Research Guides: HIS382H1: China from the Mongols to the Last Emperor: Home

Primary Sources

Things to keep in mind when looking for primary sources:

Start with what you already have—draw from course materials and secondary sources to identify citations to primary sources, key words, and historical figures.
There isn’t going to be only one place to search for them.
Search tools and databases (if you use them) will be unique, and will take time and experimentation to use effectively.
Consider language in your search for primary sources (i.e. historical or outdated language, place name changes, and untranslated sources).
Not everyone’s primary sources were collected—the historical record is incomplete and leaves out many voices.
Working with primary sources related to colonized or other marginalized peoples may be very upsetting, please take care.
Ask for help! Primary sources can be very challenging to find, and U of T Librarians are here to help you in your search

How to Find Additional Primary sources in translation in LibrarySearch

Use LibrarySearch to find primary sources - select catalogue in advance search,
Combine keywords for your topic with types of primary sources (ex.letters, maps, newspapers),
Filter to English or French language,
Try the "genre" filters.

TIP: Use the "Try searching for primary sources" search tool on the Primary Source research page (under "Search Tools and Databases")

Recommended Resources

Your Manjuristic hub
Requires a free login / password. Under "resources" has a long list of mostly English works related to Manchu (and Qing) things, some of which are translations. The "reader" gives gloss translations of words, for the ambitious.
Legalizing space in China
A work in progress with some great resources (requires some digging). Of special interest for those interested in law, punishment, and court issues.
The Ming History English Translation Project
Bits of the official Ming History in translation. Of extra note is the "translations from other sources" link at the top of the page.
Resources on Ming Studies: Primary Sources (UC San Diego)
LibGuide on Ming Studies from UC San Diego librarian Xi Chen.
Primary Sources with DBQs (Colombia University)
Educator-focused website, styled as a sourcebook, with excerpted primary sources in translation, including questions.

Suggested Sourcebooks

General History and Culture Readers

Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture by Victor H. Mair (Editor); Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt (Editor); Paul R. Goldin (Editor)
ISBN: 0824852354
Publication Date: 2005-01-31
The Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture is a collection of more than ninety primary sources--all but a few of which were translated specifically for this volume--of cultural significance from the Bronze Age to the turn of the twentieth century. They take into account virtually every aspect of traditional culture, including sources from the non-Sinitic ethnic minorities.
The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence
Call Number: DS753.86 .S33 2014
ISBN: 9780393920857
Publication Date: 2013-06-26
The new edition of this outstanding documents collection displays a stronger blend of social history--pieces reflecting everyday life, family, social networks, and culture--and political history--critical proclamations, treaties, laws, and other public acts. Many of the documents are translated into English for the first time and available only in this book. Informative headnotes accompany the selections, providing context and helping students with unfamiliar names, places, and events. This collection is the perfect source for a firsthand look at modern Chinese history.
Sources in Chinese History: diverse perspectives from 1644 to the present by David Atwill; Yurong Atwill
ISBN: 0429555873
Publication Date: 2021-03-03
Sources in Chinese History, now in its second edition, has been updated to include re-translations of over a third of the documents. Incorporates nearly 40 new sources that work to familiarize readers with the key events, personages, and themes of modern China.
Chinese Civilization: a sourcebook by Patricia Buckley Ebrey (Editor)
ISBN: 9780029087527
Publication Date: 1993-05-10
This updated version of a fantastic account of Chinese culture and civilization provides analysis of notable historical documents, social records, and laws, Setting the standard for supplementary texts in Chinese history courses, the newly expanded edition of Chinese Sourcebook includes coverage of personal documents, social records, laws, and previously ignored reports. With insight to the beginnings of Chinese civilization, this book provides a complete and thorough introduction to the nation's history and culture.

Religion

Chinese Religion by Deborah Sommer (Editor)
Call Number: BL1802 .C5477 1995
ISBN: 0195088948
Publication Date: 1995-02-23
Religions of China in Practice by Donald S. Lopez (Editor); Donald S. Lopez (Editor)
Call Number: BL1802 .R43 1996X
ISBN: 0691021449
Publication Date: 1996-04-21
This third volume demonstrates that the "three religions" of China--Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (with a fourth, folk religion, sometimes added)--are not mutually exclusive: they overlap and interact with each other in a rich variety of ways. Illustrates some of the interactions between Han culture and the cultures designated by the current government as "minorities." As with the other volumes, most of the selections here have never been translated before.
The Jews of China: V. 2: a Sourcebook and Research Guide by Jonathan Goldstein
ISBN: 1317456025
Publication Date: 2018-10-24
An impressive interdisciplinary effort by Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Western Sinologists and Judaic Studies specialists, these books scrutinize patterns of migration, acculturation, assimilation, and economic activity of successive waves of Jewish arrivals in China from approximately A.D.1100 to 1949.

Literature

The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature by Victor H. Mair (Editor)
Call Number: PL2658 .E1 C65 1994X
ISBN: 9780231074285
Publication Date: 1995-07-01
Complete with an introduction tracing the history of Chinese writing, this collection covers a diverse range of genres, from fiction, poetry and drama to folk stories, letters and travelogues. The topical arrangement of the selections brings out distinctive characteristics of this vast canon.
A Topsy-Turvy World by Wilt Idema (Editor); Wai-yee Li (Editor); Stephen H. West (Editor)
ISBN: 0231208960
Publication Date: 2023-10-10
A Topsy-Turvy World presents English translations of shorter sixteenth-to-eighteenth-century plays, spotlighting a lesser-known side of Chinese drama. Satirical and often earthy, these mostly one-act plays depict deceit, dissembling, reversed gender roles, and sudden upending of fortunes. These plays provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political order.
Two Centuries of Manchu Women Poets by Wilt L. Idema (Translator)
Call Number: PL2537 .T96 2017
ISBN: 9780295999869
Publication Date: 2017-04-03
This anthology presents substantial selections from the work of twenty Manchu women poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The poems, inspired by their daily life and reflections, provide fascinating insights into the experiences and emotions of these women, most of whom belonged to the elite families of Manchu society. Each selection is accompanied by biographical material that illuminates the life stories of the poets.

Specific Historical Events

The Rise of the Mongols by Christopher P. Atwood (Translator)
ISBN: 1624669905
Publication Date: 2021-10-06
Rise of the Mongols offers readers a selection of five important works that detail the rise of the Mongol Empire through Chinese eyes. Three of these works were written by officials of South China's Southern Song dynasty and two are from officials from North China writing in the service of the Mongol rulers. Together, these accounts offer a view of the early Mongol Empire very different not just from those of Muslim and Christian travelers and chroniclers, but also from the Mongol tradition embodied in The Secret History of Mongols.
Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm by Lynn Struve (Editor, Translator)
Call Number: DS754.2 .V65 1993
ISBN: 0300056796
Publication Date: 1993-07-28
Presents eyewitness accounts of a period in Chinese history: the fall of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in the mid-17th century. The book includes testimonies from missionaries, viceroys, artists and merchants, Ming loyalists, Qing collaborators and more.

Secondary Sources

Why should you use secondary sources with primary sources?

Secondary sources complement primary sources: a secondary source can bring clarification and deeper understanding to a primary source.

A historian who has expertise in a specific time period can provide contextual information through a secondary source that allows a student to maximize their appreciation of the primary source's value.
If you are researching a subject that you do not know a lot about, doing background reading in a secondary source can introduce you to some of the primary sources that are relevant to the subject area.

Use the Library website to find journal articles

In Library Search you can filter your search to include only articles.
On the left-hand side of the results, there are filter options. For articles, select "articles" and or "peer reviewed articles" under "Filter your results". Then click Apply Filter.

Use the Library website to find books

In the library homepage search box, type in the keywords relevant to your research topic. When searching for books, remember to use simple, broad keywords.
From the list of results, underneath Filter your results on the left sidebar select "Books" under Format and select Apply Filter when prompted to see the the library catalogue search results.

Narrow down your list of books

You can refine your search with various filters on the left sidebar, such as Library, Subject, Publication Date, and Language.
For ebooks, you can also click on the Online checkbox at the top of the page underneath show only

Citing Your Sources

Excelsior OWL Citation Style Guides
Support for APA, MLA, and Chicago documentation styles.
Chicago Manual of Style Quick Style guide (18th ed.)
Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide (17th ed.)
Online subscription to Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (UTORid login required)
Chicago Formatting and Style (16th ed.) from Excelsior
The Chicago manual of style online by University of Chicago Press
**The 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been superseded by the 18th edition.** While digital technologies have revolutionized the publishing world in the twenty-first century, one thing still remains true: The Chicago Manual of Style is the authoritative, trusted source that writers, editors, and publishers turn to for guidance on style and process. Though processes may change, the Manual continues to offer the clear, well-considered style and usage advice it has for more than a century. The sixteenth edition offers expanded information on producing electronic publications, including web-based content and e-books.
How to Cite Primary Sources in Archives & Special Collections
Citing Primary Sources in Chicago

FAQ

How do I choose good key words?

Using RADAR to evaluate your resources

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Acknowledgements

This guide is currently maintained by Jesse Carliner. Please send any suggestions, comments, and reports of broken links to jesse.carliner@utoronto.ca

Fall 2024 update: Johanna Hill

Research Guides

HIS382H1: China from the Mongols to the Last Emperor

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