Library Guides: History: Asia: Primary sources

Original sources: East Asia

China : trade, politics and culture online 1793-1980
Based on substantial collections of unique manuscript materials held at the library of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the British Library in London.
China : culture and society
The database provides access to the pamphlets held in the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia housed in the Carl A. Kroch Library of Cornell University. Mostly in English and published between c. 1750 and 1929. These rare pamphlets form part of one of the deepest and most extensive collections of literature on China and the Chinese in the Western world.
Foreign Office files for China
The complete British Foreign Office Files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in this period.
Political, economic and military conditions in China: reports and correspondence of the US Military Intelligence Division 1918-1941
This collection reproduces the six principal MID files relating exclusively to China for the period 1918 to 1941 (general conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, army, navy, and aeronautics).
Topic collections, 1938-1956. TC 9, Korea, 1950
Material from one Mass Observation study conducted in London on public reactions to the war in Korea.
19th century English-language journals from the Far East
This collection provides researchers with six rare English-language journals, five of which were founded by Western missionaries in the Far East in the 19th century, covering a wide range of topics such as East-West communication, Christianity in China and other parts of Asia, and China's political, economic, and cultural landscape
Coverage: 1817-1901
Foreign Office files for Japan, 1919-1952
Provides full-text searchable access to formerly restricted top level discussions and correspondence from the British Embassy and consulate in Japan. Includes memoranda, reports, minute sheets and correspondence, along with detailed assessments of key events and speeches.

Original sources : Asia

Making of the modern world
Provides digital facsimile images of works on economics and business published between 1450 and 1850. Full-text searching allows researchers access to material on commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade and transport.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports
Publication Date: 1941-1996 FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government. Translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world
Asia and the West : Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange
Features primary source collections related to international relations between Asian countries and the West during the 19th century. These documents include government reports, diplomatic correspondences, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, and NGO papers.
Global commodities : trade, exploration and cultural exchange
The database provides access to a vast range of visual, manuscript and printed materials sourced from over twenty key libraries and more than a dozen companies and trade organisations around the world.
Archives unbound
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.

Original sources: South Asia

Report of the proceedings / Indian National Congress.
See Location and Availability for years available on Microfilm.

Empire online
Contains images of primary source material taken from libraries and archives worldwide. Africa, the Americas, Australasia, Oceania and South Asia are covered. Also included are five thematic sections with essays by leading scholars.
Foreign Office files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
British Government's files on the countries of South Asia from shortly before Indian partition and independence up to 1980.
India, Raj and empire
Drawing upon the manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland this resource is of value to those teaching or researching 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.
Archives unbound
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.

Original sources: Southeast Asia

Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
Select Browse to access this in History Vault. Covers U.S. involvement in the region from the early days of the Kennedy administration, through the escalation of the war during the Johnson administration, to the final resolution of the war at the Paris Peace Talks and the evacuation of U.S. troops in 1973.
Intelligence reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975
This collection provides researchers with Department of State cables and CIA intelligence information cables concerning South and North Vietnam.
Ambassador Graham Martin and the Saigon Embassy's back channel communications files, 1963-1975
Consists of State Department telegrams and White House backchannel messages between U.S. ambassadors in Saigon and White House national security advisers, 1963-1975.

Southeast Asia visions: a collection of historical travel narratives by Cornell University
Publication Date: 1550s - 1920s
A collection of European travel accounts of pre-modern Southeast Asia from Cornell University Library's John M. Echols Collection.
Mail reports from the Netherlands East Indies, 1869-1940 by Dutch East Indies. Gouverneur Generaal
Publication Date: Microfiche
Memoranda of conveyance of officials of the Dutch East Indies 1849-1962
Publication Date: 1849-1962 (microfiche)
Accomanying guide entitled: Inventaris van de Memories van Overgave, catalogued separately.

Primary sources

Primary sources are first hand evidence or records of the time. They may take the form of diaries, letters, interviews, speeches, photographs, posters, pamphlets and official records. They can give you a first-hand account of what life was like during the event or time you're looking at, and show you what people thought and felt about the world.

You can find primary sources in books, sourcebooks, newspapers and in our digital collections.