Asian and Pacific Studies

The online Chinese-English dictionary includes 8,360 Chinese characters covering the period from approximately 500 BCE to 1,000 CE.

The China Historical Geographic Information System is a free database of placenames and historical administrative units for the Chinese Dynasties. It provides a base GIS platform for researchers to use in spatial analysis or to visualize the historical divisions of China as digital maps.

A collection of propaganda posters created by various Chinese agencies from 1968-1989 is available to view online at the University of California San Diego Library Digital Collection.

The Chinese Foreign Policy Database enhances the ability of contemporary observers and historians to gain broader perspectives on Chinese policies. Curating 1000s of documents from Chinese and international archives, it offers insights into China’s foreign policy since 1949 and its relationship to ideology, revolution, the economy, and traditional Chinese culture.

The open dataset consisting of data selected from the University of Pittsburgh Library collection of Chinese village gazetteers. Village gazetteers record statistical data on individual villages, covering the years from 1949 to the present showing the history and development of Chinese villages. The current dataset covers 2,000 villages and was uploaded in May 2022.

Historical maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection are accessible online at the University of Texas Libraries.

Hong Kong Journals Online (HKJO) is a full-text image database providing access to selected academic and professional journals, both in English and Chinese, published in Hong Kong. Titles included in this database cover a wide range of disciplines including law, medicine and education. The University of Hong Kong Libraries, with a rich collection of Hong Kong journals, developed this database with the objectives of facilitating efficient information retrieval and preserving archival materials.

Hong Kong Literature Database is the first database on Hong Kong literature, including more that 200 Hong Kong journals and literary supplement of Hong Kong early newspapers, the Hong Kong Literature Archives.

This international collaboration makes available information and images of manuscripts, paintings, textiles and artifacts from Dunhuang and archaeological sites of the Eastern Silk Road.

The press of more than twenty cities is represented, spanning the Chinese mainland and the first half of the twentieth century. The collection provides 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.

Chinese Studies is the official publication of the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS). All articles can also be freely accessed in the Full Text Database of CCS Publications.

This guide provides an overview of open databases and free resources with primary materials for China studies research.

Oxford Bibliographies in Chinese Studies is a multi- and inter-disciplinary enterprise covering the study of China across all disciplines.