Further background research - Primary sources - EALC 200: Approaches to the Study of East Asian Cultures (BMC/HC) Fall 2024

Introduction

The following sources include translations (into English) of primary source documents. These cover a wide range of sources including religious texts, legal codes, personal records, letters, edicts, and many imperial documents. Many of the texts here will have a further reading section. If you are interested in one particular topic, look to those sources for inspiration.

Searching for primary source collections

Finding primary source collections

Below you will find several useful examples of collections of primary sources in translation (with some containing the same texts and documents in the original language).

But these are only a sampling of those available in the Trico collection. You can locate a broader range of similar resources in Tripod, using techniques like those covered in the Using Tripod section.

Common title words for primary source collections include:

Documentary or documents, try document*
Anthology
Selections or selected, try select*
Sources or sourcebook, source*
Collection or collected, collect*

Try searching for a combination of these sample title words along with either relevant subject terms or keywords related to your topic. To find the relevant subject headings, look in the Tripod record for a book (or a few books) on that subject.

Not in Tripod?

Can't find what you are looking for in Tripod? Have you looked in WorldCat to see if the book/article is nearby? Try:

EZ Borrow (2-5 days to get your book)
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) (takes a bit longer)
Article Request (article will be scanned and emailed to you if we do not have access to it).

Chinese Sources

Chinese Civilization by Patricia Buckley Ebrey (Editor)
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ISBN: 002908752X
Publication Date: 1993-05-10
Chinese Civilization sets the standard for supplementary texts in Chinese history courses. A complete and thorough introduction to Chinese history and culture. Chinese Civilization sets the standard for supplementary texts in Chinese history courses. With newly expanded material, personal documents, social records, laws, and documents that historians mistakenly ignore, the sixth edition is even more useful than its classic predecessor. A complete and thorough introduction to Chinese history and culture.
Sources of Chinese Tradition by Irene Bloom (Editor); Wm. Theodore de Bary (Editor); Mixhael Cohen (Editor)
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ISBN: 0231109385
Publication Date: 1999-07-27
A collection of seminal primary readings on the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of China. Arranged chronologically, this anthology is divided into four parts, beginning at the dawn of literate Chinese civilization with the Oracle-Bone inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty (1571-1045 B.C.E.) and continuing through the end of the Ming dynasty (C.E. 1644).
Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook by Wendy Swartz (Editor); Robert Ford Campany (Editor); Yang Lu (Editor); Jessey Choo (Editor)
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ISBN: 9780231159869
Publication Date: 2014-03-11
This innovative sourcebook builds a dynamic understanding of China's early medieval period (220-589) through an original selection and arrangement of literary, historical, religious, and critical texts. A tumultuous and formative era, these centuries saw the longest stretch of political fragmentation in China's imperial history, resulting in new ethnic configurations, the rise of powerful clans, and a pervasive divide between north and south. Deploying thematic categories, the editors sketch the period in a novel way for students and, by featuring many texts translated into English for the first time, recast the era for specialists. Thematic topics include regional definitions and tensions, governing mechanisms and social reality, ideas of self and other, relations with the unseen world, everyday life, and cultural concepts. Within each section, the editors and translators introduce the selected texts and provide critical commentary on their historical significance, along with suggestions for further reading and research.
A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese by Paul W. Kroll
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ISBN: 9004325131
Publication Date: 2017-01-17
Useful for reading the classical sourcebooks above. A classical Chinese-English resource for reading texts dating from the Warring States period through the Tang dynasty. Arranged alphabetically by Pinyin.
The Search for Modern China - A Documentary Collection by Jonathan D. Spence (As told to); Janet Chen (Editor); Pei-kai Cheng (Editor); Michael Lestz (Editor)
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ISBN: 9780393920857
Publication Date: 2013-06-26
This is a companion book to Jonathan Spence's Search for Modern China. It includes a variety of translated sources from the modern period. This collection is the perfect source for a firsthand look at modern Chinese history.

Chinese Text Project
Search and read a wide range of key source texts from Chinese tradition. Many but not all texts are offered in translation, though the translations are often older or antiquated. Contains fully searchable database of the original Chinese. An excellent resource for finding references to specific phrases, historical figures, canonical terms or concepts, places, and more.

Also contains OCR versions/digitizations of a broad range of Harvard Yenching Library materials.

Japanese Sources

Voices of Early Modern Japan by Constantine Nomikos Vaporis
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ISBN: 9780313392009
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Based on fresh translations of historical documents, this volume offers a revealing look at Japan during the time of the Tokugawa shoguns from 1600 to 1868, focusing on the day-to-day lives of both the rich and powerful and ordinary citizens.
Sources of Japanese Tradition by Wm. Theodore de Bary (Editor); Donald Keene (Editor); George Tanabe (Editor); Paul Varley (Editor)
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ISBN: 0231121385
Publication Date: 2001-05-07
Sources of Japanese Tradition is a best-selling classic, unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, politics, education, philosophy, and religion in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Meiji Japan through Contemporary Sources
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Volume 1: Basic Documents 1854-1899; Volume 2: 1844-1882

Korean Sources

Epistolary Korea by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Editor)
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ISBN: 9780231148023
Publication Date: 2009-04-14
By expanding the definition of "epistle" to include any writing that addresses the intended receiver directly, JaHyun Kim Haboush introduces readers to the rich epistolary practice of Chosŏn Korea. The Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) produced an abundance of epistles, writings that mirror the genres of neighboring countries (especially China) while retaining their own specific historical trajectory. Written in both literary Chinese and vernacular Korean, the writings collected here range from royal public edicts to private letters, a fascinating array that blurs the line between classical and everyday language and the divisions between men and women.
Sources of Korean Tradition by Peter H. Lee (Editor); William T. De Bary (Editor)
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ISBN: 0231105665
Publication Date: 1996-11-27
2 Volumes. Volume 1: From Early Times Through the 16th Century; Volume 2: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries. This collection offers primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korea from ancient times through the modern era. Sources of Korean Tradition is arranged according to the major epochs of Korean history, including sections on: Korean culture - its origins, writing, education, poetry, song, social life, and rituals; religion - the rise of Buddhism and Confucianism; the economy - the land, agriculture, commerce, and currency; and its changing political structures.