Research Guides: Chinese Studies: Home

About the China Collection

The China Collection at the UHM Library has a rich history dating back to its early days. Hawaii's geographical significance, unique cultural landscape, and the establishment of the Chinese Department at the University of Hawai‘i in 1922 influenced the library's early collection growth. The foundation of the China Collection took shape from the establishment of the Oriental Institute Library in 1935. The challenging wartime period saw acquisition efforts persist despite financial constraints. After the war, the collection expanded significantly, with the establishment of the East West Center Library enhancing its prominence as a hub for Asian resources. The China Collection's evolution reflects a commitment to preserving and sharing knowledge about China's culture and history, making it a vital resource for researchers and scholars.

The China Collection has matured into a research-level collection consisting of materials about China encompassing diverse languages like Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Russian and other languages. It excels in Chinese history, language and literature (including classical texts and traditional drama/fiction), philosophy, religion, and arts like architecture and painting. Addressing the academic needs of China-related studies at UHM, the collection includes an expanding array of resources covering socio-economic, political conditions of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

In addition to materials physically housed in the UHM Library, the Library has permanent access to over 3,000 Chinese e-books and over 21, 000 Chinese e-journals. The electronic resources acquired for Chinese studies are sorted by title listed below: list of Chinese resources, list of English resources. Complementing its offerings, the library is committed to digitizing unique historical and cultural materials, as evident in online image collections like Shackford Collection of Photographs of China and Lian Huan Hua 连环画 - Picture Storybook.

Please visit the online exhibit China100@UHM to learn more about the first half century of the Chinese studies programs and the library collection at the University of Hawai‘i.

Chinese Databases for UHM users

Central Daily News 中央日报 (1928. 2.1 - 1949. 4. 23)

CHANT (CHinese ANcient Text) Database 漢達文庫

A comprehensive online database of ancient Chinese texts developed by the D. C. Lau Research Centre for Chinese Ancient Texts, Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Library subscribes to three CHANT databases: six dynasties (六朝) transmitted texts, encyclopedia (leishu 類書, from the Wei-Jin period down to the Qing dynasty) and lexicon (詞彙, covering the most frequently used words and phrases found in transmitted ancient Chinese texts).

Chinamaxx Digital Libraries 超星数字图书馆

Contains more than 700 full-text Chinese e-books acquired by the Library.

China Academic Journals (CAJ) 中国期刊全文数据库

Subscription includes 5 series: Literature/History/Philosophy ; Politics/Military Affairs/Law; Economy & Management; Education/Social Sciences; Medicine/Hygiene, and the Century Journals Project. More about CAJ

Chinese and English Newspaper of Modern China 中国近代中英文报纸全文数据库（based on rich collections of Shanghai Library)

Chinese Classic Ancient Books Database 中华经典古籍库

Chinese Electronic Theses and Dissertations Service (CETD) 中文電子學位論文服務

Continent Magazine Archive 大陸雜誌, 1950-2002

Database of Modern Chinese Newspapers 近代报纸数据库, 1840-1949 (based on collections of the National Library of China)

Gu Jin Tu Shu Ji Cheng 古今圖書集成

Contains the most important classics of the ancient China through the Qing dynasty. It is divided into six main categories, 32 sections, and 6,117 sub-sections, and each sub-section contains 10 parts. Topics of interest include astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, literature, politics, economy, art, education, agriculture, medicine, etc.

Late Qing Dynasty Full-text Database (1833~19111) & Chinese Periodical Full-text Database (1911-1949) 晚清民国全文期刊库（1833-1949）

National Palace Museum Journals Archive 故宮期刊知識庫, 1966-present

North-China Daily News & Herald Newspapers and Hong Lists 字林洋行中英文报纸全文数据库 (1850-1951)

People's Daily 人民日报, 1946-present

Scripta Sinica Database 漢藉電子文獻資料庫

Developed by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, it is a compilation of more than 500 titles and 350,000,000 characters of materials pertaining to the traditional Chinese classics, especially those related to Chinese history, including "Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty" (Ming shi lu) and "Veritable Records of the Qing Dynasty" (Qing shi lu).

Sinica Sinoweb 中研院經典人文學刊, 1928-present

Contains 14 journals as follows: 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊, 中央研究院中国文哲研究集刊, 中央研究院近代史研究所集刊中央研究院近代中國婦女史研, 中央研究院口述歷史期刊, 中央研究院近代中國史研究通訊, 中央研究院臺灣人類學刊, 中央研究院臺灣史研究, 漢學研究, 思与言, 食货月刊, 鵝湖學誌, 鹅湖月刊, 民俗曲藝.

Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services (TEPS) 台灣電子期刊服務網

The Tabloids. Series 1-4 小报, 1-4 辑

Zhuanji Wenxue Digital Archive 傳記文學全文資料庫, 1962-2016

See Other free online resources by Subjects

Digital Image Collections

Lian Huan Hua 连环画 Collection

The Library has collected more than 150 titles of "lian huan hua" (连环画, graphic novels) that were published mostly during the Cultural Revolution, particularly between 1971-1976, when the publication of lian huan hua was rare and difficult at that time.

The covers of books in the Collection have been digitalized and available at: http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/storybook/

Shackford Collection of Photographs of China

Contains 304 photographs taken during the late 1920s and early 1930s by John B. Shackford during his travels and tenure as an English teacher in southern China. All photos in this collection have been digitized and available freely online. The titles of the photos are taken from Shackford's original hand-written notes identifying the pictures. However, in some cases, the writing is illegible. If you can help identify a place or name, we welcome your comments. The direct url to this digital collection: https://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/shackford/

English Databases for UHM users

China, America and the Pacific

China: Culture and Society

China: Trade, Politics & Culture

Chinese and English Newspaper of Modern China 中国近代中英文报纸全文数据库

Based on rich collections of Shanghai Library, it includes English newspapers: The Shanghai Evening Courier 《上海晚邮》(1869-1874), Shanghai Courier & China Gazette 《中华快报》(1876-1878), Shanghai Courier 《上海差报》 (1878-1884), The China Press 《大陆报》(1911-1949), The Shanghai Times 《上海泰晤士报》 (1925-1943), The Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury 《大美晚报》(1929-1949)

The Far Eastern Economic Review Archive (1946-2009)

Foreign Office Files for China, 1919-1980

North-China Daily News & Herald Newspapers and Hong Lists 字林洋行中英文报纸全文数据库 (1850～1951)

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection, 1832-1953

Containing The Canton Times (1919-1920), The China Critic (1939-1946), China Monthly Review (1950-1953), The China Press (1925-1938), The China Weekly Review (1923-1950), The Chinese Recorder (1912-1938), The Chinese Recorder and Educational Review (1939-1941), The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal (1868-1912), The Chinese Repository (1832-1851), Millard's China National Review (1919-1919), Millard's Review of the Far East (1917-1919), Millard's Review of the Far East (1919-1921), The North - China Herald (1850-1867), The North - China Herald and Market Report (1867-1869), The North - China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette (1870-1941), Peking Daily News (1914-1917), Peking Gazette (1915-1917), The Peking Leader (1918-1919), The Shanghai Gazette (1919-1921). More about the database

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: South China Morning Post (1903-2001)

See free online resources by Subjects