Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

author: Editor: Shanghai Library

price:RMB 35,000

isbn:978 -7-5439-5671-1

Publiation:

introduction:

The Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1858-1948) in 35 volumes is provided by the Historical Documentation Center, Shanghai Library, and is a “Twelfth Five-Year" national key publishing planning project and supported by the National Publishing Foundation.

This is a photocopying edition of the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, formerly known as Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, was established on September 26, 1857 in Shanghai, with Elijah Coleman Bridgman as Chairman, including such members as Joseph Edkins, William Lockhart and Thomas Hanbury. The purpose of the organization was to investigate and research the status quo and history of China and its neighboring countries. In 1859, the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society joined the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and was renamed as the "North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society".

The Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was first published in 1858 and suspended in 1948, lasting nearly a century. There are altogether 109 numbers in 75 volumes. It mainly focused on the study and investigation of China, sometimes covering other neighboring countries as North Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Russia. The articles published in the journal involve all aspects of China studies, including animal and mineral resources survey, hydro-climatic analysis, geography and property research, political and economic commentary, introduction to local customs, current situation dynamic tracking, art, religion, history, culture, and so on. It was an important journal of Sinology in the mid-19th century and the first half of the 20th century, playing an important role in the promotion of the Western world to understand China and the development of modern European and American Sinology. It has very high historical and academic values. The photocopied Journal is in 35 volumes, with the first volume containing introduction, index and appendix to facilitate readers’ study. The remaining 34 volumes are photocopies of the original publication, presenting a complete reproduction of this voluminous and precious modern Western document.

Due to the large quantity of this publication, it is difficult for individual readers to take it into their personal collection. To meet individual book collectors’ demands, the publisher has also published the first volume, the “Introduction, Index, Appendix” as a monograph, which provides in both Chinese and English the tables of contents of the sub-volumes, title index and author index. Famous experts are invited to write introductions, giving in detail an overview of the publication, its editors, contents and historical value. The Appendix, “A Study of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society" is a systematic introduction to the society's history, functions and daily activities. It also makes an analysis of the investigations of China done by the society members and their status and roles in the cultural exchange between China and the West, together with relevant literature. It is currently the only monograph on the research of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.