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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Foundations: Mesoamerican Civilizations: China

ANCIENT CHINA 

Zhou ~ Qin ~ Han Dynasties

Timeline of Chinese History and Dynasties from Asia for Educators, Columbia University

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources will have more specific information about your topic.

  • Secondary source books are written by scholars and present a new interpretation or thesis based upon a synthesis of primary sources, scholarly journal articles, and other secondary sources.
  • Sometimes there will be an entire book, sometimes you may have to assemble information from multiple monographs.
  • Secondary sources will usually have a bibliography of materials for further study.

 

BOOKS ON RESERVE AT THE CIRCULATION DESK To ensure equitable access, all reserve materials are to be used only in the library for the duration of the project.

To borrow reserve books:

  1. Ask Library Staff at the Circulation Desk for the specific books you would like to use.
  2. We will retrieve the books from the reserve shelves and sign them out to you.
  3. When you have finished using them or at the end of class, RETURN the books to a Library Staff Member.

 

General books covering all dynasties

  • The ancient Chinese world / Terry Kleeman and Tracy Barrett. DS741.5 .K55 2005
  • China: a history / John Keay. DS735 .K43 2009
  • China's buried kingdoms / The Editors of Time-Life Books. DS715 .C453 1993
  • Chinese Art / Filippo Salviati, Sergio Basso. N7340 .S34 2007
  • Chinese mythology / Anthony Christie. BL1802 .C557 1985
  • The food of China / E. N. Anderson. GT2853 .C6 A53
  • The Frugal Gourmet cooks three ancient cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome / Jeff Smith. TX724.5 .C5 S597
  • Health and wellness in antiquity through the Middle Ages / William H. York. (an online ebook)
  • A history of Chinese civilization / Jacques Gernet. DS721 .G3913 1982
  • The rise of Chinese empire / Chun-shu Chang.  DS741.5 .C41616 2007  (also online on the website HathiTrust)
  • A short history of Chinese civilization / by Tsui Chi. DS735 .T75 1943
  • Women in imperial China / Bret Hinsch. HQ1767 .H56 2016

Zhou / Chou Dynasty 

Qin / Ch'in Dynasty 

  • The Chinese civilization : Hsia to the Ch'in dynasty, 2207 BC-206 BC / Amit Bhattacharyya. (Sign up for a free account on the Internet Archive and borrow this book for up to one hour. NOTE: Click on RETURN NOW button after use or at the end of class time. Renewals for one hour are allowed if no one else is waiting to borrow it.) 
  • The early Chinese empires : Qin and Han / Mark Edward Lewis. DS747.5 .L42 2007
  • The first emperor of China : the greatest archeological find of our time / Arthur Cotterell. DS747.9.C47 C67 1981
  • The Great Wall / texts by Luo Zewen ... [et al.] DS793.G67 G74 1981
  • The Great Wall of China : from history to myth / Arthur Waldron. DS793.G67 W25
  • The Terra Cotta Army : China's first emperor and the birth of a nation / John Man. DS747.9.Q5 M36 2008

Han Dynasty

  • 24 hours in ancient China: a day in the life of the people who lived there / Yijie Zhuang. DS748 .Z48 2020
  • Arts of the Han dynasty / Chinese Art Society of America. (1961 exhibition catalog online on the website HathiTrust)
  • The early Chinese empires : Qin and Han / Mark Edward Lewis. DS747.5 .L42 2007
  • Everyday life in early imperial China during the Han period, 202 BC-AD 220 / Michael Loewe. DS748 .L58 1973
  • Han civilization / Wang Zhongshu. DS748 .W37 1982
  • Han social structure / Ed. by Jack L. Dull. DS748 .H28  PS
  • Trade and expansion in Han China / Ying-shih Yu (an online ebook)

Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source.

Examples include: eyewitness accounts, autobiographies and memoirs, diaries, letters, speeches, reports, newspapers, household and day-to-day objects, clothing, works of art, architecture, and photographs.

Please note: primary source documents are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.

 

Primary Sources in Books / eBooks

  • Basic writings of Mo Tzu, Hsün Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu  / translated by Burton Watson. A collection of the basic writings by three philosophers of the Qin dynasty  on music, fatalism, learning,  Confucianism, good government, military affairs, Heaven, and music.
  • Chinese civilization: a sourcebook / Patricia Ebrey. DS721 .C517 1993
  • Daily life through world history in primary documents. 2009 (an online ebook)
  • Han social structure. Edited by Jack L. Dull. DS748 .H28
  • Sources of Chinese tradition / Compiled by William Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, Burton Watson. DS703 .D4   (See Part II: The Imperial Age: Ch'in and Han) 
  • Sources of Chinese tradition / Compiled by William Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, Burton Watson. DS703 .D4 1964 (See Chapter VII, The Imperial Order through Chapter X, The Great Han Historians.)

 

Primary Sources in Online Subscription Databases

  • Ancient and Medieval History Click on the Primary Sources tab above your search result list. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools. 
  • Daily Life Through History Use the Filters button at the top of your search results list to select Documents and media, which may include primary source artifacts and images. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools
  • Gale in Context: World History Select Primary Sources from the menu bar on your search results page. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
  • World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras Use the Filters button at the top of your search results list to select Documents and media, which may include primary source artifacts and images. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.

 

Primary Sources on the Internet

If you have any questions,

see Mr. Padgett or Ms. Taylor

OR email us at 

spadgett@taftschool.org  

  taylorp@taftschool.org

We're here to help!

NoodleTools Tips for Citing Books / eBooks and Primary Sources

 

PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

To cite a book, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it.

  • Database = an electronic book found in a Taft Subscription Database such as ACLS Humanities e-Book.
    • Choose Book.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
    • Choose the name of the database, using the pull-down menu under My library's databases.
    • Complete information about the book (author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date).
  • Website = an electronic book found on the Internet using a search engine like Google.
    • Choose Book.
    • Copy and paste the URL for the book from your browser address bar. 
    • Enter author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date. If there's an ISBN, search that number to get the information about the book.
  • Print or In Hand = a book in the Reserve collection behind the main desk or found upstairs in the Main collection.
    • Choose Book.
    • Using information in the book, enter author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date.

Note: Print and electronic books can also be cited in NoodleTools using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) . For a print book, look for the ISBN and associated barcode on the back cover or on the back side of the title page. If you don't find it, a library staff member can help. Books published before 1967 won't have an ISBN.

International Standard Book Number - Wikipedia

If you have any questions,  Mr. Padgett or Ms. Taylor are happy to help!

To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = a document found in a Taft Subscription Database such as {DATABASE NAME}
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
  • Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch or a search engine such as Google. 
  • Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.

Next determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

  • Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
  • If you are not sure, you can use "Anthology / Collection" which enables you to cite a source found within another source.