AM databases containing primary sources on East Asian history, politics and culture cover a wealth of subject areas, from early trading relationships to twentieth-century music recordings. This content is almost entirely English language and comes from a variety of source archives around the world. It is often presented from a western, and specifically British point of view, particularly the Foreign Office Files collections of British government sources held by the National Archives, UK, which comprise the communications between London and its embassies and consulates in East Asia.
Select from the tabs above to explore primary source content by the following areas:
China, Japan, Mongolia, Korea (including North and South Korea where applicable), Taiwan (Formosa), Hong Kong and Macau.
These are not exhaustive lists of content: they contain only a selection of the relevant material for each area, and there is far more to be found across all AM titles! A good way to locate further material is by using AM Search which will find content in any database held by your institution. Find more guidance in Searching AM databases.
Over the past 30 years, AM has built strong relationships with archives and libraries around the world. We acknowledge that hegemonic perspectives and voices have often survived at the expense of marginalised communities, and understand that by digitising primary sources, we contribute to the continued preservation and discovery of these materials. Find out more about our work with archival partners. We seek feedback from the academic community and collaborate with a dedicated board of consultants for each product, aiming to ensure the inclusion of scholars and curatorial experts who can speak to the experiences of underrepresented communities.
We continue to increase our efforts to commission essays and features which contextualise problematic terminology, highlight archival silences, discuss some of the complexities of historic archival practice and shed light on tools that students can use to overcome these challenges. Find out more about AM’s approach to diversity in our content.
Every care and attention has been paid to preserve the historic authenticity of these documents. Any terminology that may be deemed discriminatory or offensive by present-day principles may have been preserved for the historic accuracy and relevance to that particular document.
