and marriage reform, were produced by both Kuomintang (Nationalist) and Gongchantang (Communist) supporters. Mostly in Chinese, but some pamphlets are translated into English. [From the Center for Research Libraries]
- China, America and the Pacific This link opens in a new windowA full-text collection containing an extensive range of archival material connected to the trading and cultural relationships that emerged between China, America and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries. It includes manuscript sources, rare printed texts, visual images, objects and maps.
- South China Morning Post - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowThe historical archive of Hong Kong's most well-known English-language newspaper provides researchers with online, easily-searchable coverage of politics, society and events in the territory.
1958-2001 - The Korea Times (Seoul, 1956-2016) - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowThis newspaper is among a group of resources that are licensed on an annual basis. Some of them will become a permanent part of the UC Davis library collections based on interest and use.
- Chinese Newspaper Collection (1832-1953) - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowEnglish-language Chinese historical newspapers provides valuable insight into political and social life of China during this turbulent 120-year period in modern Chinese history. Advertisements, editorials, cartoons, and classified ads are also included in the resource.
Coverage: 1832 - 1953
Titles: - Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new windowThis full-text primary source collection includes materials on the international relations between Asian countries and the United States and Britain during the 19th century. It contains government reports, diplomatic correspondence, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, NGO papers, and more. Documents are sourced from The National Archives, Kew; The National Archives, United States; and other collections. Most of the collection focuses on China and Japan, but significant material addresses Siam, Korea, the Philippines, Sumatra and Vietnam as well. Note: The link takes you to a gateway site. Select this collection from the options at that site.
- China and the Modern World This link opens in a new windowChina and the Modern World: Missionary, Sinology, and Literary Periodicals, 1817–1949 is a collection of seventeen English-language periodicals published in or about China during a period of over 130 years extending from 1817 until 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded. This corresponds to the periods of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican Era (1911-1949).
[Coverage: 1817–1949] - Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new windowBrings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history. The commodities featured in this resource have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They helped transform societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption and social practices.
Primary Sources for South Asia
- Digital South Asia Library This link opens in a new window"The Digital South Asia Library provides digital materials for reference and research on South Asia to scholars, public officials, business leaders, and other users" It includes books, journals, maps, photographs, statistics and much more.
- South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) This link opens in a new windowThe South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) is a rich and growing collection of historical and contemporary source materials covering the arts, humanities, and social sciences from and about South Asia. The materials are in both English and other languages of the region. SAOA has been made possible through a collaborative grassroots initiative of U.S. research libraries and partners from South Asia and has grown out of the work of the South Asia Materials Project (https://www.crl.edu/programs/samp) (SAMP), which has been preserving rare and endangered South Asian materials since 1967.
- World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new windowHistoric newspapers from three geographic regions, Africa, Latin America and South Asia, each searchable collectively or separately.
- The Times of India (1838-2010) - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowThe World's most widely circulated English daily newspaper was founded in 1838 to serve British residents of West India. Today this historical newspaper serves researchers interested in studying colonialism and post-colonialism, British and world history, class and gender issues, international relations, comparative religion, international economics, terrorism, and more.
Coverage: 1838-2010 - The Hindustan Times - Historical NewspapersThis national daily newspaper is one of the largest in India and played an essential role in the Indian independence movement.
[Coverage, 1924-2010]
Other Primary Sources with Asian content
- March of Time This link opens in a new windowFrom 1935-1967, Time Inc. offered Americans views of significant historical events in their newsreel series The March of Time. Several hundred of these newsreels can be searched and viewed as streaming videos. Transcripts of these commercial, documentary, instructional and public service videos accompany the films. In support of research and teaching, the resource enables users to create, edit, and share playlists or film clips.
[Coverage: 1903-1967] - Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new windowManuscripts works of European travel writing from the later medieval period, including central Asia, the Far East, Mongolia, Persia, India, China and South-East Asia. Includes accounts of travels to or through the Holy Land. Languages include French, Latin, German, Spanish, Dutch and English. Supporting the manuscripts are relevant secondary texts of translations and editions, as well as full catalogue details.
- Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new windowThis is a full-text collection of the publications of the British philanthropic institutions, the Church Missionary Society and the South American Missionary Society from 1804-2009. Documenting missionary work from the 19th to the 21st century, the periodicals include news, journals and reports offering a unique perspective on global history and cultural encounter. The CMS was active in many African countries, the "Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
[Coverage: 1804-2009] - Archives Unbound: Global Missions and Theology This link opens in a new windowThis collection documents the broad range of nineteenth century religious missionary activities, practices and thought in the United States by reproducing pivotal personal narratives, organizational records and biographies of the essential leaders, simple missionaries and churches. It contains valuable primary source materials on the places the missionaries worked, including Africa, Fiji and Sandwich Islands, India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Hawaii.
- Empire Online This link opens in a new windowEmpire Online contains several thousand searchable scanned images of original documents on the history of empires and empire building in the modern era. Includes documents from English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German points of view, and that from indigenous peoples from Africa, India and North America. Sections also include thematic essays by leading scholars in the field of Empire Studies.
[Coverage: 1492-present] - The Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window"The Making of the Modern World provides digital facsimile images of unique primary sources that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth from 1450-1914."
- Visual History Archive of the USC Shoah Foundation (VHA) This link opens in a new windowInitially a repository of Holocaust testimony, the Visual History Archive has expanded to include testimonies from the Armenian Genocide that coincided with World War I, the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in China, the Cambodian Genocide of 1975-1979, the Guatemalan Genocide of 1978-1983, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the ongoing conflicts in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, and anti-Rohingya mass violence.
- Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new windowIncludes images, documents, maps and streaming video interviews that explore the existence and consequences on the various frontiers that arose from the movements of Europeans to Africa, Australasia and North America.
[Coverage: 1650-1920]