理解中国历史记录

世系录真

Types of Historical Records

Imperial Records

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Veritable Records (实录)

Dynasty histories

Court chronicles

Official events

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Imperial Gazetteers (地方志)

Province histories

County records

Local information

Genealogical Records

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Zongpu (宗谱)

Clan genealogies

Complete lineages

Family histories

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Jiapu (家谱)

Family records

Household lists

Marriage records

Administrative Records

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Household Registers (户口)

Population records

Tax documents

Migration records

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Census Data

Population counts

Family surveys

Regional data

Key Historical Documents

Biography (传)

Life stories

Achievements

Family background

Monument Inscriptions (碑)

Tomb records

Memorial stones

Commemorative texts

Testaments (遗嘱)

Estate division

Property distribution

Final wishes

Finding Records

Archives

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National Archives

中国第一历史档案馆 (Beijing)

中国第二历史档案馆 (Nanjing)

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Provincial Archives

Each province has archives

Local records

County documents

Libraries

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Major Libraries

National Library of China

Provincial libraries

University libraries

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Special Collections

Genealogy sections

Local history

Rare books

Online Resources

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Digital Archives

中国国家数字图书馆

Provincial digital libraries

University repositories

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Commercial Sites

Ancestry

MyHeritage

FamilySearch

Reading Historical Documents

Classical Chinese

Understanding old documents:

Literary Chinese

Abbreviated forms

Traditional characters

Character Variations

Historical vs modern:

Simplified vs traditional

Variant forms

Regional differences

Professional Help

When to hire help:

Translation needs

Complex documents

Uncertain meaning