New / Trial Databases
**CNKI service disruption to select databases beginning April 1, 2023:
Full-text access to China Academic Journals, China Core Newspapers, China Monographic Serials, and China Yearbooks Full-text Database is unaffected. Access to China Doctoral Dissertations / Masters’ Theses, China Conference Proceedings, International Conference Proceedings, and China Patents databases is now restricted to abstracts and indexing information. The China Statistical Yearbooks Database (CSYD) / China Data Insights (CDI) and National Population Census of China (NPCC) are currently unavailable.
Trial Databases
- 繙云文献 Fanyun Historical Literatures Platform (VPN needed for off-campus access)An integrated platform for historical sources, including modern Chinese newspapers (申報, 大公報, 民國日報, and 中央日報), Taiwan historical newspapers (台灣日日新報, 台灣民報系列, etc.), Manchurian railway documents (調查月報, 南滿州外務省文書, 滿鐵剪報, etc.), and the Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books. For off-campus access, please connect to the database via the USC VPN client program (https://itservices.usc.edu/vpn/). Access ends on January 31, 2024.
Most Commonly Used Databases in Chinese Studies
Comprehensive Databases
- China Research Gateway (CRG) This link opens in a new window CRG is a centralized means for discovery and access to a breadth of Chinese resources, including scholarly journals, monographs, statistical publications, government documents, newspapers, dissertations, patents, and more.
- Duxiu (Chinese Google Scholar) This link opens in a new window Known as Chinese Google Scholar, Duxiu provides access to a huge amount of full-text scholarly resources in all subjects and formats, such as books, theses & dissertations, journal & newspaper articles, conference papers, etc.
- China Academic Digital Associative Library (CADAL) 大学数字图书馆国际合作计划 This link opens in a new window Includes over 2.5 million scanned books, newspapers, journals, video, audio books, etc. from all periods of Chinese history. The titles are not full-text searchable, but they provide tables of contents for easy navigation and virtual loan. Also provides access to some other resources, such as calligraphy, chronicle of Chinese literature, and Chinese medicine. Please note that you need to create an individual account using USC email address with the site in order to use their online reading and virtual borrowing functionalities for each title. Please refer to their FAQ section for more instructions.
Books
- Chinamaxx Digital Libraries 中文集献 This link opens in a new window Contains a growing collection of Chinese e-books published in mainland China. To access the e-book collection, please click the link “click to enter” on the homepage, and then click the subject areas listed under the “SuperStar Digital Library” section to browse and read titles acquired by USC libraries.
- CNKI eBooks (Intl) CNKI 电子图书库（海外版） This link opens in a new window Includes a growing collection of e-books published in mainland China acquired by the USC libraries.
- iRead eBooks 華藝電子書 This link opens in a new window Includes a growing collection of e-books published in Taiwan and Hong Kong acquired by the USC libraries.
- HathiTrust This link opens in a new window Scans of public domain books across all subject areas which can be downloaded in their entirety. To enable downloads, please click the “Log In” button and select “University of Southern California” from the dropdown list. You will then be prompted for your USC NetID and password and validated via Shibboleth. You will also find records for works still in copyright, but these can only be searched, not viewed or downloaded.
- WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window WorldCat is an online union catalog of materials held by OCLC member libraries.
Journals
- China Academic Journals This link opens in a new window The key source for searching scholarly journal literature published in mainland China, with many full-text articles dating back as early as 1915.
- Wanfang China Online Journals This link opens in a new window Includes thousands of Chinese journals in the humanities and social sciences from mainland China from 1997 on. Also includes select monographic series titles, such as 元史及民族与边疆研究集刊, 藏外佛教文献, etc.
- Airiti Library: Journals & Theses This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to academic journals, theses and dissertations from Taiwan (mostly), mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries in all disciplines.
- Pishu (China Economy, Public Policy, and Security Database) This link opens in a new window 'Pishu' (皮书, which literally means ‘cover-books’) are high-value analytical reports intended to guide policymaking in the People’s Republic of China. They are published by the prestigious Social Sciences Academic Press, a branch of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Covered topics include a variety of issues of importance to China's government and research community, including international relations, agricultural policy, and industry competitiveness. They may be considered somewhat analogous to United States Congressional Research Service reports and analysis reports published by the RAND Corporation.
- Late Qing/Republican Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Developed by the Shanghai Library, Late Qing/Republican Periodicals Database provides full-text access to thousands of periodicals and magazines published in China from 1833 to 1949. Only 1 user is allowed to access the database at one time.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window The Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) contains over 737,175 records (as of July 9, 2009) on all subjects (especially in the humanities and the social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present.
Newspapers
- China Core Newspapers Database (CCND) This link opens in a new window Includes newspaper articles from nearly 1,000 newspaper titles published in mainland China since 2000.
- People's Daily (1946-Present) This link opens in a new window People's Daily is the most influential and authoritative newspaper in China. It has been the official voice of the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China since 1946. 2 users access.
- Jiefangjun Bao (PLA Daily) This link opens in a new window The PLA Daily, which started its publication on January 1, 1956, is the authoritative media of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to release military news and comprehensive military-related information and is the official newspaper of the Central Military Commission.
- Global Times (1993-Present) This link opens in a new window Global Times is a daily newspaper focusing on international relations and foreign affairs. It is an essential indicator of Chinese foreign policies. 2 users access.
Statistics
- China Statistical Yearbooks Database (CSYD) / China Data Insights (CDI) This link opens in a new window Temporarily unavailable as of April 1, 2023. Around 300+ statistical yearbooks are available in the China Yearbooks Full-text Database. Many yearbooks in the database also include statistical tables. These tables, however, are in PDF format, so you'll need to convert them to Excel or another tabular format. Statistical yearbooks at national and provincial levels are also available on the government websites, such as http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/ndsj/.
- China Yearbooks Full-text Database (CYFD) This link opens in a new window Provides access to authoritative facts and statistics of national and regional significance in mainland China from 1949 to present.
Historical Sources
- Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books This link opens in a new window Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books is a project based on collaboration among scholars and experts from China, Japan, and Taiwan. It is one of the most comprehensive collections of Chinese and Japanese ancient books. It contains about 30,000 ancient books covering historical, political, economic, religious, philosophic, literary, ethnic and geographic documents.
- Scripta Sinica 漢籍全文資料庫 This link opens in a new window Developed by the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, the Scripta Sinica database 漢籍電子文獻資料庫 contains almost all of the important Chinese classics, especially those related to Chinese history. Click on "授權使用" button to access the database.
- Wenshi Ziliao (Literary and Historical Materials) Series I This link opens in a new window Includes 20,000+ volumes and 650,000+ articles of Chinese literary and historical materials compiled by the national and local government agencies mostly during the 1980s and 1990s. To access the database, please click the link “click to enter” on the homepage, then click “文史资料专题库 (第一期)" under “SuperStar specialty” section, and then you will then be able to browse and search the wenshi ziliao collection.
- Database of Chinese New Local Gazetteers 中国新方志 This link opens in a new window Local gazetteers are regarded by scholars and historians in the China field as one of the most important primary sources for the study of history of Chinese economy, politics, culture, military, and science and technology. This database includes a large collection of post-1949 local gazetteers covering all regions of mainland China and various subject areas.
Theses & Dissertations
- China Doctoral Dissertations/Masters' Theses Full-text Database (CDMD) This link opens in a new window Temporarily restricted to abstracts and indexing information as of April 1, 2023.
- Wanfang Dissertations of China This link opens in a new window Contains full text and abstracts of theses and dissertations in the humanities and social sciences from key research institutions in mainland China.
- Airiti Library: Journals & Theses This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to academic journals, theses and dissertations from Taiwan (mostly), mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries in all disciplines.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window Database of dissertations and theses, including more than 1 million available full-text (PDF).
Related Guides
Head, East Asian Library and Chinese Studies Librarian
Tang LI 李唐
Contact:
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions related to Chinese studies.
Office: Doheny Memorial Library, 109A
Office: Doheny Memorial Library, 109A
Phone: 213 740 8548
Website
Subjects: Asia