PREVIEW Primary Sources - Asia - History - Research Guides at Temple University

Primary Source Databases for Asian History

China, America and the Pacific This link opens in a new window
China, America and the Pacific focuses on trading and cultural relationships that emerged between China, America and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries, and includes manuscript sources, rare printed texts, visual images, objects and maps.
China: Culture and Society This link opens in a new window
China: Culture and Society includes pamphlets held in the Charles W. Wason Collection at Cornell University. The majority of pamphlets are written in English and published between c. 1750 and 1929.
China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980 This link opens in a new window
China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980 is a digital collection of original English-language source material detailing China's interaction with the West from Macartney's first Embassy to China in 1793, through to the Nixon/Heath visits to China in 1972-74.
Foreign Office Files for China (1919-1980) This link opens in a new window
Foreign Office Files for China include the British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Foreign Office Files for Japan (1931-1952) This link opens in a new window
Foreign Office Files for Japan includes two British Foreign Office files collections: Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific (1931-1945) and Occupation of Japan (1946-1952).
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East (1971-1981) This link opens in a new window
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East include diplomatic correspondence, minutes, reports, political summaries, and personality profiles that address the policies, economies, political relationships and significant events of every major Middle East power.
India Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
India Raj and Empire covers the history of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947. The material comprises diaries and journals, official and private papers, letters, sketches, paintings and original Indian documents containing histories and literary works.
Meiji Japan This link opens in a new window
Meji Japan includes the Edward Sylvester Morse papers (ca. 1858-1925), and covers malacology, zoology, ethnology, archaeology and art history. The collection offers diaries, scrapbooks, correspondence, research files, drawings, manuscripts, publications and teaching materials.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) This link opens in a new window
Includes the collection Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange

Free Online Collections

Wilson Center Digital Archive
The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing fresh insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy.
Images of Colonialism
This visual record of early European contacts with Africa and Asia is a primary visual resource for historical and socio-cultural studies.

Middle East and SE Asian Newspapers

Global Press Archive: Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers This link opens in a new window
The Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (MENA) collection is predominantly in Arabic, but also includes key titles in English and French. The collection comprises mostly out-of-copyright, orphaned content from 1870 on, and Temple users can also access five in-copyright titles from the region: Jumhuriyah (الجمهورية, Egypt), Filastin (فلسطين, Palestine), Al Akhbar (الاخبار, Lebanon), Al Riadh (الرياض, Saudi Arabia), and Ad Dustour (الدستور, Jordan).
Global Press Archive: Southeast Asian Newspapers (1839-1976) This link opens in a new window
The Southeast Asian Newspapers covers several countries from the region, including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and features multiple languages such as Dutch, English, French, Javanese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
Global Press Archive: South Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new window
The South Asian Newspapers collection covers several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and features multiple languages such as Bengali, Dari, English, Nepali, and more. Articles date from the 1850s to 2010.