For centuries, European missionaries, diplomats, travelers, merchants, scholars, and artists have left behind a vast body of historical records about China in the form of books, manuscripts, letters, archival materials, maps, and images. These valuable documents preserve the history of Europe’s understanding of China and bear witness to the long and profound history of cultural exchange between China and Europe.
Our Mission
Our mission is to discover, preserve, and document historical materials relating to China that are dispersed across Europe. Through digitization, translation, research, and publication, we seek to ensure the long-term preservation of these valuable sources and bring them back into public view. We aim to connect collectors, scholars, libraries, archives, museums, universities, and publishers, and to promote the preservation, study, and dissemination of historical documents relating to China and Sino-European cultural exchange.
Our Work
The Association works to identify and collect historical documents relating to China held in Europe, and to organize, catalogue, preserve, restore, and digitize these materials. It also promotes their translation, scholarly research, publication, and wider dissemination. At the same time, we seek to cooperate with libraries, archives, museums, universities, research institutions, publishers, and private collectors in Europe and China to advance the preservation, study, and public accessibility of these valuable historical sources.
Collections & Documents
The Association’s work is founded on its own collection of historical documents relating to China in Europe, while continuing to identify, acquire, catalogue, and digitize further materials. The existing collection includes books, travel accounts, missionary writings, maps, images, and other historical sources concerning China from the seventeenth century onward.
We will gradually make our collection catalogues and selected important documents available to the public, providing source materials for academic research, translation and publication, document preservation, and international cooperation.
Cooperation
We warmly welcome scholars, collectors, libraries, archives, museums, universities, research institutions, publishers, and all those interested in the history and cultural exchange between China and Europe to participate in the work of the Association. Contributions may take many forms, including providing information about historical documents, participating in their cataloguing and research, collaborating on translation and publication projects, becoming a member, making a donation, or volunteering. Every form of support is welcome. Our aim is to build an open, professional, and long-term platform for cooperation so that more valuable historical documents relating to China can be discovered, preserved, studied, and made accessible to the public.
Contact
If you hold historical documents relating to China, would like to participate in their cataloguing and research, or are interested in cooperating with the Association in the fields of academic research, translation, publication, or digitization, we would be delighted to hear from you. We also warmly welcome those who wish to support our work, become members of the Association, or contribute to the preservation of historical documents relating to China.
E-mail:
info@china-documents.de