Primary Sources are original sources on which other research is based. They are sources created during the time period you are studying. Examples of primary sources are diaries, letters, photographs, and newspaper articles written at the time
Online Guide to Primary Sources
Primary source research often strikes fear into students, who may not understand what primary sources are or how to find them. This guide concentrates on the "how to find them" part of the equation, linking to hundreds of free primary source collections on the web as well as collections to which UCSD subscribes.
http://libguides.ucsd.edu/primarysources
Created by Kelly Smith, Government Information and Urban Studies and Planning Librarian, this online guide will help you find online primary sources
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
Huge collections of well-organized primary texts, including Internet East Asian History Sourcebook
http://content.cdlib.org/ucpress/
Primary sources can often be found (hyperlinked) in the bibliographies or footnotes of these scholarly e-books
Try a Google Scholar search with your topic keywords and the word "primary source" in quotations
http://www.wdl.org/en/search/gallery/?countries=CN
Significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world
