China Web Links

Main list of topics in this site Click on any topic to jump down; use "back" button to return to this list. Asian Studies Career Opportunities China Today - Overview and Maps Chinese History - Overview and Historical Maps Prehistory and Ancient China - through Zhou History of Imperial China - Early, Middle, and Late Periods Modern Chinese History - Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries; PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tibet Culture - General Festivals Society - Women and Family, Education Language - Speaking and Writing Literature - Philosophy, Fiction, Poetry Arts - Music, Visual Arts, Images, Cinema Course Information - for students in Modern China, Women in China, and Chinese Cinema Useful References on China - Current events...Scholarship guides...Research tools...Comparative Chronologies...Search Engines...Meta-Links

Students with Confucius -- Click image to hear modern-day rendition of His Master's Voice using RealAudio (Problems? audio help)

China Today -- Overview and Maps

• Background Notes on China -- US State Department Site Updated Frequently
• China Information -- Official PRC Site from Xinhua Information Agency
• Topography -- map
• Asian Demographics -- population trends in Asia
• Population -- distribution map
• Languages and Dialects -- Map
• Minorities -- Map showing Muslim population
• China Map Exercise

Chinese History Overview

• Chinese emperors from earliest times to 1911 - portraits!
• Chronological outline of Chinese History - UMD site
• Chronological Links for Chinese History - Evansville site
• China today -- one large map
• Historical Maps of China in Progression -- Main periods
• Historical Maps of China in Progression -- Scroll down the site for detailed maps and summaries -- with rulers, flags, Chinese Characters and Comparisons to Japan, Korea, India, and the West
• Historical images, chronology, glossary -- useful with terms in Chinese (displays with Big-5 code), even despite some awkward English translation

Prehistory and Ancient China

• Shang Civilization -- map at 1200 BCE
• Ancient Period -- historical overview of Xia, Shang, Zhou, and Warring States
• Archaelogical findings -- fossil evidence for human evolution in China
• Peking Man -- image of 500,000 year old skull
• Other Primitive Humans in China -- timeline with hyperlinks to images
• Neolithic arts and artifacts -- vessels and ritual objects
• Shang Arts -- vessels and bones
• Oracle Bones -- excellent photos
• Bronze vessels -- excellent photos with explanations
• Zhou - Warring States China -- map
• The Duke of Zhou -- a portrait
• Mandate of Heaven -- (primary source in English translation)
• Zhou Arts -- vessels and objects

History of Imperial China

• Dynasties -- with hyperlinks to historical background
• Dynasties, another view
• Imperial Portraits
• The Traditional Chinese Calendar Explained

Early Imperial Period

• Early Imperial Period -- historical overview of Qin, Han, and Disunity
• Early Imperial Period -- detailed timeline of events
• Qin and the Warring States it eventually conquered -- map at 3rd century BCE
• Qin Shihuangdi -- a portrait of the First Emperor of Qin
• The Silk Road -- Resource site
• The Emperor and the Assassin -- Feature film by Chen Kaige, about the Qin Emperor
• Qin and Han Arts -- figurines, tombs, decorative objects
• Xi'an -- terracotta soldiers and the Silk Road, and the city today
• History of Chinese Tattooing
• Han China -- Map
• Han China -- map at 100 BCE
• Han Gaozu -- Portrait of the First Emperor of Han, aka Liu Bang
• Arts from the Period of Disunity -- Early Buddhist works, and calligraphy

Middle Period

• Sui Dynasty Founder -- Portrait of the first emperor of Sui
• Sui and Tang arts -- Buddhist works, architecture, figurines, paintings
• Five Dynasties and Liao Dynasty -- Buddhist works, paintings
• Song Dynasty -- map at 11th century CE
• Song Dynasty -- Paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, Buddhist works

Late Imperial Period

• Some full-text primary sources -- Confucius, Odoric of Pordenone, Herbert Giles, et al
• Eurasia under the Mongols -- map of 1227 CE Eurasia under Genghis Khan, on eve of Yuan dynasty
• Yuan dynasty China -- map
• Yuan arts -- paintings
• Ming Dynasty -- map
• Ming dynasty China -- map
• Ming arts -- architecture, paintings, vessels
• The Forbidden City -- virtual tour of Peking palace built in Ming
• The voyages of Zheng He -- The Maritime Explorations of a Muslim Eunuch from the Peking Court
• Late Qing dynasty China -- map
• Jingban Tianwen Quantu -- map produced in 1780s-90s by Chinese scholar Ma Junliang, tr. "Capital Edition of a Complete Map of the World Based on Astronomy," produced by the Chinese
• Qing arts -- paintings, architecture, vessels
• The Chinese Educational System -- sample questions from examination system and report by Western observer, ca. 1575 (primary source in English translation)
• Kangxi, The Sacred Edicts, 1670 (primary source in English translation)
• The Kangxi Emperor -- portrait as a young man, in his study (reigned 1661-1722)
• The Kangxi Emperor -- portrait at the culmination of a long reign
• The Qianlong Emperor -- portrait as a young man, at the time of his ascension to the throne (reigned 1736-1795)
• The Qianlong Emperor -- formal portrait
• The Dutch East India Company -- Porcelain trade from Jingdezhen through Canton, 17-19 c.

Modern Chinese History

• PRC - 1949-1999 timeline
• Modern Chinese Cultural History -- Image Archive
• More to come - under construction

Late Imperial through Republican Period -- Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

• The British East India Company -- Company website
• The People of Canton -- Opposition to Britain, 1842 (primary source in English translation)
• The Opium Monopoly -- 1920 foreign observer account (primary source in English)
• French expansion in China -- Speech by Jules Ferry, 1884 (primary source in English translation)
• German interests in China -- Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1920 (primary source in English translation)
• China and Russia -- Map of border definitions and disputes of 1860s-80s
• Foreign troops in Peking -- Account by Pierre Loti, during Boxer Rebellion of 1900 (primary source in English translation)
• Tales of Old China -- Foreign Observer Accounts and Images of Nineteeenth- and Early-Twentieth Century China
• Old Shanghai
• Ci Xi portrait -- b. 1835; powerful in court, intermittently as regent and empress dowager, from 1860s through her death in 1908.
• The Xuantong Emperor, Pu Yi -- portrait of the last Qing emperor, b. 1906, r. 1909-1912, d. 1967
• Political leaders on cigarette cards -- Presidents and warlords of the Early Republic
• Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian / Sun Zhongshan) -- photo
• Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) -- photo
• Mao Zedong -- official portrait
• Mao Zedong -- portraits by Zhang Hongtu, recent
• Mao Fever -- Exhibit at Claremont College
• Mao Zedong -- Archive of his writings (primary source in English translation)

Late Twentieth Century

The People's Republic

PRC History

• Cultural Revolution Culture
• US-China relations -- Retrospective look at 50 years (CNN)
• The Shanghai Communique -- Full text of 1972 agreement between US and PRC (primary source in English translation) (NY Times login)

Current issues

• Fifty Years of Communism, 1949-1999 -- consideration of the PRC at century's end (NY Times login)
• The Tiananmen Papers -- Excerpts printed in Foreign Affairs journal, Jan-Feb 2001, with commentary by Andrew Nathan
• Three Gorges Dam Project -- location on map
• Three Gorges Campaign -- Economic Development and Environmental Issues in China
• Traditional Chinese Medicine -- Increasing demand and environmental issues
• Tibet -- Recent report
• China in Cyberspace -- Ian Buruma article in NY Review of Books
• Internet in China -- Recent report
• Internet in China -- Another recent report
• Falun gong -- Superstitious cult or harmless spirituality? Some background
• Falun gong -- Recent report
• Falun gong -- Other recent events

Hong Kong

Taiwan

• Taiwan Documents Project (primary source in English translation)
• Sinorama Magazine, Taiwan -- In English and Chinese

Tibet

Chinese Culture

• Chinapage Homepage for Classical Chinese Culture -- Introductions, images, and sources in English and Chinese
• Chinese Culture Links

Festivals

• The Moon Festival aka. Midautumn Festival -- (15th day of 8th Month by lunar calendar)
• Chinese New Year -- February 9, 2005 (1st day of 1st month of the year of the Rooster, by lunar calendar)
• Chinese New Year Prints, or "nianhua" -- a bit of historical background
• Chinese New Year Prints -- common examples of door gods, heavenly officials, Daoist priests, heroic figures, etc
• Chinese New Year Prints -- revolutionary themes from the 1950s-60s

Society

Women and Family

• Women in World History -- Primary sources relating to women in East Asia
• Women and Gender in Chinese Studies Network -- Oxford website
• Bibliography for Women in Chinese History -- compiled by Marilyn Shea, University of Maine
• Ban Zhao (Pan Chao) -- Lessons for a Woman, ca. 80 CE
• Ballad of Mulan - in English, Chinese, and calligraphy
• "Ending Footbinding and Infibulation" -- "convention" hypothesis (Gerry Mackie, 1996)
• Footbinding -- Changes to bone structure
• Footbinding -- Girl at age of initiation
• Footbinding -- Young woman
• Footbinding -- Two elderly ladies
• Footbinding -- Bindings removed from foot
• Footbinding -- Bindings removed from feet
• Footbinding -- Bindings removed from foot
• Trafficking in babies -- Time Magazine report 1/8/2001
• Chinese Matchmakers of Tianjin & Taoyuan -- Article by David K. Jordan, UC San Diego Dept. of Anthropology

Education

• Education in China during the late imperial period -- sample questions from examination system and report by Western observer, ca. 1575
• A Confucian education in 1880 -- memoir by Yan Phou Lee
• An attempt to abolish the examination system -- 1898

Language

• Chinese Spoken Language -- Introduction
• Chinese Writing System -- Introduction
• Get a Chinese Name -- Look in the left-hand frame, fourth category. Other useful items at this site include language learning tools, flashcards, etc.
• Learn Chinese Calligraphy -- Animated stroke order for characters
• Cheng and Tsui Bookstore -- Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials for students and non-native speakers

Literature

Classics of Chinese Thought

• Key figures of Chinese Thought -- Background on Confucius and company
• The Book of Shang - Stanford
• Classics
• Five Chinese Classics - translated by AC Muller (inc. Analects, Mencius, Tao Te ching)
• Analects of Confucius audio - hear it in Chinese, via RealAudio
• Neo-Confucianism - Summary discussion of the Confucian revival
• Sun Tzu's Art of War - translated by Lionel Giles
• Sun Tzu's Art of War - English translation with Chinese original
• Zen Buddhism www virtual library
• Resources

Fiction and Popular Culture

• Some Popular Stories and Parables
• Gods, ghosts, & ancestors: folk religion in a Taiwanese village -- Full online text of 3rd edition, by David K. Jordan 1999
• Chinese Mythology -- Understanding symbolism on decorative objects
• The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars -- Yuan dynasty text by GUO Jujėng translated into English by David K. Jordan
• Monkey, a.k.a. Journey to the West -- All 100 chapters with illustrations and music
• Monkey King discussion forum
• Louis Cha novel The Book and the Sword -- Translated by Graham Earnshaw

Poetry

• Classical Poetry -- English translations, with Chinese originals
• Classical Poetry Audio -- Listen to poetry readings in English translation and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese)
• Tang and Song Poetry -- introduced by Columbia University Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
• 300 Tang Poems

Arts

Music

• Internet Chinese Music Archive -- Traditional and Modern
• Traditional music -- sound clips
• 90s Rock in China -- sound clips
• Official Bad Boys or True Rebels? -- Barme article on Chinese rock
• The Seance -- song by the band Wang Youn

Visual Arts

• Modern Chinese Literature and Culture -- Excellent Bibliographies, Archives, and Resources
• Portal to Traditional and Modern Chinese Art
• Arts of China -- view images, by period or by medium
• Calligraphy -- A general introduction
• Graphic Art and Printing Technology -- Tang through Qing examples
• Painting - Tang through 20th Century examples
• Landscapes - See painting #3 by Shen Zhou (1427-1509), entitled Poet on a Mountaintop, and painting by Bada Shanren (1624-1705)
• Buddhist Art of China Archive -- Rock-Cut Architecture and Structural Architecture examples
• Innovations in Chinese Art -- 1850-1950 (with Guggenheim China 5000 years exhibit)
• Rethinking Cultural Revolution Culture -- Art and Propaganda in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
• Half a Century of Chinese Woodblock Prints -- exhibition
• Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages -- excellent site
• Maopost.com -- Vintage Chinese Propaganda Posters -- fun site

Cinema

• Tales of Old China -- a glance at pre-WW2 China, and urban culture milieu for cinema
• Ruan Lingyu -- actress 1910-1935
• Chinese Cinema Web-Based Learning Center -- UCSD site includes bibliography, statistics, chronologies, filmographies, biographies of directors, images of performers, posters, film stills, distribution resources, links, and an essay providing historical overview
• Early film periodicals from China
• Ling Long -- Shanghai magazine for female readers, 1931-1937

Course Information

Useful References on China

Current Events and Conditions in China

• Asia Now -- Daily news from East Asia via CNN, Time, and AsiaWeek
• New York Times International -- Asia Pacific news daily
• Far Eastern Economic Review -- Weekly news
• Foreign Affairs Magazine -- Current perspectives on US Relations with Asia
• Inside China Today
• China News Digest
• China Now -- China city life guide
• China Pages -- Yellow pages for China
• People's Daily English version -- Official PRC news

China Scholarship Guides and Research Tools

• Internet Guide for Chinese Studies
• Modern Chinese Literature and Culture -- Journal and archives
• Bibliographies on Chinese History and Culture -- Social Sciences and religion emphasis; Leiden Univ.
• Internet East Asian History Sourcebook
• Online Chinese Tools - Searchable Dictionaries, Chinese Software, and Converters
• China-Related Resources - Links assembled by David K. Jordan, UCSD
• Transnational China Project -- recent scholarship in Chinese and English

Comparative Historical Timelines and Periodization

• Different Ways to Periodize Chinese History
• Global History Timeline -- includes some general hyperlinks and maps
• Asian Cultural History Timeline with hyperlinks -- China, Japan, India 2000 BCE - 2000 CE
• Chinese and World History Timeline -- 1600 BCE - 2000 CE

China - Search Engines and Collections of Useful Links

• SINA Web Gateways -- In English and Chinese
• SOHU Web Gateway -- In Chinese
• Chinese History and images - Univ. of Maryland
• China and More - Fabulous China links page compiled by Ron Knapp, SUNY New Paltz

Guidelines and Study Tips

• Primary Source Analysis - Tips on Getting Started, Questions to Ask, Types of Sources, and Resources

Students: if you come across a webpage you feel is worthy of inclusion here, please do email the link to me at harrisk@newpaltz.edu