Chinese Studies

This guide offers curated resources and research support for the study of China’s history, language, literature, politics, philosophy, art, and culture..

Comprehensive Open Access Resources

國家哲學社會科學文獻中心
The database contains over 20 million literature resources in philosophy and social science fields, including Chinese periodicals, foreign periodicals, ancient books, and so on. It also offers services like online reading and full-text download. There are also links to government agencies, higher education institutions, academic institutions, and other databases. Please note, however, that there may be limitations to some of our download services.
全球漢籍影像開放集成系統
The first global digital image retrieval platform for ancient texts has completed its first phase, with a compilation of image data from over 90 Chinese ancient text databases worldwide, totaling 170,000 entries (approximately 136,918 works and 32,654 volumes). The core function of the system is to provide one-stop access to and reading of ancient text edition images.

Databases for Premodern Chinese Studies

奎章閣——中國古典文獻資源導航系統
Researchers specializing in traditional literary and historical subjects, such as classical philology, ancient literature, history, and paleography, will find our database valuable. It includes a wide range of materials such as the full texts of ancient books, photographs, catalogs of ancient texts, digital humanities resources, magazines, literary epics, primary school themes, and content related to Buddhism, Taoism, and Dunhuang topics. Additionally, the database features forum communities and virtual reality experiences. The database is rich in resources, offers free, non-profit services, contains no advertisements, and is dedicated to providing pure academic materials to support your research needs.
書格
The database focuses on digitally archiving and sharing public domain books that span across different historical periods, from Song and Yuan rare books to Ming and Qing rare books, and up to modern releases. We provide high-definition color image copies of books in PDF format, with a special emphasis on art, video, rare, and ancient Chinese books and artworks that have excellent printing quality. In addition to conventional old books, our collection includes unique categories such as paintings, calligraphy, manuscripts, stele rubbings, maps, and images, providing a comprehensive and valuable resource for researchers.

中華古籍資源庫
The database currently houses a diverse range of materials, including rare and common ancient books from the National Library of China, oracle bones, Dunhuang documents, inscription rubbings, Xixia documents, Zhaocheng Jinzang, local chronicles, family trees, New Year pictures, old photos, and other resources collected both within the country and abroad. It boasts over 20,000 digital ancient books, 30,000 rubbings of Ming and Qing inscriptions, and 10,000 rubbings of oracle bones and real objects, making it a treasure trove of historical and cultural knowledge. However, please be aware that some modern books are copyrighted, and specific materials such as doctoral dissertations and e-books are exclusively available for computer reading through the National Library of Resources Service.
臺北中研院史語所傅斯年圖書館善本古籍資料庫
The database features 12 distinct types of digital collections, encompassing a wide range of subjects such as archaeology, bamboo slips, stone rubbings, Southwest cultural relics, Buddhist portraits, stone statues, and rare books, along with other ancient book images. Our cross-database query function and advanced search capabilities are designed to accommodate users’ diverse research needs. The images provided are clear, supporting online browsing for convenient access. However, it is important to note that the database currently only offers video data, and some users may find the search function to be less user-friendly than desired.
臺灣“國家圖書館”古籍與特藏資源
This database is a comprehensive collection of precious rare and ancient books housed within its library. The collection primarily consists of rare books, engraved editions, thread-bound books, lithographs, typographical prints, rubbings, prints, ancient documents, century-old Western books, newspapers, periodicals, and historical images and documents. A significant portion of the collection includes rare books from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, covering topics such as classical literature, history, and philosophy. Notably, the database also features relatively rare block editions from the Qing Dynasty, Korea, Japan, and Annan.
中文古籍聯合目錄及循證平台

This search platform includes the ancient book collection catalogs of over 1,400 institutions.

Academic University and Institution Libraries

臺灣大學圖書館
The database serves as a vital repository for Taiwanese historical materials. Its collections feature an array of Chinese and Japanese rare books, thread-bound books, as well as historical materials from Taiwan's Japanese colonial period. Unfortunately, it's important to note that online access is not currently available for these resources.
香港中文大學圖書館中國古籍庫
The database encompasses a rich compilation of rare books, special collections, manuscripts, and archival documents. Within the rare books category, there are Chinese and Western sections. The Chinese section includes thread-bound books printed from the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong period, while the Western section features works published before 1900. Additional highlights of the collection include ancient Chinese books, a classical Chinese medicine library, Lingnan library, university archives, Republic of China special collections, and a Taoist classic library, among others, encompassing a broad spectrum of topics. The Chinese Rare Book Digital Collection is a primary focus of the database, providing an exceptional browsing experience for users.
臺灣師範大學圖書館善本古籍
The database offers access to over 20,000 volumes of ancient books for online browsing. However, it's important to note that the quality of the full-text images appears blurry, and the functionality of the online browsing feature is somewhat limited.
香港中文大學圖書館利氏北山堂贈中國古籍善本
The database features a comprehensive collection of ancient books, including rare editions from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, engraved editions from the Qing Dynasty, overprints from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, among other valuable items. These ancient books represent a rich variety of editions, with a high degree of completeness and excellent quality. Clear engraved editions and Qing engraved editions are available for online reading. The collection of precious classics is a valuable resource for the study of Chinese cultural history.
中山大學圖書館碑帖開放平台
The database houses an extensive collection of approximately 38,000 stone rubbings, along with some bronze rubbings. This diverse assortment includes steles, epitaphs, portraits, statues, scriptures, bells, and inkstones, covering a range of subjects such as history, geography, religion, calligraphy, painting, and seal cutting. However, it is important to note that users are required to register and log in before they can browse images of inscriptions. Additionally, the search function may be less than optimal, with most documents being viewable on a single page only.
浙江大學圖書館館藏珍貴古籍展示
The database aims to compile a comprehensive archive of precious ancient books. It predominantly features ancient books written or printed before 1912, each holding significant historical, ideological, and cultural value. This collection serves as an indispensable resource for cultural heritage protection and provides a rich repository of materials for cultural researchers. The scope of the collection is extensive, encompassing a vast number of valuable ancient books from across the entire country. However, it is important to note that the online browsing functionality is not without its flaws, with apparent limitations such as the ability to view only one page from each ancient book.
學苑汲古——高校古文獻資源庫
This database brings together bibliographic records of ancient literature resources from 24 mainland Chinese universities. The resource library primarily consists of ancient books and maps accumulated by various libraries. The search functionality is versatile, allowing users to refine their queries based on edition type, publication year, and location. This precision is particularly beneficial when searching for specific items. The database's data is both relevant and standardized, thereby facilitating a better understanding of ancient book editions and their respective collection addresses for researchers and readers alike. However, it is important to note that most ancient books are available for borrowing in libraries, with digital versions being limited.

Archives in Local Libraries

首都圖書館古籍珍善本圖像資料庫
The database boasts a vast collection of nearly 500,000 volumes of ancient books, with a significant focus on Confucianism and History. Users can conveniently view book shadows online. In an effort to preserve rare editions, the platform offers digitized images and comprehensive bibliographic data for these ancient texts. However, it's important to note that readers are required to register in order to access the content. After downloading the Capital Library's online reading control, users can then enjoy free online reading. Currently, this feature is only compatible with the Internet Explorer browser.
上海圖書館藏古籍選覽
The database contains 472 different types of ancient books online, which users can read. Provides a convenient online reading service, as well as retrieval and browsing capabilities. The main drawback of this database is that it has a small number of collections, a relatively narrow scope of coverage, may not be able to meet the needs of some users, and the classification is unclear.
天津圖書館歷史文獻數字資源庫
The database houses valuable collections such as rare books, local chronicles, modern Chinese history, and revolutionary literature. It houses a large collection of valuable books and is ideal for scholars or readers interested in ancient books, local chronicles, modern history, revolutionary literature, and other subjects. The disadvantage of this database is that you can only browse or download books online after you log in.
浙江省歷史文獻數字資源總庫
The database contains a wide range of document types and subject topics, including academic resources, e-books, e-newspapers, education, art, foreign languages, self-built databases, local chronicles, ancient books, lectures, live broadcasts, videos, and so on. Classification search and initial letter search are supported. Ancient book collection, genealogy, imprints, foreign Chinese books, stone rubbings, and so on. The disadvantage is that the digital version of ancient books contains a watermark, which interferes with the viewing experience slightly.
蘇州圖書館古籍庫
The database meticulously compiles and organizes a selection of ancient books from Suzhou and its surrounding regions, including various annals such as prefecture, county, township, character, as well as garden and scenic spot annals. Other notable contents include genealogies and poetry anthologies. Users are offered the convenience of online reading, with the added ability to copy and quote texts attached to ancient books. It's worth noting, however, that the database is specialized in ancient books from this particular field and does not extend to include other types of documents.