History 103 Introduction to East Asian History: China (Fall 2025) : Primary Sources in English

Primary Sources in English

Chinese Text Project (中國哲學書電子化計劃)

• Open access
• The classical texts in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties
• Translated into English

Earl George Macartney Collection, 1792-1794 (NetID required)

• The materials document the Macartney mission sent by King George III to Emperor Qianlong.
• The collection includes letters, books, sketches, and journals.

China and the Modern World (GALE), 1800s-1990s (NetID required)

• Manuscripts, periodicals, letters, historical photos, ephemera, and other historical documents
• Topics covered include diplomacy, trade, politics, Christianity, sinology, education, science and technology, imperialism, and globalization

Adam Matthew (AM) Primary Sources (NetID required)  

• Foreign Office Files collections (UK National Archives)
• from early trading relationships to 20th-century recordings
• A comprehensive overview: AM LibGuide 

BBC Monitoring: Summary of World Broadcasts, 1939-2001 (NetID required)

• Summary intelligence briefing reports prepared for Britain and its allies
• The reports are based on broadcast data gathered from open, publicly available sources.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1974-1996 (NetID required)

• Broadcasts and Reports from East Asia
• Scanned copies of the paper issues of the various FBIS Daily Reports with radio and press agency monitoring and translation.

Mobilizing East Asia Online (NetID required)

• A selected and organized range of essential English-language newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and books
• 1900s to 1950s

The North-China Daily News & Herald Newspapers and Hong Lists 1850-1951 (字林洋行中英文报纸全文数据库) (NetID required)

• Historical English newspapers published in Shanghai