Trial to the Zhongguo di fang li shi wen xian ku

January 17, 2018. Princeton users have trial access until April 17 to the 中国地方历史文献库 database.

The archives in this database were collected by the Center of Local Archives at Shanghai Jiao Tong University through field studies, through purchase on the market in Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, or through copying archives held by families in villages directly. The complete collection will contain 1.5 million pages, but this first phase of the database contains some one tenth of that, including 7,000 texts from Shicang (Zhejiang), and 9,000 texts from Huizhou (currently Wuyuan and She Xian, Anhui Province). Other material from these and other places will follow. This database is the only one of its type in China. The texts were proofread by Prof. Cao Shuji to ensure their accuracy.

The contents in the database can be categorized into 13 subjects: contracts, account books, tax and corvée, administration, litigation, letters, daily books, reference books, family etiquette, religion, genealogy, drama, education and examination, and medicine.

The texts have been arranged according to regions, with archives from families in the same region put together, by village.  Various (full-text and multidimensional) searches and functions are available through searches in simplified and traditional characters.

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