New E-Resource – China and the Modern World: Hong Kong, Britain, and China, 1841-1951

We are very pleased to announce that China and the Modern World: Hong Kong, Britain, and China, 1841-1951 is now available to Cambridge University members.

An essential primary source archive for researching the history of Hong Kong in the context of Modern China and the British Empire in Asia.

This collection of British Colonial office correspondence relates to Hong Kong as a British colony between 1841 and 1951, and provides detailed information on the political, military, social, economic, and external development of Hong Kong. It also sheds light on the British Empire in Asia, China’s transformation from empire to republic, mainland China-Hong Kong relations, and the international politics of East Asia.

China and the Modern World: Hong Kong, Britain and China 1841–1951 presents a collection of British government documents on colonial Hong Kong, spanning a period of over a century. Digitized from the British Colonial Office records grouped under the CO 129 Series titled “War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Hong Kong, Original Correspondence,” the collection consists of despatches and correspondence between the governors of Hong Kong and the Colonial Office, as well as letters and telegrams of other government departments and organizations such as the Foreign Office, Home Office, and War Offices. In the form of bound volumes, these records were arranged chronologically till 1926 when arrangement by subject files was introduced. Each volume comes with a contents list, or a précis of each letter giving the name of correspondent, date of letter, and subject matter.

This collection of British Colonial office correspondence on colonial Hong Kong provides detailed and valuable information on the political, military, social, economic, and external development of Hong Kong during the period covered. It also sheds light on the British Empire in Asia, China’s transformation from empire to republic, mainland China-Hong Kong relations, and the international politics of East Asia.

Access is for 2023.

Text from the Gale platform.

China and the Modern World: trial access

Trial access to the China and the Modern World digital archive is provided to University of Cambridge members until 1st December 2022.

What do you think of China and the Modern World? Have your say using the online feedback form. We value your feedback.

War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Hong Kong, Original Correspondence

China and the Modern World is a series of digital archive collections sourced from preeminent libraries and archives across the world, including the Second Historical Archives of China and the British Library. The series covers a period of about 180 years (1800s to 1980s) when China experienced radical and often traumatic transformations from an inward-looking imperial dynasty into a globally engaged republic.

Consisting of monographs, manuscripts, periodicals, correspondence and letters, historical photos, ephemera, and other kinds of historical documents, these collections provide excellent primary source materials for the understanding and research of the various aspects of China during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as diplomacy/international relations, economy/trade, politics, Christianity, sinology, education, science and technology, imperialism, and globalization.

The Global Press Archive Charter Alliance – Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers collection (Open Access)

The Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers collection provides invaluable perspective on this critical period. The press of more than twenty cities is represented, spanning the Chinese mainland and the entire half century. The collection provides researchers a richly comprehensive perspective on Chinese life, culture, and politics throughout the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the years of provisional government and civil war, and the birth of the People’s Republic.

The first half of the twentieth century began with the demise of China’s last imperial dynasty, the Great Qing, and ended with the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949. Following the 1912 establishment of China’s first post-imperial government, the Republic of China, the country experienced both industrial and social revolution, a civil war during which communist and nationalist forces battled to shape the country’s future, and looming external threats during both world wars.

Open Access to this collection is made possible through the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.

Text from the East View platform for the collection.

The Global Press Archive Charter Alliance – Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers collection (Open Access)

Researchers will find a wealth of unique content from the Middle East and North Africa, much of which has never been digitized or available as open access material. Content in the Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers collection is predominantly in Arabic, but also includes key titles in English and French. The collection comprises mostly out-of-copyright, orphaned content. CRL members and subscribing institutions also receive access to five in-copyright titles from the region: al-Akhbār (الاخبار, Lebanon, 2006-2019), al-Dustūr (الدستور, Jordan, 1967-2000), al-Jumhūrīyah (الجمهورية, Egypt, 1962-1986), al-Riyāḍ (الرياض, Saudi Arabia, 1972-1996), and Filasṭīn (فلسطين, Israel/Palestine, 1956-1967).

From the Ottoman Empire to the Arab Spring, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have stood at the crossroads of history. The Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers collection includes publications from across this dynamic region, providing unique insights into the history of individual countries, as well as broad viewpoints on key historic events from the late nineteenth century through the present.

Open Access to this collection is made possible through the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.

Text from the East View platform for the collection.

The Global Press Archive Charter Alliance – South Asian Newspapers collection (Open Access)

The South Asian Newspapers collection chronicles these conflicts as well as contemporary perspectives on independence movements, early statehood, and the extensive economic and social growth taking place in the region during this time. The collection covers several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and features multiple languages such as Bengali, Dari, English, Nepali, and more. With reportage dating as far back as the 1850s, the South Asian Newspapers collection provides a wealth of coverage and perspectives on major regional and global events of the 19th and 20th centuries.

South Asia is home to approximately a quarter of the world’s population as well as the world’s largest populations of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. The region is marked by hundreds of years of colonial rule, with the British as the dominant force from the mid-18th century on. British rule would cast a pall far beyond the end of the colonial era, with Britain’s partitioning of the subcontinent along sectarian lines into the Republic of India and Pakistan (East and West). The new boundaries sparked mass displacement and decades of conflict, in some cases leading to the birth of new nations, such as the secession of East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh), while others stoked disputes that still smolder on today, such as the Kashmir conflict.

Open access to the South Asian Newspapers collection is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.

Text from the East View platform for the collection.

The Global Press Archive Charter Alliance – Southeast Asian Newspapers collection (Open Access)

The Southeast Asian Newspapers collection chronicles the changes that took place throughout the region during this period, and the challenges of early statehood. Covering several countries from the region, including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and featuring multiple languages such as Dutch, English, French, Javanese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, the Southeast Asian Newspapers collection incorporates a wealth of coverage and perspectives on major regional and global events of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Southeast Asia in the late-Nineteenth and early-Twentieth centuries was largely and violently controlled by Western colonial powers, with most of the region divided among the British, French, Dutch, Spanish, and American empires, supplanted by a brief period of Japanese colonialism following the outbreak of war in Europe and the Pacific. The post-World War II era witnessed a series of revolutions as local leaders looked to regain independence from colonial powers. Decolonization efforts spread throughout the region, alongside turmoil and bloodshed, ultimately leaving the newly independent states in charge of their own political, economic, and social pathways for the first time in decades.

Open access to the Southeast Asian Newspapers collection is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.

Text from the East View platform for the collection.

China Comprehensive Gazetteers + Taiwan Academic Classics : access until 30 March 2021

Cambridge University members have temporary access to two new Chinese databases until 30 March 2021.

Please tell us what you think about these resources by completing the feedback form here. Thank you.

 

China Comprehensive Gazetteers (中國綜合方誌庫):

https://ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/login?url=https://ccg.eastview.com/

This historically significant collection of difangzhi (地方志) contains unique primary sources on Chinese history. The source of the original materials is the collection at the National Library of China, whose holdings are extensive and often unique.

 

 

Taiwan Academic Classics: 

 https://ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/login?url=https://p.udpweb.com/

This database offers classic works from China/Taiwan and contemporary scholarly thought from academic societies in Taiwan and around the world.

 

Verge : Studies in Global Asias

New on ejournals@cambridge A-Z : Verge

From the JSTOR website:

“Verge: Studies in Global Asias showcases scholarship on “Asian” topics from across the humanities and humanistic social sciences, while recognizing that the changing scope of “Asia” as a concept and method is today an object of vital critical concern. Deeply transnational and transhistorical in scope, Verge emphasizes thematic and conceptual links among the disciplines and regional/area studies formations that address Asia in a variety of particularist (national, subnational, individual) and generalist (national, regional, global) modes. Responding to the ways in which large-scale social, cultural, and economic concepts like the world, the globe, or the universal (not to mention East Asian cousins like tianxia or datong) are reshaping the ways we think about the present, the past and the future, the journal publishes scholarship that occupies and enlarges the proximities among disciplinary and historical fields, from the ancient to the modern periods. The journal emphasizes multidisciplinary engagement—a crossing and dialogue of the disciplines that does not erase disciplinary differences, but uses them to make possible new conversations and new models of critical thought.”

Now available to the University of Cambridge electronically from volume 1 (2015) to present.

Access the Verge via the ejournals@cambridge A-Z or at this link.

Image by Vikramjit Kakati from Pixabay

Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online : access until 2nd October 2020

University of Cambridge members now have access to Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online until 2nd October 2020.

Please send your feedback about any of these eresources using the online form.

Since publication of the first volume, in 2015, Brill’s steadily growing Encyclopedia of Buddhism has been widely acclaimed as the long-awaited authoritative, reliable, and up-to-date reference work.

Illustrated with maps and photographs, and supplemented with extensive online resources, the print version of the thematic encyclopedia presents the latest research on the main aspects of the Buddhist traditions in original essays, all written by the world’s foremost scholars.

Ultimately consisting of six volumes, the Encyclopedia presents a balanced and even-handed view of the Buddhist traditions across Asia, offering the most reliable up-to-date accounts of well-known issues. At the same time it fills many gaps in heretofore-neglected areas. Contributions emphasize time and again that Buddhism is simultaneously constituted by a plurality of regional traditions, as well as a far-reaching phenomenon spanning almost all of Asia, and, more recently, far beyond.

The 1000-page first volume (Literature and Languages, publ. 2015)  is available online now.

Also available to access via the Databases A-Z.

Text taken from the brill platform.

Image by Daniel Kirsch from Pixabay

East View China and Taiwan databases : access until 30th September 2020

University of Cambridge members now have access to five databases from the East View until 30th September 2020.

Please send your feedback using the online form.

Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers

The first half of the twentieth century began with the demise of China’s last imperial dynasty, the Great Qing, and ended with the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949. Following the 1912 establishment of China’s first post-imperial government, the Republic of China, the country experienced both industrial and social revolution, a civil war during which communist and nationalist forces battled to shape the country’s future, and looming external threats during both world wars.

The Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers collection provides invaluable perspective on this critical period. The press of more than twenty cities is represented, spanning the Chinese mainland and the entire half century. The collection provides researchers a richly comprehensive perspective on Chinese life, culture, and politics throughout the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the years of provisional government and civil war, and the birth of the People’s Republic.

China Economy, Public Policy and Security Database (EB-PISHU)

‘Pishu’ (皮书, which literally means ‘cover-books’) are high-value analytical reports intended to guide policymaking in the People’s Republic of China. Pishu are published by the prestigious Social Sciences Academic Press, a branch of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. These reports feature exclusive research and analysis by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and authors from similar institutions, and present objective analysis versus official government messaging on strategic issues. In China, Pishu are consumed by think tanks and top policymakers. Covered topics include a variety of issues of importance to China’s government and research community, including international relations, agricultural policy, and industry competitiveness. They may be considered somewhat analagous to United States Congressional Research Service reports and analysis reports published by the RAND Corporation.

Taiwan Academic Classics from United Digital Publications Co. Ltd. (UDP)

Based on Taiwanese scholars’ viewpoints, Taiwan Academic Classics proudly offers classic works from China/Taiwan and contemporary scholarly thought from academic societies in Taiwan to sinologists around the World, uniting the classics from Earth’s oldest continuous civilization and unfettered Chinese scholarly thought. Taiwan Academic Classics (TAC) focuses on Humanities and Social Sciences, the former is acclaimed as the most beautiful scenery of Taiwan, while the latter represents the broadest outlook worldwide to go deep into contemporary China and sinology. As a federated search platform, TAC incorporates full text searchable Web access to core journals from 1928 to the present with ancient compilations from China’s earliest Dynasties. Half the core journals had been selected in the list of excellent journals, THCI (Taiwan Humanities Citation Index) and TSSCI (Taiwan Social Sciences Citation Index) evaluated by Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, the most creditable official institution on ranking superior journals in Taiwan, while the other half are exclusively authoritative archives, historical data, and distinguished magazines that can be enjoyed by scholars and lay-people alike (such as Zhuanji Wenxue Magazine, Modern China Magazine, Lionart Magazine, etc.).

The Current Digest of the Chinese Press

Each week, The Current Digest of the Chinese Press presents the reader with a digestible collection of Chinese press materials, all in English. Selected articles cover a wide variety of topics, such as politics, international relations, security, economics, business, public health, environment, education, culture and more. The Current Digest’s mission is to provide the reader with a comprehensive, broad picture of the news published in China, be it domestic, international or related to other states of the Asia Pacific region.

Jiefangjun Bao Digital Archive

The PLA Daily, which started its publication on January 1, 1956, is the authoritative media of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to release military news and comprehensive military-related information and is the official newspaper of the Central Military Commission.

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