Chinese Studies E-resources

Subscription-based (Cambridge members only) - Chinese Language Databases

These resources are available only to readers using Cambridge University machines with authorised IP addresses and/or with Cris ID/email account and password. To use them off-campus, you may be able to use a Cambridge University VPN. You can watch Video Introduction for Chinese Studies Electronic Databases to learn more about some databases' functions. 

New  Free Trial: 

• 中国地方历史文献数据库 (Trial will end on 31 July 2025) ：所有文献或来源于上海交通大学地方文献中心专家的田野调查或市场收购。文献总量约为35万件，150万页。数据库包括徽州文书、石仓文书和鄱阳湖文书三大文书专题收藏。收录包括浙江、安徽、福建、江西等10多个省的材料。收藏时段包括明、清、中华民国和中华人民共和国史时期。文件类型包含契约、账本、赋役、诉讼、行政、家谱、信函、日用类书与工具书、家礼、宗教、戏剧、教育考试。数据库还可以通过人物姓氏进行搜索。

  • On campus link: https://ndfwx-hw.datahistory.cn/

  • Off campus link: https://ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/login?url=https://ndfwx-hw.datahistory.cn/

• Jiefangjun Bao Digital Archive 解放军报 (Trial will end on 2 May 2025)  is the official newspaper of the People’s Republic of China’s Central Military Commission. The publication was established in 1956 and acts as the authoritative media of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to release military news and comprehensive military-related information. This archive contains all published issues from 1956-present (over 950,000 articles) and offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title. The archive is full text only and includes all content contained in the original published issues. A blog post about this trial is available here. Please promote to your users as appropriate.

• All CNKI databases (Trial will end on 31 May 2025): 
  • China Academic Journals Full-text Database (CAJ)
  • China Monographic Serials Full-text Database (CCJD)
  • Theses and Dissertations Database (CDMD)
  • China/International Conference Proceedings Database (CPCD)
  • China Core Newspapers Full-text Database (CCND)
  • China Reference Works Online (CRWO)
  • China Yearbooks Full-text Database (CYFD)
  • China Statistical Yearbooks Full-text Database (CSYD)
  • CNKI eBooks (CCGB)
  • Academic Reference (AR)
  • CNKI Journal Translation Project
  • National Population Census of China

Cambridge Subscriptions (Alphabetical order): 

• Airiti iRead Ebooks (華藝电子書). 10% content is free for unpurchased books. For Cambridge members, please contact us if you need full access to any title from this platform. 
• CHANT Databases (新漢達文庫) (包括甲骨文、金文、先秦兩漢、魏晉南北朝、竹簡、類書、説文解字）. User's Guide
• Chinese Dictionary Compendium (漢語辭典總匯) . With more than 120 volumes and databases, the Chinese Dictionary Compendium houses the largest collection of high-quality dictionaries and reference works in modern and traditional Chinese. This includes漢語大詞典（第一版+訂補), 康熙字典, 现代汉语大词典, 中国古今地名大词典, 经典汉语工具书大系。
• Chinese Periodical Full-text Database (1911-1949) (民国时期期刊全文数据库) (5 simultaneous users): It covers around 10,000,000 pieces of literature in about 20,000 different kinds of periodicals published between 1911 and 1949. Video Introduction.
• CNKI/CAJ-CJP Serials Databases （中国知网期刊库）

• Dacheng Guzhidui Full Text Database （大成故纸堆）including seven sub-databases: 
  • Dacheng Old Journals Full Text Database 老旧刊 
  • Dacheng Ancient Books Full Text Database 民国图书
  • Dacheng Books of Republic of China Full Text Database 近代报纸
  • Dacheng Collection of Ancient Chinese Local Chronicles (- 1949) 古方志集
  • Dacheng History of the Communist Party of China Periodicals Database 古籍文献
  • Dacheng Modern Newspapers Database 党史 （1949 -）
  • Dacheng Old Photos Database 老照片
• New The Database for the History of Contemporary Chinese Political Movements, 1949 –中國當代政治運動史數據庫
  • 中国文化大革命文库
  • 中国反右数据库，1957-
  • 中国大跃进-大饥荒数据库，1958-1962
  • 中国五十年代初中期的政治运动数据库：从土地改革到公私合营，1949-1956
• Diaolong Full-Text Database of Chinese and Japanese Ancient Books (雕龍——中國日本古籍全文檢索資料庫)
• Duxiu （读秀）: e-book and electronic journal database, and offers document delivery service. 
• Erudition (爱如生古籍库), including:
  • Database of Chinese Classics Ancient Books 7.0 edition (中国基本古籍库7.0版)
  • Database of Chinese Local Records 1, 2, 3 (中国方志库 初集， 中国方志库 二集， 中国方志库 三集)
  • Database of China Ancient Encyclopedia (中国类书库 初集)
  • Database of Chinese Popular Literature (中国俗文库 初集)
  • Database of Dunhuang Documents (敦煌文献库 初集)
  •   Note: Only 1 simultaneous user permitted. Please remember to log-out when you have finished your session.
• New Late Qing Full-text Database (1833~1911) (晚清期刊全文数据库) (5 simultaneous users): Includes 300 journals published during the late Qing Dynasty (1833 to 1911). Video Introduction. 
• National Palace Museum Journals Archive (故宮期刊知識庫) (Part of Taiwan Academic Classics) includes 《故宮英文年刊》，《故宮文物月刊》，《故宮學術季刊》，and《故宮季刊》.
• Oxford Language Dictionaries Online
• Shen Bao Digital Archive (申报 1872-1949）
• Sinica Sinoweb (中研院經典人文學刊) （Part of Taiwan Academic Classics)
• Student’s Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese
• Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services (台灣電子期刊服務網)
• Zhuanji Wenxue Digital Archive （傳記文學)  (Part of Taiwan Academic Classics) 

Subscription-based (Cambridge members only) - English and other language databases：

• Amerasia Affair;China;and Postwar Anti-Communist Fervor
• Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange (Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO)) 
• Bibliography of Asian Studies
• Bloomsbury Collections (Subject Collections) including Asia studies collection. 
• Cambridge Archive Editions Online. This primary source database is comprised mostly of documents and maps from the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Collections include East and Southeast Asia, Near and Middle East, North America, Slavic and Baltic and Caucasus.
• China: Records of the U.S. Department of State;1930-1939: Part 1 
• China: Records of the U.S. Department of State;1930-1939: Part 2
• China: Records of the U.S. Department of State;1940-1944
• China: Records of the U.S. Department of State;1945-1949 
• China and the Modern World: Hong Kong, Britain, and China, 1841-1951
• Chinese Civil War and U.S.-China Relations: Records of the U.S. State Department's Office of Chinese Affairs;1945-1955 
• Chinese Maritime Customs Service Publications
• Chinese Maritime Customs Service: The Customs' Gazette;1869-1913
• Chinese Recorder and the Protestant Missionary Community in China;1867-1941 
• Cold War: Global Perspectives on East-West Tensions, 1945-1991 
• Country Intelligence Reports on China (1941-1961)
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
• East India Company
• Economic Cooperation Administration's Relief Mission in Post-War China;1946-1948
• Evangelism in China: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions;1837-1911   New  Video Introduction
• Factiva: including a wide range of information from newspapers, newswires, industry publications, websites, company reports, and more. 
• Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports
• General George C. Marshall's Mission to China;1945-1947
• German Foreign Relations and Military Activities in China;1919-1935
• Kanopy: Contains many documentaries or films on China 
• Lexis+: newspapers, law legislation, law reports, and etc, related to China. 
• Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council 
• New Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Part II: Asia and the West
• Nineteenth Century English-Language Journals from the Far East 
• North China Herald （北华捷报）
• Overton, the world’s largest searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers, including Chinese government policy documents and China related papers and publications. You need to create an account with your @cam.ac.uk email and then can login at app.overton.io.
• Oxford Bibliographies: Chinese Studies
• Oxford Language Dictionaries Online
• Papers of British Consulates and Legation in China (1722-1951) 
• Political Relations and Conflict between Republican China and Imperial Japan;1930-1939: Records of the U.S. State Department 
• Political Relations Between China; the U.S. and Other Countries;1910-1929
• Political; Economic; and Military Conditions in China: Reports and Correspondence of the U.S. Military Intelligence Division;1918-1941
• New Propaganda and the Chinese Press : Global Perspectives, 1946-1996
• Records of the Far Eastern Commission;1945-1952
• Records of the U.S. Information Service in China: Chinese Press Reviews and Summaries;1944-1950 
• Records of US State Department's Division of Chinese Affairs
• Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette;1908-1940
• Subject Files of US State Department's Office of the Republic of China Affairs (1951-1978)
• Tiananmen Square and U.S.-China Relations;1989-1993

To see a comprehensive list of databases related to Chinese Studies at University of Cambridge. 

Non-subscribed (freely available)

These highly selective lists contain links to Chinese-related resources which are freely available on the internet. The links are reviewed periodically but their continued validity cannot be guaranteed.

• Index database for Digital Collections on Pre-Modern China by Yan He
• 晚清民国时期数字化报刊索引免费数据库 by Yan He and Ka Hang Ngau
• Historic newspapers published in China and freely available
• 镜原甲骨数字平台 (oracular.azurewebsites.net) by Peichao Qin
• Chinese Text Project (中國哲學書電子化計劃) 
• 全文发现: Index and links to resources especially classic texts. Many resources are open access. 
• Kanseki Repository: 經部, 史部, 子部, 集部, 道部, 佛部
• Chinese Studies on the World Wide Web
• Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers
• Modernhistory.org.cn (抗日战争与近代中日关系文献数据平台）
• Rare Books and Manuscripts from the National Library of China
• 西夏文獻總目：根據張恩輔製作的存世西夏及黑水城文獻總目錄2024版修改而成
• 澳門虛擬圖書館（Macao Virtual Library): contains open access full-text books and journals published in Macao. 
• 港澳中文期刊論文索引 (Hong Kong and Macao Index to Chinese Periodicals)：contains 收錄刊名, 澳門期刊論文索引, 香港文學資料庫, and 香港特藏.
• Other Chinese Collections

Free online dictionaries:

• Unicode Hàn (漢) Database (Unihan)
• Dictionary of Chinese Chracter Variants （異體字字典）
• 簡牘字典 中研院史語所藏居延漢簡資料庫
• 電子佛教辭典 （Digital Dictionary of Buddhism）

 Free tools:

• LoGaRT: Local Gazetteers (地方志） Research Tools.  Video Introduction by Association of Asian Studies.