Guides: Early and Imperial China: Home

Primary Sources Online

Here is a list of databases that include access to primary sources.

Quan Tang Shi fenxi xitong 全唐诗分析系统 Tang Dynasty Poetry
Quan Song Shi fenxi xitong 全宋诗分析系统 Song Dynasty Poetry
Scripta Sinica 漢籍全文資料庫 [Access Note: On the landing page, click on 授權使用 for full database access, because you are a licensed user.]
Database of Chinese classic ancient books 中國基本古籍庫
Siku quanshu 四庫全書
Zhonghua Ancient Books Database 中華經典古籍庫
Kanripo カンリポ (Kanseki Repository) Comprehensive collection of premodern Chinese texts.
Chinese Text Project
CHANT-Chinese Ancient Texts
Guoxue baodian 國學寶典
CBETA-Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts
Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成
Zhongguo suwen ku 中國俗文庫
International Dunhuang Project
Guyin Xiao Jing 古音小鏡網 - Site compiling extensive sources for Chinese historical linguistics
Epigraphical Full-text Databases: 漢魏六朝碑刻三晉石刻大全唐代墓誌銘宋代墓志铭数据库
Hanquan 漢泉 Database : National Taiwan Normal University Library [Hanquan] Classical Literature Full Text Search Database

Scholarly Literature

The following links are for commonly used databases that amalgamate scholarly literature in one powerful platform. The descriptions next to each link provide further information.

China Academic Journals
The most extensive database for mainland Chinese journal literature.
Sinica Sinoweb and Taiwan Academic Classics
Taiwan Academic Classics (TAC) is the full-text inter-databases platform, which accommodates 10+ acclaimed archives, focusing on the research of humanities and social sciences in Taiwan. It is a full-text searchable platform of 3.2 billion characters, consist of 200,000+ dissertations, 6630+articles, and 330+journals. We subscribe to numerous "series" (collections) in this database including Sinica Sinoweb, Taiwan Journals, the Modern China database, Chinese calligraphy and inscription collections, Taiwan encyclopedia, Biaodian Gujin Tushu Jicheng (標點古今圖書集成)....
NCL Taiwan Periodical Literature
This is the Taipei National Central Library's database (國家圖書館）. Search for Taiwan published journal articles, a directory to Taiwanese periodicals, and other rich resources. [臺灣期刊論文索引系統; 中華民國出版期刊指南系統;近代 (1853-1979年) 港澳華文期刊索引; 漢學中心典藏大陸期刊論文索引].
Wanfang Dissertations of China 万方学位论文
Find Chinese language dissertations here with full downloadable options. Note, this site does not have an English version.
Dai Kanwa jiten 大漢和辞典 (Morohashi 諸橋)
Searchable full text of headwords and major meanings for the entire dictionary (with everything else as images) on the Japan Knowledge platform. Be sure to log out after use.
Bibliography of Asian Studies
The Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) is intended for students and scholars interested in any aspect, discipline or sub-region of Asia. Through its extensive bibliographical coverage, it is an excellent means for discovering citations and the full-text of Western-language journal articles, review articles, conference proceedings and chapters in edited volumes and Festschriften published anywhere in the world that deal with East, Southeast and South Asia and with the overseas Asian communities.
Duxiu 读秀
A powerful index of Chinese language books and articles. For some excellent UserGuides, please see the following: Princeton Guide; University of Washington Guide; and HKSYU guide.
National Social Science Database
Open-access database of publications from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 中国社会科学院. Access is free but requires users to sign up for individual accounts.
Harvard Asia Center E-Books
The Harvard University Asia Center E-Book Collection is a collaboration between Brill and Harvard University Asia Center. This collection includes 523 titles published by Harvard University Asia Center. Nearly all titles belong to one of three monograph series: Harvard East Asian Monographs (419 titles), Harvard-Yenching Institute Monographs (about 90 titles), and the Harvard Contemporary China Series (about a dozen titles).
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is an essential online resource for social science and interdisciplinary research. IBSS includes over six million bibliographic references to journal articles books, newspapers, dissertations and more dating back to 1951. It is unique in its broad coverage of international material and includes content in over 40 languages.
Historical Abstracts
An abstracting and indexing database. Historical Abstracts is the definitive index of literature covering world history (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present.
Oxford Bibliographies--Chinese Studies
Oxford Bibliographies online is a wonderful place to begin research as the articles are presented in annotated bibliography format with links to our Franklin collection.

Dictionary Resources

The following resources are highly recommended dictionaries (digital and in print).

Print Resources at Van Pelt Library:

Hanyu da cidian 汉语大词典 (East Asia Seminar Room Van Pelt 526) PL 1420 H36 1987
Hanyu da zidian 漢語大字典 (East Asia Seminar Room Van Pelt 526) PL1420 .H3494 2006

Bibliographic Tools

The following is a list of useful links related to bibliographic tools for deeper research. Bibliographic tools are used to compile a comprehensive list of existing literature on a subject or topic and can cover many topics.

Early and Imperial China

Chinese Studies Librarian

Open Database list for China studies

The American Council of Learned Societies published an excellent list of open databases and free resources with primary materials for China studies research.

https://www.acls.org/resources/open-databases-for-china-studies-resource-guide/

Primary Sources Online

Here is a list of databases that include access to primary sources.

Siku quanshu 四庫全書

Scholarly Literature

The following links are for commonly used databases that amalgamate scholarly literature in one powerful platform. The descriptions next to each link provide further information.

Dictionary Resources

The following resources are highly recommended dictionaries (digital and in print).

Bibliographic Tools

The following is a list of useful links related to bibliographic tools for deeper research. Bibliographic tools are used to compile a comprehensive list of existing literature on a subject or topic and can cover many topics.