X-Boorman: Biographical Dictionary of Modern China

Projects
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Overview

From Paula Curtis Collection[1]: The X-Boorman platform presents a digital revival of the Biographical Dictionary of Republican China edited by Howard L. Boorman in 1967-1971 (Columbia University Press). The BDRC was a reference work that generations of historians used in their research and teaching. It provided essential information on both a large group of Chinese elites (including one foreigner) and on the history of the period. The BDRC went out of print decades ago and became inaccessible, except in libraries ((The print version of the BDRC is now out of print, but the four main volumes are available for consultation — on loan — at Archives.org.)). It also became obsolete due to its use of the Wade-Giles transliteration system, the availability of new materials (especially in Chinese), and of course the rise of Wikipedia-type platforms in the United States and in China. Yet the BDRC remains a very valuable piece of scholarship that we sought to transform to make it available again under new guise to the public.

  • Institution/Author: Howard L. Boorman
  • Period: Modern
  • Geographic Focus: China
  • Access: Open Access

  1. Digital Humanities Resources on East Asia by Dr. Paula R. Curtis ↩ī¸Ž