East Asian Studies

Borrowing & Requesting Changes for Dec. 2023 and Jan. 2024
Important Information you need to know

East Asian Collection and Reading Room Re-opened

The East Asian Collection in the 10th Floor North Reading Room of Bobst Library is fully open to researchers. Come see where the reference materials are located, find your CJK books and serials, browse our Japanese manga collection, and enjoy the views.

A-Z list of Chinese Language Databases at NYU.

nciku - Mandarin-English online dictionary
 

• China Culture and Society contains the pamphlets held in the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia housed in the Carl A. Kroch Library, Division of Asia Collections at Cornell University. Mostly in English and published between c. 1750 and 1929, these rare pamphlets form part of one of the deepest and most extensive collections of literature on China and the Chinese in the Western world.
• ChinaInfoLaw offers English translations of Chinese legal materials, including laws and regulations, judicial cases, and legal news. In addition, the database offers the table of contents of leading Chinese Law Journals in Chinese and in some cases in both English and Chinese. Some material on the website is also available to non-subscribers. Available through NYU Law Library, and online access.
• Early Chinese Periodicals Online (ECPO, 1897-1953), University of Heidelberg.
  This is a new Open Access resource and has features that are not yet complete. Content is freely available, no login is required. Topics include film, literature, gender, religion, medicine, fashion, politics, family life and more. For a list of periodical titles, or a user guide, please email the EA Studies librarian.
• Frontiers of Literary Studies in China. We have online access to this important journal through several different databases.
• LingLong: The women's magazine published in Shanghai between 1931 and 1937, digitized by Columbia University's Starr East Asian Library.
• National Digital Library of China Digital collections at the National Library of China.

"Chinese Women’s Magazines in the Late Qing and Early Republican Period" (CATS, Heidelberg University)

Central China Normal University Library, China Local Gazetteers / 华中师范大学中国农村研究院

• Registration based on user location - available only for those in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao.
• Individual registration required (not through NYU).

NOTE: This database registration requires personal information: "When registering, you need to fill in the user name, real name, password, mobile phone number, email address, date of birth, region, education, industry, and unit, and verify the validity by mobile phone verification code."

Chinese Deathscape - Edited by Thomas S. Mullaney. A Stanford Digital Project. [Stanford, California]: Stanford University Press, 2019. Online resource. 

"In the past decade alone, ten million corpses have been exhumed and reburied across the Chinese landscape. The campaign has transformed China's graveyards into sites of acute personal, social, political, and economic contestation. In this digital volume, three historians of China, Jeffrey Snyder-Reinke, Christian Henriot, and Thomas S. Mullaney, chart out the history of China's rapidly shifting deathscape. Each essay grapples with a different dimension of grave relocation and burial reform in China over the past three centuries: from the phenomenon of "baby towers" in the Lower Yangzi region of late imperial China, to the histories of death in the city of Shanghai, and finally into the history of grave relocation during the contemporary period, examined by Mullaney, when both its scale and tempo increased dramatically. Rounding off these historical analyses, a colophon by platform developers David McClure and Glen Worthey speak to new reading methodologies emerging from a format in which text and map move in concert to advance historical argumentation."--Publisher data.

The Wire China
"The Wire is a digital news magazine dedicated to understanding and explaining one of the biggest stories of our time: China's economic rise, and its influence on global business, finance, trade, labor and the environment."

Locating Data:

• Databases A-Z Data Sets - list of Data Sets at NYU
• Includes Data Planet Statistical Datasets

• C-text (Chinese Text Project) is an online open-access digital library. It has an open platform that makes pre-modern Chinese texts available to readers and researchers all around the world. You can search for texts by title across the site.
• Chinese Film and Newsreel Scripts from the Cultural Revolution Online - Documentary films and newsreels were two of the major mass media and communication channels in China from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. They covered all aspects of social activities, though the emphasis was on developments in the building of a socialist country. The bulk of the items in the collection are transcripts for the documentary films and newsreels from the Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976.
• Duxiu / 读秀 is a comprehensive index of Chinese publications of all sorts. There are over 4,000 Ming (1368-1644) documents and more than 300,000 volumes of Qing (1644-1911) archival materials in this database, including e-books, periodicals, newspapers, theses, and conference proceedings. It does not provide full text for everything it indexes, however, and the amount of text you can see varies. If you come across something for which the full text is not available, please request it via Interlibrary Loan or contact the East Asian Studies librarian to discuss the possibility of purchasing it for the library.
• Modern Chinese Literature Research Portal (中国现代文学网）is an exciting new collection of searchable texts.

• Historical Photographs of China is an online collection of digitized images of pictures taken between 1870 and 1950. Its 6,000-plus images can be searched by keyword, date, and so on. The collection's designers are continuing to expand it and are seeking feedback from users.
• Hong Kong Protests Collection 2019 from the Internet Archive. An online collection of digitized posters and images taken during the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests against the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 

• Norman Spencer Photographs (1999-2019) 
  UC San Diego digital collection
  Norman A. Spencer, Ph.D. has taught at universities in Africa, China, and the U.S. including the China Communications University in Beijing. From 1999 to 2019 he repeatedly traveled to China documenting notable artists, writers, directors, and musicians active in the Chinese independent and underground film and art scene. Most of the photographs were taken in Beijing and later in Dali in Yunnan Province in the southwest of China. 

• Sidney D. Gamble digital collection (1924 to 1932 during Gamble’s last two trips (1924-27 & 1931-32) to China)
  Duke University Libraries
  Collection of over 5500+ photographs taken by Sidney Gamble in China, Japan, Korea and Russia. Gamble was interested in the Mass Education Movement/平民教育運動
  The finding aid to the collection is here https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/gamblesidney/
  Research guide about the photographer and his works and past exhibitions: https://guides.library.duke.edu/Gamblephotos

The East Asian Library at Princeton University has made available a large number of searchable indexes for Wenshi ziliao
https://dpul.princeton.edu/ealtoc

The 抗日战争与近代中日关系文献数据平台of the CASS 近代史研究所 made some 16,000 volumes of Wenshi ziliao freely accessible: https://www.modernhistory.org.cn/#/Specialdetails?fileCode=201070948167940665&title=%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%94%BF%E5%8D%8F%E6%96%87%E5%8F%B2%E8%B5%84%E6%96%99%E4%B8%93%E9%A2%98%E5%BA%93&flag=false

https://dpul.princeton.edu/ealtoc/browse/wenshi-ziliao-literary-and-historical-materials

"The table of contents indexes are searchable on each administrative level (with some exceptions like Xinjiang), and the underlying PDFs can also be downloaded for local use. Altogether there are about 1,250 documents with about 45,800 pages of article information for about 500,000 articles."

Ming Qing Women's Writings Digital Archive and Database Project, McGill Library
This project is dedicated to the digitization of collections of writings by women in late imperial China (1368-1911) - Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) periods. It includes a link for each writer to the China Biographical Database hosted at Harvard University. Search by chronological range of publications, types of publications (poetry, prose, etc.), and browse by many options (collections by library, year, type, or indexes by names, gender, ethnic groups, marital status, and more).

Library of Congress Rare Book Digital Collection
"The Chinese Rare Book Digital Collection includes the most valuable titles and editions housed in the Library’s Asian Division, some of which date back to the 11th or 12th century and are the only extant copies in the world."

World Digital Library
Chinese Books, Manuscripts, Maps, and Prints - Presented on this timeline are manuscripts, books, and maps made in China and for the most part written in Chinese between circa 1199 BCE and 1931. These documents show the complexity and richness of Chinese civilization over a period of more than three millennia. The originals of these documents are in the collections of the National Library of China, the Library of Congress, and the National Central Library, and were contributed by these institutions to the World Digital Library.

Collection Items

Unofficial Poetry Journals from China, Leiden University
Unofficial poetry journals from China are accessible online here. This opens up thousands of pages from an internationally unique collection of unofficial Chinese poetry for teaching, research, and the general public, including literary criticism and polemics. The unofficial journals are published privately, outside the official literary infrastructure in China. Collected by Maghiel van Crevel, professor of Chinese language and literature at Leiden University. These unofficial publications go back to an underground circuit during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Chinese History Dissertation Reviews features overviews of recently defended, unpublished doctoral dissertations in the field of Chinese history.

• Access World News: Access World News provides the html full text articles and transcripts from a variety of national and international news sources (mostly in English), including newspapers, digital-native news websites, television and radio transcripts, blogs, college and university newspapers, journals, magazines, and some audio and video. Dates of coverage vary from title to title, but primarily span the late 20th century to present. There are at least 16 newspapers from China.
• Chinese Modern Newspapers and Periodicals (Erudition): This database includes the full text of Chinese periodicals from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republican period. After logging in using IP authentication (no username or password necessary), select "合集（第一辑、第二辑）" to access the database.
• Chinese News 加華時報 (1983-1998), UC San Diego digital collection
  The Chinese News, the inaugural content for the Sally T. WongAvery collection, features a digital archive of the newspaper created from the print archive donated by Mr. Stanley Ting in partnership with UC San Diego Alumna, Lawyer and Philanthropist Ms. Sally T. WongAvery. The Chinese News, founded by Mr. Ting in 1983, distributed news and advertising to the Chinese American population in San Diego and southern California until 1998. The weekly newspaper contains local and international news articles written in Chinese in addition to advertising in English and Chinese.
• Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953), ProQuest Historical Newspapers - This historical newspaper provides insight into Chinese political and social life during the turbulent 120 year period from 1832 to 1953 with 12 English-language Chinese historical newspapers. Included are critical perspectives on the ending of more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in China, the Taiping Rebellion, the Opium Wars with Great Britain, the Boxer Rebellion and the events leading up to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China. In addition to the article content, the full-image newspapers offer searchable access to advertisements, editorials, cartoons, and classified ads that illuminate history.
• CNBKSY Database is a database of both English- and Chinese language newspapers of the 19th and early 20th centuries from the collections of The Shanghai Library. The Database includes: North-China Daily News, Herald Newspapers and Hong Lists.
  • The North-China Daily News & Herald, Limited, was the most important and largest British-founded press agency in Shanghai in the 1800s.
  • The North-China Herald: Founded in 1850, it was the first English newspaper published in Shanghai.
  • The North-China Daily News: Originally a supplement to The North-China Herald, the News later increased in importance, while the Herald became its supplement.
  • The North-China Desk Hong List: Provides both general and detailed information about various firms, enterprises and agencies (foreign agencies in particular) in Shanghai and other major cities around China.
• The Current Digest of the Chinese Press, trial ends 11/18/2020 - The Current Digest of the Chinese Press is a 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.
• Guangming Ribao Digital Archive (Guangming Daily, Guangming Ribao, Guang ming ri bao, 光明日报) contains a central newspaper of the People’s Republic of China, and has been reporting national news for over 60 years. The full-image and full-text Guangming Daily gives comprehensive insights into developments in China in the 19th century and into the 20th century. The database covers the Guangming Daily published from 1949 to 2017.
• Historic newspapers published in China - Open Access Online
• HNP South China Morning Post - also available via SFX links for Bobcat records
• Late Qing and Republican Era Chinese Newspapers through East View (292 titles), released as the first Open Access collection coming out of the Global Press Archive (GPA) CRL Charter Alliance. The collection, ultimately comprising 500,000 pages from hundreds of titles published in China between 1912 and 1949, is hosted on East View’s GPA platform with robust search functionality for multi-language content.
• People's Daily (Renmin ribao / 人民日报) covers from 1946 to the present. To enter database click on the "Please click here to enter" link.
• PressReader (formerly PressDisplay) provides access to the most current 3 months of newspapers around the world. Newspapers are presented in a browsable and visual format. Includes the following newspapers in Chinese: 美术报 China Art Weekly, 中国剪报 China Digest, 中国企业报 China Enterprise News, 中国国门时报 China Inspection and Quarantine Times,中国医药报 China Pharmaceutical News, 联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao, 浅江晚报 Qianjiang Evening News, 今日早报 Zhejiang Morning News, and 浙江日报 Zhejiang Daily. In English it has the China Daily, China Economist, Shanghai Daily, and South China Morning Post.
• Shen bao online: The Shen Bao Digital Archive / 申报 presents the complete collection of all issues, from the newspaper’s founding in 1872 to 1949 and is an invaluable research tool. This was the first newspaper in China with a Chinese editorial staff. Containing more than 2 million articles, the database is 100% full-text searchable and contains the full-image of each page.
• The 60-volume reprint of the Nanjing edition of 中央日报 Zhong yang ri bao (1928-1949) is in the oversize section of the Bobst East Asian Studies collection, at the West end of the 10th floor North reading room.
  • Call number: NYU Bobst Library; East Asian; AN.C6 Z46 1994 Oversize

Greater China Archival Resources Web Archive - The Greater China Archival Resources Web Archive collects websites belonging to established, physical archives and learned archival societies located in the Greater China region, and archival projects from or about the Greater China region. Under the Chinese government, local archives administratively operate under the guidance of the local archival bureaus which themselves are part of local government and responsible for archival management for entire geographical areas. Therefore, the information available on the websites not only covers the collections that are held in each of the physical archives, but also includes policies, news, reports, research articles, and publications that are related to archival management in respective provinces, cities, or countries. Curated by librarians within the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, the Archive aims to provide stable reference to the born-digital content originating from Chinese archives for future access, and attempts to capture the changes of these websites over time, thus documenting political change in China. This is an ongoing collection, and will be added to substantially in the coming weeks and months.

Historical Journals

• A Compilation of the Companion Pictorial 良友合订本 (1926-1945) is a twenty-volume reprint of this important Republican Era journal. It is located in the oversize section of the East Asian Collection on the west side of the 10th floor reading room; click the link for call number information.  
• Zhongguo jin xian dai nü xing qi kan hui bian (中國近現代女性期刊匯編), a large set of books consisting of women's periodicals from the early 20th century, can be found on the 10th floor in the East Asian Collection. To see all the journal titles in this compilation, search BobCat for that title; or search for an individual title, such as Zhongguo fu nü (中國婦女).

Contemporary Journals

We subscribe to the following print journals in Chinese. Click the title to check availability in BobCat. Current issues are in the Current Periodical room on the 3rd floor of Bobst; bound back issues are found in the stacks of Bobst at the call number indicated in BobCat.

• Shou huo 收穫
• Dang dai 当代
• Shi yue 十月
• Hua cheng 花城
• Shanghai wen xue 上海文学
• Tian ya 天涯
• Zhongguo shi yan jiu 中国史研究

Material not available at NYU Libraries:
Need a resource that we don't appear to have, request the material via Interlibrary Loan or EZBorrow.

Manhattan Research Library Initiative (MaRLI)
If you are in NYC and are an NYU doctoral student or full-time faculty member, try MaRLI, the Manhattan Research Library Initiative. MaRLI enables cardholders from NYU, Columbia, and NY Public Library to borrow materials from all three institutions. Registration is required.

NYU has Interlibrary Loan with the National Library of China!
Request through our ILL office. Articles are sent as photocopies and books are loaned for 6 weeks.

In addition, the University of Pittsburgh's East Asian Gateway offers free delivery of academic articles in Chinese that are not held by any library in the United States.

For help at NYU Shanghai:

• Please see their library guide: Primary Source Materials in China: Guide on China
• Contact the library staff in Shanghai
• NYU Shanghai guide

Library Guide for Researching Governance and Law in China (NYU Shanghai Library)