Primary sources, accounts and other kinds of documents written at the time of an event or era, allow a nuanced and detailed understanding of historical issues. Sources can take the form of any of the examples below in addition to such resources in archives as letters, commercial records, and papers from organizations.
Many primary sources are in manuscript only and have not been printed. The web pages Jason Oaks put together give you more information about archives and libraries in the Philadelphia area with resources in East Asian history
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History 349 : West Meets East: Research Workshop: Primary Sources and Journal Articles (HC)
I. Primary Sources:
Introduction:
Collections Online:
China, trade, politics & culture, 1793-1980
Provides a wide variety of original source material detailing China.s interaction with the West from Macartney.s first Embassy to China in 1793, through to the Nixon/Heath visits to China in 1972-74.
American broadsides and ephemera. Series I
Offers fully searchable facsimile images of approximately 15,000 broadsides (1820-1900) and 15,000 pieces of ephemera (1760 -1900) from the American Antiquarian Society collection. Subjects range from contemporary accounts of the Civil War, unusual occurrences and natural disasters to official government proclamations, tax bills and town meeting reports. Material types include clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, bill heads, theater and music programs, stock certificates, menus and invitations documenting civic, political and private celebrations.
Early American imprints. Series I, Evans (1639-1800)
Covers American history and literature from the colonial period to the eighteenth century. Provides full-text digitization of the Early American Imprints microform set, Series I (1639-1800).
Early American imprints. Series II, Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819)
Provider: Readex
Covers American history and literature from the colonial period to the eighteenth century. Provides full-text digitization of the Early American Imprints microform set, Series II (1801-1819). Covering every aspect of American life during the early decades of the United States.
Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership
Oxford University and the University of Michigan are working to create fully searchable versions of early printed books in English. Start here to sarch for your research topic. Additional books are digitized in Early English Books Online.
Eighteenth Century collections online.
Offers full-text access to English-language titles and editions published between 1701 and 1800 including books, pamphlets, almanacs, Bibles and treatises. Subjects covered include history, geography, fine arts, medicine, science, literature, language, religion, philosophy and law. Significant collections of women writers, collections on the French Revolution, and numerous eighteenth-century editions of the works of Shakespeare are also included.
Diaries and Autobiographies:
A daughter of Han
Publisher: Stanford, CA : Stanford Univ. Press, 1967.
Ida Pruitt was a daughter of missionaries and worked in China as a teacher and social reformer. She interviewed Ning Lao T'ai t'ai, so that Westerners could learn about the lives of poor women in the countryside.
Modern Japanese diaries
Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Co., 1995.
Modern Japanese Diaries is a collection of journals written by Japanese who journeyed to America, Europe, and China between 1860 and 1920. It begins with entries by the first Japanese to be sent abroad when the country was opened after more than two hundred years of isolation. They had little idea of what they would encounter, and their impressions of the West possess a fresh innocence that can never be recaptured in today's interconnected world. Faithfully kept, the diaries record personal yet overarching views of the countries and their cultures, and sentiments that range from delight to disillusionment. These narratives provide insight into Japanese society through the diarists' reactions to alien customs, their distaste of the "barbarian music" played in Europe, their admiration for American democracy, and their curiosity about the philosophy of Christianity. Even those who never left Japan were affected by the Western influences infiltrating their country, changing the attitudes of the nation and opening a new era in Japanese history. The diaries are written by a range of individuals, including samurai and other government officials, several novelists and poets, a pioneer in education for women, a painter, and an anarchist who recorded his impressions of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Any of the diaries can be read independently, but various themes link them and impart a unity to these personal accounts by men and women who wrote under strikingly different circumstances. Donald Keene treats each voice intimately, inviting the reader to partake of the memories of the diarists while experiencing the world in which they lived.
Exhibitions and Fairs:
"Ten thousand Chinese things."
Publisher: Philadelphia, Printed for the proprietor, 1839.
Merchant Nathan Dunn founded his Chinese museum in 1838 in Philadelphia. It entertained people through 1841 with views of Chinese rooms, art, and objects.
For more information, see the American Philosophical Society page describing more sources on Dunn.
For a longer description, see China in Miniature: Nathan Dunn's Chinese Museum
For more information, see the American Philosophical Society page describing more sources on Dunn.
For a longer description, see China in Miniature: Nathan Dunn's Chinese Museum
Tokio city, 1915.
Publisher: [Tokyo] : Tokio Municipal Office, [1915]
A guide to Tokyo for English-speaking tourists coming to the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.
Expedition and Embassy Reports:
The Iwakura embassy, 1871-73
Publisher: Chiba, Japan : Japan Documents ; 2002.
Kume Kunitake accompanied Prince Iwakura and four other ambassadors on a long trip through the United States and Europe. Kume's observations are detailed with particularly great interest in landscape, finances, and technology. He is quick to point out praiseworthy things but also is realistic about problems,
A narrative of the British embassy to China, in the years 1792, 1793, and 1794;
Publisher: London : J. Debrett, 1796.
Lord Macartney led the first British embassy to China in 1792. The experience on both sides involved a fair amount of disappointment.
Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China seas and Japan
Publisher: New York : Appleton, 1857.
This is the first volume in the official report of Commodore Perry's voyage, landing in Japan, and meeting with Japanese officials. Remarkable for its many illustrations and maps.
Government Records:
Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (National Archives of Japan)
This agency makes many imortant documents available online in PDFs of the original manuscripts in Japanese. There are two special exhibits on the Web site which translate some of the documents into English:
Russo-Japanese War as Seen in Official Documents
US-Japan War Talks as Seen in Official Documents
Russo-Japanese War as Seen in Official Documents
US-Japan War Talks as Seen in Official Documents
Korean-American relations; documents pertaining to the Far Eastern diplomacy of the United States.
Publisher: Berkeley, University of California Press, 1951-
Shanghai Municipal Police files
Publisher: [Wilmington, Delaware] : Scholarly Resources Inc., [1984?]
Provides copies of reports and other documents in police files. During this era Shanghai had a very large section of the city built in Western style with foreigners working and investing in the city. The police records reflect a mixture of problems in finance, vice, politics, and crime.
U.S. Congressional serial set
Provider: Readex
The online version of the multi-volumes resource that contains all the reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Provides primary source material on all aspects of American history from 1817 to 1941 (digitization is in progress to complete the twentieth century).
Includes such reports as:
Japanese pupils to West Point. Letter from the Secretary of State. April 11, 1871.
Reltions with Japan. Reports of the inaugural mmeting of the American Peace Society of Japan, held in Yokohama, January 30, 1911.
For the relief of sufferers from earthquake in Japan. Letter from the Secretary of War transmitting a draft of proposed legislation for the relief of sufferers from earthquake in Japan. April 22, 1924.
Includes such reports as:
Japanese pupils to West Point. Letter from the Secretary of State. April 11, 1871.
Reltions with Japan. Reports of the inaugural mmeting of the American Peace Society of Japan, held in Yokohama, January 30, 1911.
For the relief of sufferers from earthquake in Japan. Letter from the Secretary of War transmitting a draft of proposed legislation for the relief of sufferers from earthquake in Japan. April 22, 1924.
Literature:
The Columbia anthology of modern Chinese literature
Publisher: New York : Columbia University Press, c2007.
The Columbia anthology of modern Japanese literature
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Columbia University Press, c2005-
The marshes of Mount Liang
Publisher: Hong Kong : Chinese University Press ; c1994-
One of the great Chinese classic novels; also known as The Water Margin. This story of 108 outlaws was first told as stories before being written in the 16th century.
The book's popularity in Japan is demonstrated by the series of woodblock prints illustrating the hero outlaws done by Kuniyoshi in the late 1820s:
Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden. By Inge Klompmakers. Hotei Publishing, 2003. H Magill Art NE1325 U78 A4 2003
The book's popularity in Japan is demonstrated by the series of woodblock prints illustrating the hero outlaws done by Kuniyoshi in the late 1820s:
Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden. By Inge Klompmakers. Hotei Publishing, 2003. H Magill Art NE1325 U78 A4 2003
Shanks' mare,
Publisher: Tokyo, C.E. Tuttle Co. [1960]
This comic novel from the Edo period tells the story of two men's journey on the Tokaido highway. It was the most important road in Japan linking Edo (Tokyo) with Kyoto (the imperial city).
For more information on the tokaido, see:
Hiroshige: The 53 Stations of the Tokaido. Kodansha, 1969.
Tokaido: Adventures on the Road in Old Japan. University of Kansas, 1980.
Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. RoutledgeCurzon, 2004.
For more information on the tokaido, see:
Hiroshige: The 53 Stations of the Tokaido. Kodansha, 1969.
Tokaido: Adventures on the Road in Old Japan. University of Kansas, 1980.
Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. RoutledgeCurzon, 2004.
Missionary Records:
The Chinese recorder and missionary journal
Publisher: Foochow : [s.n., 1868-1912]
Missionaries contributed to and edited this newspaper for the many Church workers in China. In addition to reflecting concerns about conversion, retention of Chinese believers, and relations with authorities at all levels, the newspaper reports on political, social, and cultural issues of the day. See the print index for articles on subjects and people.
Sample printed pages from 1870 concern an ongoing discussion of footbinding and what, if anything, is the responsibility of the Christian missionary.
Sample printed pages from 1870 concern an ongoing discussion of footbinding and what, if anything, is the responsibility of the Christian missionary.
Christianity in China
Publisher: Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, 1989.
This is a guide to material in libraries and archives in the United States. The collections profiled in Pennsylvania are extensive (pages 335-362) and cover a wide range of denominations. For example, the Presbyterian Historical Society has records from the Foreign Board of missions, biography file on missionaries, magazine published in China, and family papers from many missionaries,
Esther Biddle Rhoads papers,
Personal and professional correspondence, documents, notes, pamphlets, clippings, memorabilia and photographs of Esther B. Rhoads. Papers relate in large part to Rhoads' work as missionary, educator, relief administrator and active Quaker, primarily in Japan, but also U.S. and Algeria. Correspondents include: Crown Prince now Emperor Akihito, American Friends Service Committee, Gurney and Elizabeth Binford, Gilbert and Minnie Pickett Bowles, Howard and Anna Cox Brinton, Janice Clevenger, J. Passmore Elkinton, Friends School Tokyo, Seiju Hirakawa, Allan and Elizabeth Hunter, Margaret S. James, Japan Yearly Meeting, the Japanese Imperial Household Dept., Tano Jodai, Thomas and Esther Balderston Jones, Takeshi Kabori, LARA, Tamon Maeda, Fumiyo Miho, Empress Nagako, Herbert Nicholson, Inazo and Mary Elkinton Nitobé Mariko Nittono, Lucille Nixon, Ryu Sato Oyaizu, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Caroline Paxson Rhoads, Edward Rhoads, Jonathan E. and Teresa Rhoads, Margaret Paxson Rhoads, Margaret Whitall Rhoads, Ruth Ely Rhoads, Edith Sharpless, Sarah Smith, FWCC, Germantown Monthly Meeting, Japan Yearly Meeting, Toki Tomiyama, Japanese Embassy, Masa Uraguchi, Elizabeth Gray Vining, Tayeko Yamanouchi and Prince Yoshi no Miya Masahito. Subjects include: education in Japan, including women's and princes', the Japanese royal family, Japanese history and religion, evacuation and relocation of Japanese Americans, civilian relief work in Japan, conscientious objection, Algerian history, missionary work in Japan, and peace work of the Society of Friends.
19th century British Library newspapers
Browseable and searchable online collection of historical British newspapers, scanned in their original format. Covers 1800-1900.
Newspapers and Magazines:
Chinese Recorder, 1868-1941
This newspaper is available full text in the China: Trade, Politics and Culture database. Under the tab Collections, you will find title listings for the newspaper.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports 1974-1996
Translations of newspaper articles and television and radio broadcasts from around the world. Material after 1996 is available in World News Connection.
The New York times on the Web
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1851-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1851-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1851-present.
Publisher: [New York, N.Y.] : New York Times.
Searchable full text of all New York Times papers from the first issue in 1851 to recent years. Useful for finding American attitudes and reactions like this article which approves of Japan's growing strength against the European powers:
Ends Dream of White Race: Prof. Knox Says the War Makes Japan Master of the Far East Sept. 5, 1905.
In an address on "Japan, a World Power," at the Quaker Hill conference to-day, Prof. George William Knox of Union Theological seminary declared that the victory of Japan wiped out the most shameful programme that had ever been conceived-- the proposed partition of China. ...
Ends Dream of White Race: Prof. Knox Says the War Makes Japan Master of the Far East Sept. 5, 1905.
In an address on "Japan, a World Power," at the Quaker Hill conference to-day, Prof. George William Knox of Union Theological seminary declared that the victory of Japan wiped out the most shameful programme that had ever been conceived-- the proposed partition of China. ...
19th century UK periodicals
Contains nearly 600 periodicals published in Great Britain from 1800-1900.
North-China herald.
Publisher: Shanghai [etc.] North-China Daily News & Herald.
Leading English-language Shanghai newspaper, 1850-1941. In microfilm. Addressed to the large English-speaking expatriot audience throughout China.
Sample articles describe the situation just prior to the killings of foreigners in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.
Sample articles describe the situation just prior to the killings of foreigners in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.
North China Mission Quarterly (Changed to North China and Shantung Mission Quarterly Paper) , 1894-1936
This newspaper is available full text in the China: Trade, Politics and Culture database. Under the tab Collections, you will find a listing for all available newspapers under Document Type Periodical.
Travel accounts:
The eastern wonderland
Publisher: London ; Cassell & company, [19--]
This account of Japan was written for English children and presented as a story told by a Japanese student in London to his host family's little girl. It describes his childhood and all the things he enjoyed there. It is heavily illustrated.
Inscribed landscapes
Publisher: Berkeley : University of Calif. Press, c1994.
"Alongside the scores of travel books about China written by foreign visitors, Chinese travelers' impressions of their own country rarely appear in translation. This anthology is the only comprehensive collection in English of Chinese travel writing from the first century A.D. through the nineteenth. Early examples of the genre describe sites important for their geography, history, and role in cultural mythology, but by the T'ang dynasty in the mid eighth century certain historiographical and poetic discourses converged to form the "travel account" (yu-chi) and later the "travel diary" (jih-chi) as vehicles of personal expression and autobiography. These first-person narratives provide rich material for understanding the attitudes of Chinese literati toward place, nature, politics, and the self." "The anthology is abundantly illustrated with paintings, portraits, maps, and drawings. Each selection is meticulously translated, carefully annotated, and prefaced by a brief description of the writer's life and work. The entire collection is introduced by an in-depth survey of the rise of Chinese travel writing as a cultural phenomenon. Inscribed Landscapes provides a unique resource for travelers as well as for scholars of Chinese literature, art, and history."--BOOK JACKET.
A reader in Edo period travel
Publisher: Folkestone, Kent, UK : Global oriental, 2006.
"Largely ignored hitherto by Western scholars, Plutschow's Edo Period Travel provides the first in-depth study of the subject which is centred on fifteen of the period's most notable travellers, some of whom are well known in other fields - as intellectuals, artists, poets, folklorists and natural scientists, for example - but rarely, if at all, as travellers." "The first traveller put in the spotlight is the celebrated intellectual and botanist Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714) and the last is the explorer of Ezo (now Hokkaido) and government official Matsuura Takeshiro (1818-88). Such was the thirst for knowledge in the Edo period that some travel accounts (estimated to number over 2000) became best-sellers in their day, not least for their voyeuristic appeal, including those of Kaibara Ekiken and Tachibana Nankei, which are included in this volume." "Of particular interest also is the author's discussion on the nature of this new travel writing and the self-centred observation and 'seeing' that developed in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which he calls the 'Japanese Enlightenment'."--BOOK JACKET.
II. Journal Articles:
Journal articles provide in depth scholarly information on historical research. They are vetted and improved by peer review. The following indexes are the best ways to find journal articles about East Asian history.
Currently indexes over 3800 journals and magazines in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences starting with 1986. More than half of the citations include the full-text of the article. Use this for a quick overview of articles in the journals that appeal to broader scholarly audiences.
Discipline-specific Indexes
These indexes are particularly good for accessing the scholarly literature of specific disciplines, i.e., articles written by historians, and other Asian studies scholars.
For history (other than the United States), use Historical Abstracts
For United States history, use America History and Life
For Asian studies, use Bibliography of Asian Studies
For all disciplines, use the full-text journal database, JSTOR
For literature, use MLAFor religion, use ATLA Religion Database
Use the green Find It button in these indexes to find out if the journal articles are available in the Tri-College libraries. If the journal is not listed in Tripod, use the Find It request form or the Interlibrary Loan Request Form on Tripod to have a copy of the article sent to you from another library.
Recommended Journals in East Asian History and Cultural Studies
These scholarly journals are all available in the three colleges. Most have current issues online. In many cases older issues are archived online in JSTOR. See entries for specific information.
China quarterly
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1960-present except most recent 1 year(s).
(Haverford College) Available from 1960-present except most recent 1 year(s).
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1960-present.
Publisher: Paris : Congress for Cultural Freedom,
Older issues available in JSTOR.
Harvard journal of Asiatic studies
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 2009-present, 1936-2003.
(Haverford College) Available from 1936-2003, 2009-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 2009-present, 1936-2003.
Publisher: Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard-Yenching Institute,
Newer issues (latest five years) in paper copies.
Journal of Asian studies
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1956-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1956-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1956-present.
Publisher: [Ann Arbor, Mich.] : Far Eastern Association,
Older issues available in JSTOR.
Journal of Japanese studies
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1974-2003, 2004-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 2004-present, 1974-2003.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1974-2003, 2004-present.
Publisher: Seattle, Wash. : Society for Japanese Studies,
Korean studies
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 2000-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 2000-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 2000-present.
Publisher: Honolulu, HI : University of Hawaii Press.
Older issues available in paper copies at BMC.
Late imperial China
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1996-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1996-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1996-present.
Publisher: Baltimore, MD : Johns Hopkins University Press.
Older issues available in paper copies.
Modern China
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1975-2005.
(Haverford College) Available from 1975-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1975-present.
Publisher: Beverly Hills, Calif. : Sage Publications,
Older issues available in JSTOR.
Monumenta Nipponica
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 2005-present, 1938-2003.
(Haverford College) Available from 2005-present, 1938-2003.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 2005-present, 1938-2003.
Publisher: Tokyo : Sophia University,
Volume for 2004 available in paper.
Nan nü
Holdings:
(Haverford College) Available from 1999-present.
Publisher: [Leiden, the Netherlands] : Brill Academic Publisher.
Positions (Durham, N.C. : Online)
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 2000-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1993-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1993-present.
Publisher: Durham, NC : Duke University Press.
Older issues available in paper copies.