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Asian Languages And Literatures-old: Reference (Encyclopedias, etc)

Reference Sources in Olin Library

Encyclopedias

  • The Cambridge encyclopedia of China REF DS705 .C35 1991 - This encyclopedia presents a dynasty-by-dynasty review of Chinese history. Contains a subject index and bibliography, as well as a glossary of Chinese terms with Pinyin and Wade-Giles transliteration, and Chinese characters.
  • Kodansha encyclopedia of Japan, Ref DS805 .K633 1983 - This nine volume set is the standard encyclopedia for finding in-depth articles on all aspects of Japanese history culture and civilization.
  • Nihon gendai bungaku daijiten / Miyoshi Yukio ... [et al.] henshū. (1994) Ref PL726.55.N477 1994 - A two volume encyclopedia of contemporary Japanese literature.
  • Nihon rekishi daijiten / [henshū iin daihyō Asao Naohiro ... [et. al.]]. (2000-2001) Ref DS806.N44325 2001 - A four volume historical encyclopedia that provides excellent coverage of topics not covered by more traditional Japanese historical encylopedias.  

Dictionaries

  • Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage - Link to a famous Chinese-English dictionary.
  • Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644 Ref DS753.5 .A84 1976 - Produced by the Ming Biographical History Project of the Association for Asian Studies, this two volume dictionary provides scholars with signed biographies of important persons of the 300 years of the Ming Dynasty.
  • Ingo daijiten / Kimura Yoshiyuki, Koide Mikako Ref PL697.J524 2000 - Dictionary of Japanese slang. Will be especially useful for students trying to understand the special words used by Yakuza or among Geisha, for example.
  • Japanese Fiction Writers, 1868-1945 - Ref PL747.55.M63 1997. This work focuses on the lives and works of 25 Japanese authors who were prominent in the literary development of Japan from the time of the first Japanese encounter with the West in the mid-19th century until the end of the Second World War. Each article contains a photograph of the author, a list of works, an extensive biographical and critical article about the author, and a list of recent secondary references in both Japanese and in English.
  • Japanese Fiction Writers Since World War II Ref PL747.8.J36 1997 - 28 authors of the post-Second World War period are covered in this volume. An introductory essay deals with the topic of the defeat of Japan, and its impact on Japanese thought and writing. A complete bibliography of the authors works is presented, along with a critical article about the author, and a list of recent secondary references.
  • Jim Breen's WWWJDIC server - Probably one of the best used dictionary sites for English speakers of Japanese. Unlike Rikai, Jim Breen lets you drop your Japanese text into the dictionary so that you can look up entire sentences. This site is the way to go if you are translating rather than just reading online.
  • The Kanji dictionary, by Mark Spahn, et. al. Ref PL679.S68 1996 - An extensive and authoritative dictionary of Kanji, the Japanese script derived from Chinese characters.
  • Kanji fast finder, by Laurence Matthews Ref PL677.6.M37 2004 - Locate any kanji immediately on the basis of its shape--no need to identify radicals or count strokes, or master a complicated reference system. Features all 1,1945 general use kanji as prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
  • Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary. Sixth edition. Ref PL679.K39 2002 - Standard English-Japanese dictionary with more than 140,000 words with American and British pronunciation and word etymologies. Thesaurus of synonyms and a foreign phrase listing.
  • Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary. Fifth edition. Ref PL679.K4 2003 - standard dictionary that contains about 80,000 words and 160,000 derivitives. Arranged according to the Roman alphabet. Transliteration is by the Hepburn system. Numerous appendixes.
  • Kōjien / Shinmura Izuru hen. (1998) Ref PL 675.S49 1998 - A standard one volume Japanese language dictionary.
  • Medieval Japanese Writers Ref PL726.3.M43 1998 - This one volume reference examines the lives and writings of the most prominent writers of medieval Japan. There is an introduction to medieval Japanese literature, and individual articles about the each author. Each article contains a list of the author's principle works, the editions in which they appear, a lengthy crtical article about the author, and a bibliography of relevant secondary sources.
  • Nihon kin-gendai jinmei jiten / Usui Katsumi ... [et al.] Ref CT1832.N55 2001 - A biographical dictionary of nineteenth and twentieth century Japan
  • Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan) - Searchable in English or Chinese, this site offers a wide array of language dictionaries as well as general information about Chinese education.
  • Nihon koten bungaku daijiten / hensha Ōsone Shōsuke ... [et al.]. Ref PL726.1.N453 1998 - A one volume dictionary of classical Japanese literature.
  • Rikai.com - Rikai turns your mouse into a dictionary and as you move your mouse over text, the dictionary pops up to give you the English translation. It will even follow along with you as you surf the Internet.
  • Ruigo daijiten / Shibata Takeshi, Yamada Susumu hen. Ref PL667.R85 2002 - An excellent one-volume Japanese language thesaurus.
  • Seisenban Nihon kokugo daijiten / [henshū Shōgakkan Kokugo Jiten Henshūbu] Ref PL675.N462 2006 - This three volume dictionary is similar to a desktop Oxford English Dictionary. It is a shorter version of the 14 volume Nihon kokugo daijten.
  • Yahoo! Japan Dictionaries - This site includes a kokugo (Japanese) dictionary, a Japanese thesaurus, and and a Japanese/English, English/Japanese dictionary.
  • Weblio 英和・和英辞典 including Kenkyusha dictionaries.
  • Denshi Jisho: Online Japanese Dictionary

 Guides

  • Alphabetical Subject List of Internet Resources and Databases - Link to Cathy Chiu's excellent guide, hosted by UC Santa Barbara, to East Asian subject resources available on the Internet.
  • Indiana companion to traditional Chinese literature, edited by William H. Nienhauser. Ref Z3108.L5I53 1986. - An essential reference compiled by about 170 scholars, covering Chinese literature to 1911. Most of the work consists of more than 500 signed entries detailing authors, works, genres, schools, etc. For each entry, a bibliography of editions, translations, and criticism is provided. The introduction consists of ten essays dealing with the history and themes of Chinese literature of traditional Chinese literature. (2 volumes)
  • Internet Guide for Chinese Studies - An all-round guide to quality resources for Chinese studies.
  • Japanese Names and How to read them, Ref PL683.K66 1972 - This work is a dictionary of characters used in Japanese names, dates, etc. It serves as a guide to the reading and interpretation of Japanese proper names and geographical locations.
  • Japanese Women Writers; a bio-critical sourcebook, edited by Chieko I. Mulhern, Ref PL725.J371994 - This bio-critical reference work serves two purposes: to provide cultural and literary insights into the lives and works of the major Japanese women writers, and to serve as a guide to comparative studies of Japanese women from a wide variety of perspectives. Fifty-eight women writers from the 9th century to the present time are included in the coverage. Each article also contains a bibliography of translations and critical works by and about the authors.
  • Marjorie Chan's China Links - Provides lots of links with concentration on Chinese language study, linguistics, and software.
  • On-line Chinese Tools - Lots of information on this commercial web site on learning Chinese language, dictionaries, information about computer software and Chinese culture in general.
  • Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature Ref PL726.1.M495 1985 - This literary companion covers significant Japanese authors, their works, and their themes from earliest times through the mid-nineteenth century.
  • Research Guide to English Translations of Chinese Verse Ref PL2685.E3 W576 - A bibliography and index of English translations of Chinese verse from the Han through the T'ang dynasties.
  • Year's Work in Modern Language Studies Ref PB1.Y45 - Annual review volumes back to 1930 that evaluate scholarly work on all non-English languages and literatures. 

Bibliographies

  • Bibliography of Oriental Studies - An excellent resource for verification of Chinese article citations.
  • Bibliotheca sinica. Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs a l'Empire Chinois, by Henry Cordier. Ref Z3101.C8 1904 - This four volume set is an exhaustive bibliography of books and periodical articles in a wide variety of languages mostly of the 19th century, covering all aspects of life in China.
  • China in Western literature: a continuation of Cordier's Biblteca sinica, by T'ung-li Yuan. Ref Z3101.Y8 - A supplementary list that covers books and monographs published in English, French, German and Portuguese from 1921 to 1957. It is a continuation of Cordier's Biblioteca although it does not include periodical articles. This volume's arrangement is slightly different from Cordier, and unlike Cordier it contains an author index.
  • Modern Chinese Society: an analytical bibliography, Ref Z3101.S63. - Published by Stanford University Press in 1972, this 3 volume bibliography is still a valuable resource for scholars. Volume 1, Publications in Western languages 1644-1972. Volume 2, Publications in Chinese, 1644-1969. Volume 3, Publications in Japanese, 1644-1971. Cites published secondary works and unpublished dissertations. Includes periodicals articles, but not newspaper articles. Many different indexing approaches. 

Images

  • Mainichi Photobank - This database provides access to almost 500,000 images from the Mainichi Newspaper photograph files.
  • Ohara Institute for Social Research - A truly amazing poster exhibition and searchable database of pre-1945 Japanese labor and social movements.

Other 

 

Reference Sources on the Web