Chinese Studies: Full-Text Databases of Classics

On the login page, select “中國基本古籍庫,” then click “Login” to connect to the database. Remember to click “exit” from the homepage/gateway when done, otherwise the next user will have to wait at least 15 minutes). The largest database of pre-20th century covering all fields of knowledge from the pre-Qin period through to the Republican period. The texts are divided into four sections — Philosophy and Science, History and Geography, Art and Literature, and General Works — and these are further divided into twenty major categories, which are in turn subdivided into one hundred minor categories.

Provides full-text access to a number of collections of pre-modern writings, including the Daozang 道藏, Daozang jiyao 道藏辑要, Sibu congkan 四部叢刊, Yongle dadian 永樂大典, Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, and more.

Contains search-able full-text and scanned images of important classics from ancient China to the Qing Dynasty; includes works on astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, literature, politics, economics, art, education, agriculture, medicine, and more

Scanned images and searchable full-text of 504 works in 3,134 volumes compiled during the years 1919 to 1936； topics include history, astronomy, geography, politics, economics, and literature

An electronic edition of the collectanea Si ku quan shu 四庫全書 comprised of the finest editions of the best books in China and completed in 1782； includes 3,461 works, totaling over 36,375 volumes/scrolls; its four main bibliographic divisions are jing 經, shi 史, zi 子, and ji 集

The archives of the Grand Secretariat currently housed at the Institute were originally kept at the Grand Secretariat Storehouse in the Ch’ing imperial palace. They were removed from the Storehouse when it underwent renovation in 1909. After the overthrow of the Ch’ing, these archives changed hands several times, and were, at one point, even sold to a paper recycling factory. Eventually, the Institute purchased them from Li Sheng-to, a book collector, in1929 thanks to the efforts of Fu Ssu-nien, the Institute’s first director.
There are over four thousand Ming(1368-1644) documents and more than three hundred thousand volumes of Ch’ing(1644-1911) archival materials in this collection, including imperial decrees, edicts, memorials, tribute document, examination questions, examination papers, rosters of successful examination candidates, documents from the offices of the Grand Secretariat, documents from the offices for book compilation, and old documents from Mukden. Memorials make up the bulk these documents.
The archives contain valuable source materials for institutional, social and economic historians. They record general administrative activities and legal cases, many of which cannot be found in Ch’ing legal compendia.