Aktuelles

Job Openings: Projektkoordinator:in (w/d/m) und Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in (w/d/m)

Liebe Nutzer:innen, liebe Kolleg:innen,

die Ostasienabteilung der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin sucht zwei neue Kolleg:innen! Im Folgenden finden Sie beide Stellenankündigungen:

Dear users and colleagues,

The East Asia Department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is looking for two new team members! Please find both job postings below:

 

Projektkoordinator:in (w/d/m) FID Asien und CrossAsia

Als Projektkoordinator:in verantworten Sie die operative Koordination und strategische Weiterentwicklung des DFG-geförderten Fachinformationsdienstes Asien (FID Asien) und des Portals CrossAsia – von der Projektsteuerung bis hin zu Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Monitoring. Die Bewerbungsfrist läuft bis zum 18.07.2025.

Alle Informationen zum Stellenangebot finden Sie hier.

Project Coordinator (f/d/m) FID Asien and CrossAsia

As Project Coordinator, you will be responsible for the operational coordination and strategic development of the DFG-funded Specialized Information Service Asia (FID Asia) and the CrossAsia portal – from project management to public relations and monitoring. The application deadline is July 18, 2025.

All information about the vacancy can be found here.

 

Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in (w/d/m)

Ihre Aufgaben als wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in sind vielfältig und umfassen die strategische Weiterentwicklung von CrossAsia und der digitalen Services – von der Konzeption und Evaluierung elektronischer Ressourcen über die Entwicklung von Digital Humanities-Tools bis hin zur fachspezifischen Informationsvermittlung für die Sinologie/China-Studien und der Beschaffung chinesischsprachiger Medien. Die Bewerbungsfrist läuft bis zum 18.07.2025.

Alle Informationen zum Stellenangebot finden Sie hier.

Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in (f/d/m) 

Your responsibilities as Subject Specialist for China are diverse and include the strategic development of CrossAsia and its digital services – from the conception and evaluation of electronic resources to the development of Digital Humanities tools, specialised information services for Sinology/Chinese Studies, and the acquisition of Chinese-language media. The application deadline is 18 July, 2025.

All information about the vacancy can be found here.

 

Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Bewerbung wie auch über die Weiterleitung der Ausschreibungen an potenziell Interessierte. Vielen Dank!/ We look forward to receiving your application, and please share this job posting with anyone who might be interested. Many thanks!

Ihr / Your

CrossAsia Team

 

CrossAsia Talks: Joan Judge 20.11.2025

(See English below)

Am 20. November 2025 ab 18 Uhr wird Prof. Joan Judge (York University) in einem Onlinevortrag mit dem Titel „New Conceptions: Modes of Knowing in Chinese Encyclopedias for Everyday Life“ neue Perspektiven auf die alltägliche Nutzung medizinischer Praktiken im vormodernen China präsentieren. Neben gedruckten Materialien werden auch Handschriften aus der Sammlung Unschuld berücksichtigt.

Scholars have debated the epistemic status of the Comprehensive Compendia of Myriad Treasures (wanbao quanshu  萬寶全書), a genre of daily-use texts widely reproduced in China from the sixteenth through the early twentieth centuries. This presentation seeks to deepen our understanding of both the content and the potential readership for these texts in the late imperial and Republican Chinese contexts. It does so by engaging in a close and contextualized examination of one section of the compendia that remained remarkably stable over the course of this period, the section on “Pregnancy” (Zhongzi men 種子門).

I first probe the sources for this section in an effort to determine the register of knowledge that it reproduced. This requires unraveling a complex amalgam of what could be characterized as works on bedchamber arts on the one hand, and scholarly medical treatises on the other. I then examine the different components of the section: its crude illustrations and mnemonic verses which both describe the development of the embryo, together with numerical calculations for determining the health and sex of the fetus, and recipes for managing the various ailments that might afflict the gestating woman.

Throughout this analysis, I use intratextual methods to attempt to determine who the potential users of the text might have been: who, for example, would have been best served by the illustrations, the poems, the recipes, or a combination of them. I will also use intertextual methods to search for the audience for the “Zhongzi men.” Here I will examine a hand-written gynecological manuscript from the Unschuld Collection that copied the contents of the section almost verbatim. This manuscript offers some sense of who read and valued the material on “Gestation” in the myriad treasures enough to use it as an authoritative source.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie uns unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

Der Vortrag wird via Webex gestreamt. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account, Mastodon und BlueSky an.

On 20 November 2025 from 6 pm, Prof. Joan Judge (York University) will  present an online lecture entitled ‘New Conceptions: Modes of Knowing in Chinese Encyclopedias for Everyday Life’ providing new perspectives on the everyday medical practices in pre-modern China. Besides printed materials manuscripts from the Unschuld Collection will also be considered.

Scholars have debated the epistemic status of the Comprehensive Compendia of Myriad Treasures (Wanbao quanshu  萬寶全書), a genre of daily-use texts widely reproduced in China from the sixteenth through the early twentieth centuries. This presentation seeks to deepen our understanding of both the content and the potential readership for these texts in the late imperial and Republican Chinese contexts. It does so by engaging in a close and contextualized examination of one section of the compendia that remained remarkably stable over the course of this period, the section on “Pregnancy” (Zhongzi men 種子門).

I first probe the sources for this section in an effort to determine the register of knowledge that it reproduced. This requires unraveling a complex amalgam of what could be characterized as works on bedchamber arts on the one hand, and scholarly medical treatises on the other. I then examine the different components of the section: its crude illustrations and mnemonic verses which both describe the development of the embryo, together with numerical calculations for determining the health and sex of the fetus, and recipes for managing the various ailments that might afflict the gestating woman.

Throughout this analysis, I use intratextual methods to attempt to determine who the potential users of the text might have been: who, for example, would have been best served by the illustrations, the poems, the recipes, or a combination of them. I will also use intertextual methods to search for the audience for the “Zhongzi men.” Here I will examine a hand-written gynecological manuscript from the Unschuld Collection that copied the contents of the section almost verbatim. This manuscript offers some sense of who read and valued the material on “Gestation” in the myriad treasures enough to use it as an authoritative source.

The lecture will be held in English. If you have any questions, please contact us: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

The lecture will also be streamed via Webex. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X, Mastodon and BlueSky.

 

Connecting Through Korean Studies: German Librarians at ENKRS 2025

(German translation below)

The 2025 workshop of the European Network of Korean Resources Specialists (ENKRS) took place from May 21 to 24 in Olomouc, Czech Republic, hosted by the Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University. This year’s theme, “Korean Studies Librarianship and Digital Humanities: Opportunities and Challenges for Librarians in Supporting the Next Generation of Korean Studies Scholars,” brought together specialists to share expertise and discuss the evolving role of librarians in the digital age.

Two colleagues from the Korea Section of the East Asia Department at the Berlin State Library, Mrs. Jing Hu and Mrs. Cherim Adelhoefer, participated in the event. During the pre-conference session on May 21, Mrs. Adelhoefer gave a presentation on cataloguing practices at the Berlin State Library, offering insights into workflows for Korean materials. She also engaged in lively exchanges with librarians from other countries on cataloguing standards and practices. In the main conference session on May 22, Mrs. Jing Hu presented an overview of digital scholarship initiatives within the East Asia Department, introducing services such as the N-gram service and the ITR (Integrated Text Repository) explorer. Her talk highlighted Stabi’s strategies for supporting digital research in East Asian Studies.

The workshop also served as a valuable networking platform, particularly for colleagues from Germany. In addition to Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Adelhoefer, three other librarians from Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Tübingen, and Heidelberg University attended the event. Together, they discussed shared challenges in Korean Studies librarianship and explored opportunities for future collaboration to address common tasks.

Founded in 2018, the ENKRS now has 99 members. Its inaugural workshop was held at Freie Universität Berlin in 2018. The network continues to grow, welcoming not only European librarians but also colleagues from the United States and South Korea. This year’s event brought together 49 participants from 13 countries. We look forward to next year’s ENKRS workshop – possibly in Berlin, and ideally at our Stabi – to the continued exchange of ideas and best practices in Korean Studies librarianship!

From left to right: Jing Hu (Stabi), Cherim Adelhoefer (Stabi), Annika Timmins (Universität Tübingen), Gesche Schröder (Heidelberg University); in the middle: Liliane Sperr (Freie Universität Berlin).

Vernetzung durch Koreanistik: Deutsche Bibliothekarinnen auf dem ENKRS-Workshop 2025

Der Workshop 2025 des European Network of Korean Resources Specialists (ENKRS) fand vom 21. bis 24. Mai in Olomouc, Tschechien, statt und wurde vom Lehrstuhl für Asienstudien der Palacký-Universität ausgerichtet. Das diesjährige Thema „Korean Studies Librarianship and Digital Humanities: Opportunities and Challenges for Librarians in Supporting the Next Generation of Korean Studies Scholars“ brachte Fachleute zusammen, um Wissen auszutauschen und über die sich wandelnde Rolle von Bibliothekar*innen im digitalen Zeitalter zu diskutieren.

Zwei Kolleginnen aus der Korea-Referat der Ostasienabteilung der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Frau Jing Hu und Frau Cherim Adelhoefer, nahmen an der Veranstaltung teil. Am 21. Mai, während der Vorkonferenz, hielt Frau Adelhoefer einen Vortrag über die Katalogisierungspraxis an der Stabi und gab Einblicke in die Arbeitsabläufe bei der Erschließung koreanischer Materialien. Zudem tauschte sie sich lebhaft mit Kolleg*innen aus anderen Ländern über Katalogisierungsstandards und -methoden aus. In der Hauptkonferenz am 22. Mai stellte Frau Jing Hu die digitalen Forschungsinitiativen der Ostasienabteilung vor. Dabei präsentierte sie unter anderem den N-Gram-Service und den ITR-Explorer (Integrated Text Repository). Ihr Vortrag beleuchtete Strategien der Stabi zur Unterstützung digitaler Forschung in den Ostasienstudien.

Der Workshop diente auch als wertvolle Plattform zur Vernetzung, insbesondere für Kolleginnen aus Deutschland. Neben Frau Hu und Frau Adelhoefer nahmen auch drei weitere Bibliothekarinnen von der Freien Universität Berlin, der Universität Tübingen und der Universität Heidelberg teil. Gemeinsam diskutierten sie über gemeinsame Herausforderungen im Bereich der koreanistischen Bibliotheksarbeit und loteten Kooperationsmöglichkeiten für zukünftige Projekte aus.

Das ENKRS wurde 2018 gegründet und zählt heute 99 Mitglieder. Der erste Workshop fand 2018 an der Freien Universität Berlin statt. Das Netzwerk wächst stetig weiter und begrüßt nicht nur europäische, sondern auch Kolleginnen aus den USA und Südkorea. In diesem Jahr nahmen 49 Teilnehmerinnen aus 13 Ländern an der Veranstaltung in Olomouc teil. Wir freuen uns bereits auf den nächsten ENKRS-Workshop – eventuell in Berlin, idealerweise bei uns in der Stabi – sowie auf den weiteren Austausch zu Ideen und Best Practices in koreanistischen Bibliotheksarbeit!

CrossAsia Talks: Sarah Panzer 04.09.2025

(See English below)

Wir laden Sie herzlich zum ersten japanologischen CrossAsia Talk nach der Sommerpause ein: Am 4. September 2025 ab 18 Uhr (Berliner Zeit) wird Frau Prof. Sarah Panzer (Missouri State University) Einblicke in ihre Forschungsarbeit „Documenting the Lives of Germany’s ‘Forgotten’ Prisoners of War (POWs): Photographs in the Bandō-Sammlung“ geben. Die Vortragende war im Frühling diesen Jahres im Rahmen des Stipendienprogramms der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz an der Staatsbibliothek in der Ostasienabteilung zu Gast und hat sich intensiv mit der Bandō-Sammlung beschäftigt.

On 7 November, 1914 the German garrison at Tsingtao (Qingdao), following a brief siege, surrendered to Japanese and British colonial troops. The German servicemen captured at Tsingtao were subsequently interned in Japan for the duration of the First World War. After early temporary arrangements—including barracks dating back to the Russo-Japanese War—proved inadequate, a series of POW camps were constructed across Japan. These camps became a kind of wartime ‘Ersatz Deutschland’ for their occupants, with multiple musical and theatrical ensembles organized within the various camps, as well as teams and training groups for popular sports and leisure activities. The differences between the camps notwithstanding, all variously functioned as sites where German identity was translated, represented, and negotiated within the context of extended internment. This fragile connection back to Germany became all the more important as the POWs began to suspect that their existence—to say nothing of their personal sacrifice as prisoners—had been forgotten.

Like their counterparts in Europe, some of the men interned in Japan during the First World War had access to private cameras, which they either brought with them from China or acquired in Japan. They used their cameras to document life in the camps, as well as to capture images of Japan and the Japanese. The photos produced within the camps, whether as discrete albums or as individual snapshots, provide insight into how POWs made sense of their experience in Japan and their ambivalent position as, on the one hand, emissaries of German Kultur, and, on the other, prisoners subject to the authority of the Japanese Empire. Drawing on the work of historians such as Maiken Umbach, who has argued that photographs are often more “usefully thought of as performative props than as documents of historical reality,” in this presentation I interrogate the photos and photo albums created by the German POWs and archived within the Bandō-Sammlung as a window into their understanding of themselves and their relationship to Germany and to Japan.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie uns unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet*. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-AccountMastodon und BlueSky an.

We cordially invite you to attend the first japanological CrossAsia Talk after the summer break: On 4 September 2025 from 6 pm (Berlin time), Prof. Sarah Panzer (Missouri State University) will give insights into her research work ‘Documenting the Lives of Germany’s “Forgotten” Prisoners of War (POWs): Photographs in the Bandō Collection’. The lecturer was a guest at the State Library in the East Asia Department in spring 2025 as part of the grant programme of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and worked intensively on the Bandō Collection.

On 7 November, 1914 the German garrison at Tsingtao (Qingdao), following a brief siege, surrendered to Japanese and British colonial troops. The German servicemen captured at Tsingtao were subsequently interned in Japan for the duration of the First World War. After early temporary arrangements—including barracks dating back to the Russo-Japanese War—proved inadequate, a series of POW camps were constructed across Japan. These camps became a kind of wartime ‘Ersatz Deutschland’ for their occupants, with multiple musical and theatrical ensembles organized within the various camps, as well as teams and training groups for popular sports and leisure activities. The differences between the camps notwithstanding, all variously functioned as sites where German identity was translated, represented, and negotiated within the context of extended internment. This fragile connection back to Germany became all the more important as the POWs began to suspect that their existence—to say nothing of their personal sacrifice as prisoners—had been forgotten.

Like their counterparts in Europe, some of the men interned in Japan during the First World War had access to private cameras, which they either brought with them from China or acquired in Japan. They used their cameras to document life in the camps, as well as to capture images of Japan and the Japanese. The photos produced within the camps, whether as discrete albums or as individual snapshots, provide insight into how POWs made sense of their experience in Japan and their ambivalent position as, on the one hand, emissaries of German Kultur, and, on the other, prisoners subject to the authority of the Japanese Empire. Drawing on the work of historians such as Maiken Umbach, who has argued that photographs are often more “usefully thought of as performative props than as documents of historical reality,” in this presentation I interrogate the photos and photo albums created by the German POWs and archived within the Bandō-Sammlung as a window into their understanding of themselves and their relationship to Germany and to Japan.

The lecture will be held in English. If you have any questions, please contact us: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex*. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on XMastodon and BlueSky.

 

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.

Classroomprogramm für das Sommersemester 2025 ist online

Liebe Nutzer:innen,

pünktlich zum Beginn des Sommersemester 2025 steht Ihnen wieder ein umfangreiches Schulungsangebot im CrossAsia Classroom zu unseren hauseigenen Angeboten zur Verfügung! Wir bieten, wie in jedem Semester, Einführungsschulungen zu CrossAsia und den einzelnen Regionen (China, Japan, Korea, Südostasien und Zentralasien) sowie zu speziellen Themen und einzelnen Datenbanken an. Es wird auch wieder eine Schulung rund um das CrossAsia Repository stattfinden.

Die Schulungen beginnen am 28.04. mit einer allgemeinen Einführung zu CrossAsia. Das vollständige Programm finden Sie hier sowie unter der Rubrik „Wissenswerkstatt“ im Veranstaltungskalender der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin hier.

Auf der CrossAsia Classroom-Seite finden Sie außerdem aktuelles Infomaterial zu den einzelnen Regionen und Links zu unseren CrossAsia Tutorials.

Fall Sie als Institution ein auf Sie und ihr Publikum zugeschnittenes Web-Seminare kostenfrei buchen möchten, können Sie sich gerne über x-asia@sbb.spk-berlin.de mit uns in Verbindung setzen oder direkt unsere regionalen Referent:innen dahingehend kontaktieren.

****

Dear users,

Just in time for the start of the summer semester 2025, we are once again offering you a comprehensive range of training courses in the CrossAsia Classroom on our in-house services! As in every semester, we offer introductory training courses on CrossAsia and the individual regions (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Central Asia) as well as on special topics and individual databases. There will also be another training course on the CrossAsia Repository.

The training courses will start on April 28th with a general introduction to CrossAsia. The full programme can be found here and under the heading ‘Wissenswerkstatt’ in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin’s calendar of events here.

On the CrossAsia Classroom page you will also find up-to-date information material on the individual regions and links to our CrossAsia tutorials.

If you are an institution and would like to book a web seminar tailored to you and your audience free of charge, please contact us at x-asia@sbb.spk-berlin.de or contact our regional subject specialists directly.

 

 

Neuer Datenbankzugang: Gale British Library Newspapers Part VII: Southeast Asia, 1806–1977

Wir freuen uns mitteilen zu können, dass CrossAsia nun den Zugang zur Datenbank Gale British Library Newspapers Part VII: Southeast Asia, 1806–1977 anbieten kann, deren Digitalisate aus den umfangreichen Beständen der British Library angefertigt wurden. Es handelt sich hierbei um den kürzlich veröffentlichten, siebten Teil der digitalen Sammlung British Library Newspapers, der 36 seltene englischsprachige Zeitungen und Zeitschriften umfasst, die auf dem Gebiet der heutigen Staaten Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapur und Thailand über einen Zeitraum von mehr als 170 Jahren – von den frühen 1800er Jahren bis in die späten 1970er Jahre – veröffentlicht wurden. Die Sammlung stellt eine unschätzbare Ressource zur Erforschung von Themen im Bereich Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur und Gesellschaft des kolonialen und postkolonialen Südostasiens sowie der Geschichte von Journalismus und Verlagswesen im Allgemeinen dar. Sie enthält u.a. folgende Zeitungen:

  • Malaysia:The Government Gazette und ihre Nachfolger (Penang); The Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur); Straits Echo (Penang); The Times of Malaya (Ipoh); Malayan Chinese Review (Penang); Sarawak Gazette (Kuching); The British North Borneo Herald und Fortnightly Record (Kota Kinabalu)
  • Singapur:Singapore Leader; Straits Produce; News of Malaya und Singapore Market; Straits Guardian
  • Myanmar:The Maulmain Chronicle (Mawlamyaing); British Burma Gazette (später Burma Gazette; Yangon); The Rangoon Times (Yangon); Rangoon Gazette (Yangon); New Times of Burma (Yangon); The Guardian (Yangon); The Nation (Yangon)
  • Thailand:The Siam Repository (Bangkok); Siam Free Press (Bangkok); Democracy (Bangkok); Liberty (Bangkok)

 

 

 

6 Trials des taiwanischen Anbieters TBMC bis zum 31.05.2025

Liebe CrossAsia Nutzenden,

wir haben bis zum 31.05.2025 Trials für folgende Datenbanken mit einem Limit von 50 Image per Datenbank:

 

Taiwan Times 臺灣時報 Taiwan JIHO 資料庫

Taiwan Times 臺灣時報 wurde während der japanischen Besatzung (1895–1945) vom taiwanesischen Gouverneurshaus als japanische Zeitschrift veröffentlicht und enthielt Artikel und statistisches Material aus vielen Bereichen. Die Datenbank deckt fast die gesamte Zeit der japanischen Besatzung ab und umfasst auch den Vorgängerbericht der Taiwan Association, 臺灣協會會報.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-jiho/

 

Collected Documents on Taiwan 臺灣文獻匯刊

Die Sammlung umfasst über 600 Titel und Auszüge persönlicher Schriften sowie lokale historische Aufzeichnungen aus verschiedenen Bibliotheken, Archiven und zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen in Festlandchina, darunter eine große Anzahl bisher unveröffentlichter Exemplare, Manuskripte und seltener Ausgaben mit insgesamt rund 100 Millionen chinesischen Schriftzeichen.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-hueikang/

 

Contemporary Taiwan Biographical Database 臺灣當代人物誌資料庫

Die Contemporary Taiwan Biographical Database (臺灣當代人物誌數據庫) ist eine Sammlung von über 100.000 Dateneinträgen zum Leben erfolgreicher Männer und Frauen von 1946 bis 1990.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-ctbdb/

Taiwan Biographical Archive 臺灣人物誌資料庫

Taiwan Biographical Archive 臺灣人物誌數據庫 enthält biographische Daten zu historischen Figuren der Japanaischen Besastzungszeit und der späten Qing 1895 bis 1945.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-tba/

 

Taiwan News Smart Web  台灣新聞智慧網

Taiwan News Smart Web bietet über 13 Millionen Schlagzeilen und 100 Wörter umfassende Abstracts von zehn großen taiwanesischen Zeitungen der United Daily News Group (seit 2001) und der China Times Group (seit 2003) mit täglichen Aktualisierungen von über 2.000 Datensätzen.

Link:  http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-newsweb/

 

Central Daily News 中央日報全報影像資料庫

Die Central Daily News 中央日報全報影像 ist seit Jahren das offizielle Nachrichtenmedium der KMT-Regierung und die älteste chinesische Zeitung der Welt. Sie wurde erstmals im Februar 1928 in Shanghai veröffentlicht und 1949 nach Taiwan verlegt.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-centraldaily/

 

Wir wünschen viel Spaß beim Stöbern, und freuen uns auf Feedback.

 

Ihr/Euer

CrossAsia Team


Dear CrossAsia users,

We added trials for the following databases until 2025-05-31 with a limit of 50 images per database:

Taiwan Times 臺灣時報 Taiwan JIHO 資料庫

Taiwan Times 臺灣時報 was published as a Japanese magazine by the Taiwanese Governor’s House during the Japanese occupation (1895–1945) and contained articles and statistical material from many fields. The database covers almost the entire period of Japanese occupation and also includes the Taiwan Association’s predecessor report, 臺灣協會會報.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-jiho/

 

Collected Documents on Taiwan 臺灣文獻匯刊

The collection includes over 600 titles and excerpts of personal writings, as well as local historical records from various libraries, archives, and civil society organizations in mainland China, including a large number of previously unpublished copies, manuscripts, and even rare editions, totaling approximately 100 million Chinese characters.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-hueikang/

 

Contemporary Taiwan Biographical Database 臺灣當代人物誌資料庫

The Contemporary Taiwan Biographical Database (Contemporary Taiwan Biographical Database) is a collection of over 100,000 data entries on the lives of successful men and women from 1946 to 1990.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-ctbdb/

 

Taiwan Biographical Archive 臺灣人物誌資料庫

Taiwan Biographical Archive (Taiwan Biographical Archive) contains biographical data on historical figures from the Japanese occupation period and the late Qing 1895 to 1945.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-tba/

 

Taiwan News Smart Web  台灣新聞智慧網

Taiwan News Smart Web offers over 13 million headlines and 100-word abstracts from ten major Taiwanese newspapers in the United Daily News Group (since 2001) and the China Times Group (since 2003), with daily updates of over 2,000 records.

Link:  http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-newsweb/

 

Central Daily News 中央日報全報影像資料庫

Central Daily News 中央日報全報影像 has been the official news media for the KMT government for years, and is the oldest Chinese newspapers in the world. It was first published in Shanghai in February 1928 and later moved to Taiwan in 1949.

Link: http://erf.sbb.spk-berlin.de/han/tbmc-centraldaily/

 

We hope you enjoy browsing and look forward to your feedback.

 

 

Your

CrossAsia team

 

The Advantages of Infrared Reflectography: Recovering the Title of a 19th Century Medical Recipe Book from China

Gastbeitrag von Dr. Thies Staack (Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg)

(Die deutschsprachige Version finden Sie im Stabi-Blog)

During the past few years, I have been conducting a research project on the collecting and exchange of medical recipes in 19th and early 20th century China at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) in Hamburg. Since manuscripts, both bound recipe books and individual recipes on loose leaves, played an important role in this respect, the Unschuld collection of Chinese medical manuscripts is an invaluable source for my research.

Among the close to 1,000 manuscripts from the Unschuld collection now housed at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SBB-PK), there is a small thread-bound volume with an inconspicuous outside appearance but an extraordinarily rich content of overall roughly 800 mostly medical recipes. The manuscript with the shelf mark “Slg. Unschuld 8051” was produced in 19th century Canton and attests to a vibrant exchange of medical recipes during that period. I have introduced it in some more detail elsewhere. According to the description in the catalogue of the collection, published by Paul U. Unschuld and Zheng Jinsheng in 2012, the manuscript does not have an original title, which would usually be found on the front cover or on the first page of a volume. The title provided in the catalogue – Yifang jichao 醫方集抄 or “Hand-copied collection of medical formulas” – was obviously assigned by Unschuld and Zheng based on its content.

 

Fig. 1: Slg. Unschuld 8051, opened at the table of contents (photo by the author).

Fig. 1: Slg. Unschuld 8051, opened at the table of contents (photo by the author).

The fact that Slg. Unschuld 8051, like many other manuscripts from the Unschuld collection, has already been digitised is of tremendous help for my research. Still, to be able to thoroughly assess the materiality of this written artefact, for example, to get a feel for its size and weight, I went to Berlin to inspect Slg. Unschuld 8051 in the SBB reading room in April 2022. The first surprise was just how small and portable the volume is (see Fig. 1). It would easily fit into a pocket or sleeve and the stains on its covers suggest that it may indeed have been carried around a lot by its previous owners.

 

 

Fig. 2: The bottom edge of Slg. Unschuld 8051 under normal interior light (photo by the author).

When I turned the manuscript in my hands, I noticed what appeared to be writing with ink on the bottom of the volume (see Fig. 2). For some of the thread-bound Unschuld manuscripts images of the top, front and bottom edge as well as the spine have been included in the digitised version. This is, unfortunately, not the case for Slg. Unschuld 8051, which was digitised already in 2014. Hence, this was the first time I got to see the bottom edge of the manuscript. Due to the darkening of the paper at the edges, it was difficult to decipher any writing, but fortunately I had brought a portable digital microscope (Dino-Lite) from Hamburg, which allows analysis with the help of light in the invisible spectrum (ultraviolet and infrared light).

Carbon ink, which was traditionally used in China, is much more clearly visible under infrared light than it is under daylight. The infrared images taken with the Dino-Lite showed clearly discernible brushstrokes (see Fig. 3). Since the area that can be photographed with the microscope’s magnification is rather small, I had to piece together several images to be able to decipher whole characters (see Fig. 4), but this was sufficient to ascertain the presence of writing.

 

Fig. 3: One of the infrared images taken with the help of the Dino-Lite microscope (photo by the author).

Fig. 4: Combination of four Dino-Lite infrared images, together showing the character 世, with the help of image processing software (processed image by the author).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 5: Setup of the Opus Apollo infrared reflectography (IRR) camera above Slg. Unschuld 8051 in the Berlin State Library storage (photo by the author).

In order to acquire a high-quality infrared image of the whole bottom edge, my colleagues Ivan Shevchuk, Kyle Ann Huskin and Dr. Olivier Bonnerot from the CSMC helped me capture images with a professional infrared reflectography (IRR) camera (Opus Apollo) in September 2022 (see Fig. 5). Finally, it was possible to decipher the entire inscription of five characters (see Fig. 6).

The four larger characters, which must be read choushi zhencang 酧世珍藏, from right to left, on first sight resemble a typical ownership mark of a book collector. The expression zhencang 珍藏 “treasured collection (of)” together with a personal name could constitute a statement of ownership. However, book collectors more commonly used a seal stamp and red ink to apply their ownership mark. The fifth character in slightly smaller script to the very right (shang 上) hints towards the possibility that what we have here might rather be the title of the present recipe collection. Since the table of contents at the beginning of Slg. Unschuld 8051 lists recipes in a “first volume” (shang juan 上卷) and a “second volume” (xia juan 下卷), it is clear that the recipe collection comprised overall two volumes. Comparison with the actual recipe entries shows that the present volume is indeed the first of the two, which accords well with the small character written on the bottom edge. It is also worth pointing out that traditional thread-bound books – whether handwritten or printed – often had their title inscribed on their bottom edge in addition to the cover or title page. The reason for this is a common way of storage, with books being shelved lying flat on their back with the bottom edge facing towards the front. Hence, a title placed at this position is legible while the book is stored on a shelf, similar to the title on the spine of a “Western” book.

 

Fig. 6: Calibrated infrared reflectography (IRR) image of the bottom edge of Slg. Unschuld 8051 (photo by Olivier Bonnerot, Kyle Ann Huskin and Ivan Shevchuk).

If choushi zhencang 酧世珍藏 is in fact the title of this recipe book, it was probably selected by the compiler of the recipes for his personal collection. At least, this title is not found in the union catalogue of Chinese medical writings. The first two characters – with 酧 being a common variant of 酬 – seem to echo the title of the popular 19th c. household encyclopaedia Choushi jinnang 酬世錦囊 “Brocade Bag of Exchange with the World”, which provided guidance on etiquette and proper social interaction. As part of the title of a recipe collection, the expression “exchange with the world” could rather refer to the way in which the compiler got hold of the recipes, many of which are indeed noted as having been received from relatives, friends or acquaintances in Canton. Hence, it might be understood as “Treasured Collection of (Recipes obtained through) Exchange with the World”.

This example showcases not only the advantages of infrared reflectography, which can allow to decipher otherwise illegible writing on manuscripts. It also points to the fact that inclusion of images of all sides of a manuscript in its digital version – in the case of thread-bound volumes also the edges and the spine – would greatly benefit research. Nevertheless, it must be stressed that even this can never entirely replace a first-hand inspection of the original written artefact in the reading room.

 

The data set with infrared reflectography images of Slg. Unschuld 8051 has been published as:

Olivier Bonnerot, Kyle Ann Huskin, Ivan Shevchuk and Thies Staack (2025), Infrared Reflectography Images of the Writing on the Bottom Edge of Slg. Unschuld 8051, http://doi.org/10.25592/uhhfdm.16994.

 

Acknowledgements:

The author thanks Dr. Cordula Gumbrecht and Dr. Andreas Janke for valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of the text.

The research behind this contribution was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2176 “Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures”, project no. 390893796. The research was conducted within the scope of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at the University of Hamburg.

 

Feature image:

Two pages from the table of contents of Slg. Unschuld 8051, showing the recipes at the end of the first and the beginning of the second volume. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK, Slg. Unschuld 8051, f. 23v-24r, scan pages [48]-[49] (Retrieved from http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0000603200000048 and http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0000603200000049)

CrossAsia Talks: Elisabeth Kaske 27.03.2025

(See English below)

Frau Prof. Elisabeth Kaske (Universität Leipzig) wird uns am 27. März 2025 ab 18 Uhr eines ihrer aktuellen Forschungsthemen unter dem Titel „The plight of expectant officials through the lens of the daily Shenbao“ im Rahmen eines neuen CrossAsia Talk vorstellen. Ihr Vortrag untersucht, wie die Shanghaier Zeitung Shenbao die prekäre Situation der „Erwartungsbeamten der späten Qing-Zeit kommentierte – ihre zunehmende Zahl durch den verkauf von Amtstiteln, ihre oft unsichere Beschäftigung und die wachsende Kritik an diesem System. Diese Analyse stützt Frau Kaske auf die digitale Auswertung der Shenbao-Archive und die damit verbundenen methodischen Herausforderungen.

State bureaucrats became an object of ridicule in many literatures of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, think of Gogol or Kafka or Li Boyuan’s Officialdom Exposed. However, they are not normally an object of compassion. This talk explores how the Shanghai daily newspaper Shenbao treated a very specific group of officials, namely the expectant officials of late Qing China.
Their numbers had become inflated by the widespread sale of official rank since the 1850s. Although they sported official titles like “magistrate” or “prefect” or “circuit intendant,” their employment situation was often precarious, with the luckier ones employed in newly established provincial bureaus. By the early 1900s, this system of parallel bureaucracies became increasingly seen as an aberration, as one commentator put it: “Foreigner are telling jokes that talent in China is defined exclusively as ‘expectant circuit intendant’. When I heard this, it makes me sweat.” (Shenbao 1907/02/22)
Wang Juan has argued that ridicule of the officialdom was a product of the tabloid press which only emerged after the failed reform movement of 1898. Before the disaster of defeat in the Sino-Japanese War gave rise to a public sphere in the late 1890s, Shenbao was (almost) the only Chinese language newspaper that commented publicly on government affairs. What was the stance of the newspaper towards the problem of expectant officials? When was it recognized as a problem? What were the solutions? When and how did a problem-solving attitude shift to ridicule and exasperation?
I have used Shenbao to gauge the changing perception of the expectant officials through almost forty years of Shenbao publishing from 1872 to 1911. Shenbao is entirely digitized. CrossAsia currently holds two versions of the Shenbao corpus. In addition, I have used the HistText corpus established by Christian Henriot and his team. However, the use of these corpuses poses methodological problems. The search “expectant official” yields a huge amount of results. Moreover, we need to distinguish journalistic comment from the memorials collected in the reprints of the Peking Gazette and from news items, which in all of these corpuses cannot be entirely mechanized. This exploratory talk from the perspective of a user of these corpuses will discuss the problems, possible solutions and tentative results.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie uns unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet*. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account an.

Prof. Elisabeth Kaske (Leipzig University) will present one of her current research topics entitled ‘The plight of expectant officials through the lens of the daily Shenbao’ in a new CrossAsia Talk on 27 March 2025 from 6 pm. Her talk will examine how the Shanghai newspaper Shenbao commented on the precarious situation of the ‘expectant officials of the late Qing period – their increasing numbers through the sale of official titles, their often insecure employment and the growing criticism of this system. Ms Kaske bases this analysis on the digital analysis of the Shenbao archives and the methodological challenges associated with it.

State bureaucrats became an object of ridicule in many literatures of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, think of Gogol or Kafka or Li Boyuan’s Officialdom Exposed. However, they are not normally an object of compassion. This talk explores how the Shanghai daily newspaper Shenbao treated a very specific group of officials, namely the expectant officials of late Qing China.
Their numbers had become inflated by the widespread sale of official rank since the 1850s. Although they sported official titles like “magistrate” or “prefect” or “circuit intendant,” their employment situation was often precarious, with the luckier ones employed in newly established provincial bureaus. By the early 1900s, this system of parallel bureaucracies became increasingly seen as an aberration, as one commentator put it: “Foreigner are telling jokes that talent in China is defined exclusively as ‘expectant circuit intendant’. When I heard this, it makes me sweat.” (Shenbao 1907/02/22)
Wang Juan has argued that ridicule of the officialdom was a product of the tabloid press which only emerged after the failed reform movement of 1898. Before the disaster of defeat in the Sino-Japanese War gave rise to a public sphere in the late 1890s, Shenbao was (almost) the only Chinese language newspaper that commented publicly on government affairs. What was the stance of the newspaper towards the problem of expectant officials? When was it recognized as a problem? What were the solutions? When and how did a problem-solving attitude shift to ridicule and exasperation?
I have used Shenbao to gauge the changing perception of the expectant officials through almost forty years of Shenbao publishing from 1872 to 1911. Shenbao is entirely digitized. CrossAsia currently holds two versions of the Shenbao corpus. In addition, I have used the HistText corpus established by Christian Henriot and his team. However, the use of these corpuses poses methodological problems. The search “expectant official” yields a huge amount of results. Moreover, we need to distinguish journalistic comment from the memorials collected in the reprints of the Peking Gazette and from news items, which in all of these corpuses cannot be entirely mechanized. This exploratory talk from the perspective of a user of these corpuses will discuss the problems, possible solutions and tentative results.

The lecture will be held in English. If you have any questions, please contact us: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex*. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X.

 

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.