New Tier 2 Licensed Resource – Chinese Databases (Classic Ancient Books & Local Records)
Eight campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara) began participation in a Tier 2 opportunity for access to the Database of Chinese Classic Ancient Books or Zhongguo jiben guji ku (中国基本古籍庫) and to the Database of Chinese Local Records I & II or Zhongguo fang zhi ku (中國方志庫) Database 1 and 2.
Both databases – (B, D, I, LA, M, R, SD, SB; on the Erudition platform) Note: Use of both resources is limited to 1 simultaneous user so it’s important that users logoff when finished. If unavailable, users should revisit the resource at another time.
- Chinese Classic Ancient Books http://uclibs.org/PID/276098
On the login page, select “中國基本古籍庫,” then click “Login” to connect to the database. Remember to click “exit” from the homepage/gateway when done, otherwise the next user will have to wait at least 15 minutes. - Chinese Local Records I & II http://uclibs.org/PID/276099
On the login page, select “愛如生古籍數據庫,” then click “Login.” On the new page, click on the image with the wording, 中國方志庫. From the table of contents page, click on the one with “合集” to connect to the entire database. Remember to click “exit” from the homepage/gateway when done, otherwise the next user will have to wait at least 15 minutes.
Note: Currently, these resources do not work via campus web proxy servers. They are available off-campus via VPN, webVPN and EZproxy services.
The Database of Chinese Classic Ancient Books or Zhongguo jiben guji ku (中国基本古籍庫) is the largest database of pre-20th century covering all fields of knowledge. It currently contains approximately 10,000 titles of books (170,000 volumes) and 12,500 editions (200,000 volumes) from the pre-Qin period through to the Republican period. The texts are divided into four sections — Philosophy and Science, History and Geography, Art and Literature, and General Works — and these are further divided into twenty major categories, which are in turn subdivided into one hundred minor categories.
This database has several distinctive features:
- All texts are fully searchable.
- It includes photographic images of the original texts.
- A direct comparison between digitized text and the original text image, and in some cases between different editions of the text, is available.
- A dictionary is available for easy reference.
Zhongguo jiben guji ku has become a standard reference for both established researchers and undergraduate students about to enter the path of scholarship, due to its vast scope and good quality. It serves as a new portal to the world of knowledge about the Chinese classics and, more broadly, the Sinographic cultural sphere that extends over a wide area of Asia.
The license also includes the Database of Chinese Local Gazetteers I & II or Zhongguo fang zhi ku (中國方志庫) Database 1 and 2, containing geographical works known as “gazetteers”, dating from Qin dynasty until the Republic era. For easy searching, gazetteers included are grouped by type such as temples and mountains, as well as jurisdiction: national and comprehensive level (总志, 一统志), provincial level (省), district level (府, 州), county level (县), township (镇) and villege (村) level. The database is also fully searchable. All texts are provided in full-text and original images, including maps or tables, allowing direct side by side comparison. Database 1 and 2 are available and have 4,000 titles; when the future three installments are finished, this resource will include more than 10,000 premodern local gazetteers.
Susan Xue (UCB) is the contact for information on this license.