Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style Online, 18th Edition by Call Number: E-BOOKISBN: 9780226817972Publication Date: 2024-09-19The Chicago Manual of Style Online, licensed by our library, allows for easy retrieval of relevant citation examples. Historians use the "notes and bibliography" sub-style. Begin with the CITATION QUICK GUIDE.
Selected Reference Works: Chinese Culture and History
Question: What value has a reference book? Why, for example, consult a scholarly history encyclopedia?
Answer: Encyclopedias are two steps removed from the primary source evidence, that is from the letters, diaries, oral histories, and other first-hand accounts of history. Encyclopedias are instead based on secondary sources. For that reason, encyclopedias and other reference works belong to a class of information often referred to as tertiary sources by librarians.
- Reference works help researchers to contextualize their topics, situating the secondary literature within historiographical debates. Context is critical, not least because researchers cannot elicit relevant search results from library databases such as JSTOR if they do not know which keywords (or search terms) to employ.
- Obtain from encyclopedias background information about your historical topic. Easily track down additional sources for further reading. Browse an encyclopedia for help choosing and/or refining your research topic. In short, the Gitenstein Library reference works listed on this page are a great way to begin any history-related research project about both Imperial and Modern China.
Best bet:
The Cambridge History of China (15 vols.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521214475Publication Date: 1978-2016"The Cambridge History of China is the largest and most comprehensive history of China in the English language." Also available in print, General Collection, call # DS735 .C3145.
Published after 2010:
Historical Atlas of Northeast Asia, 1590-2010: Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern Siberia by Call Number: G2301.S1 N3 2014ISBN: 9780231160704Publication Date: 2014-09-02
An Historical Atlas of Tibet by Call Number: G2308.T5 R9 2015ISBN: 9780226732442Publication Date: 2015-05-08
Published before 2010:
China: A Provincial Atlas by Call Number: G2305 .H84 1995ISBN: 0028971841Publication Date: 1995-04-01
China in Ancient and Modern Maps by Call Number: GA1121 .C44 1998ISBN: 0856674133Publication Date: 1997-04-01
Top recommendation:
ALA Guide to Researching Modern China by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780838919538Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Next steps (dated):
China Bibliography: A Research Guide to Reference Works about China Past and Present by Call Number: DS706 .Z87 1999ISBN: 0824822129Publication Date: 1999-03-01
Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide by Call Number: Z1035.8.C5 E2 1993ISBN: 1557290431Publication Date: 1994-03-01
Topics (highly dated):
- Chinese Historiography on the Revolution of 1911: A Critical Survey and Selected Bibliography by Call Number: DS773 .H7ISBN: 0817933417Publication Date: 1975-01-01This highly dated reference work is nevertheless useful to researchers who wish to identify secondary literature published during the early-to-mid twentieth century.
- The Cultural Revolution in China: An Annotated Bibliography by Call Number: DS777.75 .W35 1976ISBN: 0824099737Publication Date: 1976-01-01This is another highly dated bibliography that is nevertheless useful for researchers who wish to identify sources about the Cultural Revolution published at the time of the Cultural Revolution.
- The History of Imperial China: A Research Guide by Call Number: DS734.7 .W5ISBN: 0674396804Publication Date: 1973This is a highly dated but potentially useful bibliography on Imperial Chinese history; reveals scholarly sources published prior to 1973.
Imperial and Modern Chinese biography:
Chang'an 26 BCE: An Augustan Age in China by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780295806419Publication Date: 2015-05-01biographies of leading figures in Late Western Han are provided in Part 3- Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644 by Call Number: DS753.5 .A84 1976ISBN: 0231038011Publication Date: 1976
Political Leaders of Modern China, 1840-2001: A Biographical Dictionary by Call Number: DS755.3 .P64 2002ISBN: 0313302162Publication Date: 2002-10-30
Women's biography:
The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780231533263Publication Date: 2013-03-12covers the lives and writings of He-Yin Zhen, an early feminist, and two of her male contemporaries, Liang Qichao and Jin Tianhe
Exemplary Women of Early China: The Lienü zhuan of Liu Xiang by Call Number: CT3710 .L5813 2014ISBN: 9780231163088Publication Date: 2014-01-28
Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century by Call Number: HQ1767.5.A3 N68 2000ISBN: 076560504XPublication Date: 2000-04-03
Women Warriors and Wartime Spies of China by Call Number: UB419.C6 E36 2016ISBN: 9781107146037Publication Date: 2016-04-07
Top recommendation:
A Companion to Chinese History by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781118624548Publication Date: 2016-12-12
The Oxford Handbook of Early China by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780199328369Publication Date: 2020-11-09This is the best source for scholarly background information on China from c. 7000 BCE through to the Warring States period (453-221 BCE).
Also great:
Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change by Call Number: DS774 .H796 2001ISBN: 0674006585Publication Date: 2001-11-23
The Oxford Companion to the Economics of China by Call Number: HC427 .O75 2014ISBN: 9780199678204Publication Date: 2014-12-30
Chinese civilization:
Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781538146033Publication Date: 2021-03-29
Imperial China:
Dictionary of Chinese History by Call Number: DS733 .D54 1979ISBN: 0714631078Publication Date: 1979-01-23dated dictionary remains useful as a quick source for definitions of important concepts (e.g., Confucianism, Legalists, Taoism)
Historical Dictionary of Medieval China by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780810862586Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Modern China:
Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781442251724Publication Date: 2015-07-01
Historical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China by Call Number: DS777.55 .S835 2007ISBN: 0810853809Publication Date: 2007-05-23
Chinese art and culture:
Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Culture by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781138211155Publication Date: 2019-12-20
Chinese history (general):
Berkshire Encyclopedia of China: Modern and Historic Views of the World’s Newest and Oldest Global Power by Call Number: DS735. A2 .B47 2009ISBN: 9780977015948Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Encyclopedia of Modern AsiaCall Number: DS4 .E53 2002ISBN: 0684806177Publication Date: 2002-11-27In 6 vols. with information about the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties
Chinese philosophy:
Chinese Philosophy A-Z by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780748629701Publication Date: 2022, ©2009
Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy by Call Number: B126 .E496 2003ISBN: 0415939135Publication Date: 2002-12-30
Imperial Chinese history:
The Penguin Encyclopedia of Classical Civilizations by Call Number: CB9 .P46 1995ISBN: 0140513442Publication Date: 1996-07-01The final chapter, The Unification of China, covers Chinese history from 221 BCE through 960 CE.
Encyclopedia of Modern China by Call Number: DS755 .E53 2009ISBN: 9780684315669Publication Date: 2009-07-31covers Chinese history from 1644 to present in 4 volumes (i.e., Imperial and Modern China)
Modern Chinese history:
China Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the People's Republic by Call Number: DS777.6 .C49 2005ISBN: 0313321701Publication Date: 2005-05-30covers Chinese History (1949 C.E.— )
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture by Call Number: DS779.23 .E53 2005ISBN: 0415241294Publication Date: 2005-02-11covers Chinese History (1976 C.E.— )
Encyclopedia of China (7 Volume Set) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781634826167Publication Date: 2015-01-0121st centuryeconomy, history, politics, government, social conditions
Featured Biography
Great Lives From History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476 CE by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 1587651521Publication Date: 2004-04-30
