Vetted Resources: Asian History

This resource was developed as part of the AHA’s Remote Teaching Resources initiative.

 

Asia for Educators

Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University 

Asia for Educators, an initiative of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, is designed to serve faculty and students in world history, culture, geography, art, and literature at the undergraduate and pre-college levels. This site takes an interdisciplinary and interactive approach to the study of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Primary source documents contain questions for discussion and/or at-home responses.

China, A Century of Revolution: Part I (1911-1949)

Sue Williams

China: A Century of Revolution Part I (1911-1949) uses original footage and oral history to document the collapse of the Yuan dynasty, rise of the Chinese Republic, and the strife following the death of Sun Yixian. This installment also traces the development of communism, the Chinese civil war, and the growing influence of Mao Zedong. This video has a clear, explanatory narrative. is recommended for undergraduate courses, as well as IB History and AP World History, but should be previewed for graphic content. More information about the trilogy, China: A Century of Revolution can be found here.

China Biographical Database

Fairbanks Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, Institute of History and Philology at Academia Sinica, Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History at Peking University

The China Biographical Database is a relational database with biographical information about approximately 470,000 individuals primarily from the 7th through 19th centuries (Tang through Qing dynasties). With both online and offline versions, the data is meant to be useful for statistical, social network, and spatial analysis as well as serving as a kind of biographical reference. The data best serves advanced undergraduate and graduate students doing research in Chinese Studies. The site contains a short animation as well as visualization of data that will be of use to instructors.

Commodity Histories

Sandip Hazareesingh, Principal Investigator 

Commodity Histories is a public forum for research postings as well as news and information about the history of commodities. The forum details the rich histories and cultures of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America via their world historical role in crop and other commodity production, past and present. An outgrowth of Commodities of Empire, this is is a community-building project. Available resources include working papers, primary sources, and a bibliography of commodities.

Fairbank and Reichschauer Lantern Slide Collection

Harvard-Yenching

The Fairbank and Rechschauer Lantern Slide Collection, digitized sources from the Harvard-Yenching Library, offers historic visual materials developed for John Fairbank and Edward Rechschauer’s course on East Asian culture in the mid-twentieth century. The images may provide visual aides for students or help with foundational research on East Asian history. They range from scenes of animal and plant life by Dürer, to contemporary paintings by Chinese artists, to photograph slides of Japan, China, and the Philippines captured by the professors in the late 1930s. Note: some images are identified in English by the Wade Giles, rather than pinyin, system.

Internet East Asian History Sourcebook

Paul Halsall, ed. 

The Internet East Asian History Sourcebook includes texts derived from the three major online Sourcebooks (Ancient History, medieval, Modern history) along with additional texts and websites. In addition to direct links to documents, this site provides links to secondary resources such as articles, reviews, or discussions; to megasites which track web resources; and to websites focused on a specific issue.

Internet Indian History Sourcebook

Paul Halsall, creator

The Internet Indian History Sourcebook is a subset of primary texts derived from the three major online Sourcebooks (Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History). In addition to direct links to documents, the site provides links to secondary articles, reviews, and discussions, websites that track web resources, and links to websites focused on specific issues. Note: Some links are no longer functioning, but those to core texts, such as the Laws of Manu and excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita remain functional.

Mongols in World History

Asia for Educators, Columbia University

Mongols in World History offers readings, discussion questions, and video for an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning about the Mongol Empire. It includes classroom materials on the Yuan dynasty (1271-1328). One highlight is a link to the Met Museum’s video “The World of Khubilai Khan: A Revolution in Painting” which examines the legacy of Yuan rule in painting. This video addresses protest, adaptation, and transformation of Chinese life under Mongol control, and also weaves in environmental history that contributed to the downfall of the dynasty. The classroom materials site features a Special Topic Guide with class discussion or essay prompts on Marco Polo in China.

Odyssey Online South Asia

Emory University 

Odyssey Online South Asia highlights the South Asian collection of Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum. These items represent living religious traditions that originated in India thousands of years ago and spread throughout Asia and around the globe. As the third– and fourth–largest religions in the world, Buddhism and Hinduism have millions of followers. Students may click one of the six objects for a historical–cultural explanation and explore specific highlights to enhance course studies. Objects include Vishnu, Ganesha, the Buddha.

Smart Histories

Tanil Vasilahu, Madis Maasing, Kerry Kubilius with Sammi Bold, Tony Burnett, Mehak Zaib Suddle 

Smart Histories: Compelling Stories of Russian History hosts 36 short videos on Russian history from prehistoric times to the present. Each major era of Russian history includes a transcript of the short video, as well as a Pinterest site with related images, and music from each period. These pages also incorporate additional videos that run from 4 minutes (Lenin’s New Economic policy) to 95 minutes (Ivan the Terrible). Instructors should review resources prior to assignment, as some contain graphic and violent historical material.

 Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)

Asia for Educators, Columbia University, with consultant Dr. Sue Gronewald 

Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), a lesson plan from Columbia University’s Asia for Educators, offers two activities that can be used to study the revolt that nearly toppled the Qing Dynasty. The activities are adaptable for independent or group work and in remote or face-to-face settings. Note: The suggested map link is not functioning, but students may easily search for others.

The Meiji at 150 Project

Tristan Grunow and Naoko Kato, University of British Columbia, Vancouver 

The Meiji at 150 Project examines Japan’s position in global history and the place of the Meiji Restoration in Japanese history. The site includes a Digital Teaching Resource, lectures, visual essays, and 120 content-rich podcasts, some of which include transcripts. The podcasts highlight the recent research and pedagogical approaches of specialists of Japanese history, literature, art, and culture. The companion Meiji at 150 Student Podcast spotlights students studying Japanese history on the University of British Columbia campus. The site includes links to open-access, external digital collections on Japanese history which may be used for student research projects.

Virtual Angkor

Tom Chandler, Adam Clulow, Bernard Keo, Mike Yeates and Martin Polkinghorne

Virtual Angkor brings the Cambodian metropolis of Angkor to life. Built for the classroom, it has been created to take students into a 3D world and to use this simulation to ask questions about Angkor’s place in larger networks of trade and diplomacy, its experience with climate variability and the structure of power and kingship that underpinned the city.