Wilkinson E. Chinese History: A Manual

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000 — xxiv, 1181 p.
ISBN: 0-674-00247-4.
The manual has five principal aims:
to suggest solutions to basic problems encountered in doing research on traditional Chinese civilization and history;
to introduce the main primary sources for all periods from the Shang to the foundation of the People's Republic in 1949;
to introduce the main reference works for all periods from the Shang to the foundation of the People's Republic in 1949;
to give readers a sense of the spectacular changes that took place in the course of Chinese history; to suggest ways to avoid anachronistic interpretations of the past.Note to Revised and Enlarged Edition.
Acknowledgments to Revised and Enlarged Edition.
Acknowledgments to 1998 Edition.Boxes and Tables.Conventions.Recent Historiographical Trends. — Center and Periphery. — Periodization. — The Dynasties.
Basics.
Language. — Dictionaries. — People. — Geography. — Chronology. — Telling the Time. — Statistics. — Guides and Encyclopaedias. — Locating Books. — Locating Secondary Sources. — Libraries.
Pre-Qin Sources.
Archaeology. — Pre-Qin Archaeology. — Prehistoric Signs and Symbols. — Oracle-Bone Inscriptions. — The Characters: Evolution and Structure. — Epigraphy. — From Bamboo Strips to Printed Books. — Excavated and Transmitted Texts.
Historical Genres.
Primary and Secondary Sources. — Annals. — Standard Histories. — Topically Arranged Histories. — Miscellaneous Histories. — Government Institutions. — Official Communications. — Law. — War.
Other Primary Sources.
Myth and Religion. — Literary Anthologies and Collected Works. — Leishu 類書. — Biji 筆記. — Philosophical Works. — Popular Literature. — Agriculture，Food, and the Environment. — Medicine. — Technology and Science. — Calligraphy, Painting, and Music. — Women’s Studies. — Non-Han Peoples (Inside China). — Non-Han Peoples (Outside China). — Foreign Accounts of China.
Primary Sources by Period.
Introduction: Guides. — Qin and Han. — Wei, Jin, Nan-Bei Chao. — Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties. — Song. — Liao, Xi Xia, Jin, and Yuan. — Ming. — Qing. — The Republic.
Appendix: Publishers.
Index of Terms Explained.
Index of Names.
Index of Book and Periodical Titles.
Subject Index.
Boxes.
Early Bilingual Dictionaries. — Zhongguo 中國. — Seven Main Annual Festivals in Late Imperial China. — Shang Time. — The Sources for Chinese History (Han to Qing). — Documents Preserved in Compilations. — The Five Phases (wuxing 五行). — Introductions to Documentary Chinese. — The Western Regions. — The Origins of "Manchu" and "Qing".
Tables.
The Number of Characters. — Component Parts of Characters. — Definitions of Dao 道. — The Ages of Man. — Self-Deprecatory Expressions and Honorific Salutations. — The Origins of the Names of the Provinces. — The Contents of Local Gazetteers. — The Tiangan 天千 and the Dizhi 地支. — The Ganzhi 千支 Cycle. — The Twelve Animal Signs. — The Jieqi 節氣 System. — Chinese Hours in Imperial Times (12 chen 辰）. — The Compass Names for the 24 Hours. — Big Numbers. — Very Small Numbers. — Weights and Measures: Pre-Qin. — Weights and Measures: Qin-Qing. — Weights and Measures: Conversion of Historic Values. — The Mu 畝： Conversion of Historic Values. — The History Branch in the Siku Classification. — The Philosophers’ Branch in the Siku Classification. — Dynastic Bibliographies. — Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cultures. — Main Script Forms. — Modem Movable Typefaces. — Main Textual Sources for Pre-Qin History. — The Shisanjing 十三經（Thirteen Classics). — The Classics Branch in the Siku Classification. — Archives and Other Collections of Original Documents. — The Standard Histories. — Monographs in the Standard Histories. — Huiyao 會要. — Shitong 十通. — The Qing Examination System. — The Imperial Encyclopaedia 古今圖書集成. — Non-Han Peoples and Countries in the Histories.