Primary Sources - World History Digital Collections

Curated primary and historical sources alongside digital and print resources to support research on South Asian history, culture, and politics.

Declassified U.S. government records on relations with the People’s Republic of China, including intelligence assessments, diplomatic cables, and policy files from the Cold War and beyond.

Digitized propaganda posters from the Cultural Revolution era in China (1966–1976).

Dictionaries, maps, images, statistics, books, and journals focused on South Asia for reference and research.

Manuscripts, maps, books, and artworks from libraries and archives around the world that illustrate the history and cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and neighboring regions.

Photographs, postcards, and prints that document daily life, colonialism, and cultural exchange in Japan, Taiwan, China, and occupied territories from the 1870s through the 1940s.

Translated primary texts that explore the history, philosophy, religion, and politics of China, Japan, Korea, and other East Asian cultures from ancient times to the modern era.

Digitized Blue Books, Sessional Papers, Administrative Reports, the Government Gazette, and Hansard from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Translated primary texts and scholarly links covering South Asian history from the Indus Valley and Vedic periods to modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, and Sri Lanka.

Declassified U.S. government documents that reveal American involvement in Indonesian political and military affairs from the 1960s onward.

Declassified U.S. government documents, briefings, and analyses on North and South Korea, with major collections covering 1969 to 2010 and topical postings on negotiations, nuclear issues, and policy debates.

Offers concise essays, maps, images, and other primary materials on the Mongol Empire, its conquests, rule in China, and global impact.

Digitized letters, diaries, reports, photographs, and films created by American missionaries who witnessed the atrocities in Nanjing in 1937 and 1938, providing vivid firsthand evidence.

Digitized DPRK posters with detailed metadata and high resolution images for studying political messaging visual design and historical context.

Introduction to China around 1000–1300 with essays, primary source materials, classroom guides, and an interactive exploration of the Qingming scroll that illustrates urban life and technological change.

Provides access to digitized manuscripts, photographs, books, newspapers, and other materials from and about Southeast Asia.

Gathers and translates references to Southeast Asian polities in the Ming Veritable Records, providing searchable English entries organized by reign, date, and place.

A digital collection of Western travel narratives and images on premodern Southeast Asia drawn from the John M. Echols Collection with searchable texts and page images.

The National Security Archive’s project on the United States and Japan gathers declassified records, oral histories, and curated document sets that illuminate diplomatic, security, and economic relations from the early 1960s through 2000.

Curates declassified records, timelines, and analytical briefings on the Vietnam War and related policy, with large document sets published in the Digital National Security Archive and regular online postings.