Discover over 200 years of Chinese history, charting the monumental social and political upheaval that recreated China as a modern power.

This digital collection answers a need for English-language primary sources relating to China and the West, 1793-1980. With manuscripts encompassing events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic, students are given an incredible insight into the changes wrought upon China during this period. Key documents relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs service – from Robert Hart to Frederick Maze – are accessible and searchable alongside original reports of the Amherst and Macartney embassies. There are letters relating to the first Opium War, survivors’ descriptions of the Boxer War and tantalising glimpses of life in China from the collected diaries and personal photographs of the Bowra family. There are also significant sources describing the lives and work of missionaries in China from 1869-1970, including extensive and fully searchable runs of missionary periodicals:

• The Chinese Recorder
• Light and Life Magazine
• The Land of Sinim: the North China Mission Quarterly Paper

In addition, 400 colour paintings, maps and drawings by English and Chinese artists provide a rich visual seam to the collection. Photographs, sketches and ephemeral items depicting Chinese people, places, customs and events, and providing a striking visual accompaniment to the documentary images.

China: Trade, Politics & Culture, 1793-1980 contains vital collections from local and national libraries across the UK, USA and New Zealand, including:

• The British Library
• Cambridge University Library
• Church Missionary Society
• Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, Duke University
• School of Oriental and African Studies
• The Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand
• The National Archives, UK
• Yale Divinity School

Due to the nature of these sources, graphic images and written accounts featuring violence, injury, death, racism, and explicit language can be found in this resource.

Please also note that, due to the period in which the primary sources in this resource were produced, some do contain language and terminology that is outdated, derogatory and offensive by modern standards. Learn more about our approach to terminology in this resource in the Language Statement.

The archival material in this resource consists of the following document types:

• Correspondence
• Illustrations
• Maps
• Miscellaneous Printed
• Official Papers
• Periodical
• Personal Accounts and Miscellaneous Manuscripts
• Photographs
• Printed Books

This project provides a wide variety of primary 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. It provides multiple perspectives – from politicians, diplomats, missionaries, business people and tourists – and documents many of the key events that happened in this period, including:

• The 1792-1794 Macartney Embassy
• The 1816 Amherst Embassy
• The settling of Penang
• The Opium Wars
• The opening of Hong Kong
• The Taiping Rebellion
• Missions in China, 1869-1970
• The Japanese seizure of Taiwan
• The 'opening of Korea'
• The Sino-French and territorial struggles with Germany, Britain, America and Japan
• The Boxer War
• The Russo-Japanese war
• The 1911 Revolution
• The Republican and Nationalist governments of Sun Yat sen and Jiang Jieshi
• The Warlord period
• The Sino-Japanese war
• The Nanjing Massacre
• The Communist Revolution led by Mao
• The Korean War
• The Great Leap Forward
• The 1972 Nixon visit to China
• Rolls-Royce's negotiations regarding the delivery of jet engines to China, 1973-1975
• The Douglas-Home and Heath visits to China, 1973-74

A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to biographies and exhibitions, explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.