About DCCS

Founding purpose of the DCCS
Member
Research Project (2007-2012)
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Founding purpose of the Documentation Center for China Studies (DCCS)

China, in an unprecedented boom of publishing, under the encouragement of economic growth and change in media environment, is currently flooded with books and information. This is one of the major problems for China studies.

To solve this problem, collecting documents and studying is necessary. The Toyo Bunko Documentation Center for China Studies, based on its own accumulated documents and research system to be described later, intends not only to collect primary documents required for structural and historical studies on modern China, but to promote their public use and to expand the network with domestic and international institutes. Through these activities, DCCS will foster empirical and international study to cope with the flood of information pointed out in the beginning of this paper, aiming to establish a support system for overall international China studies.

DCCS is one of the six major research bases (the other five bases are Waseda Institute of Contemporary China Studies, Organization for Asian Studies, Waseda University; Research Center for Modern and Contemporary China, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University; KIEAS Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies; Contemporary China Research Base, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo; RIHN Initiative for Chinese Environmental Issues) for the Chinese Area Studies program launched in 2007 and conducted by Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes for the Humanities. In addition to its independent studies, DCCS carries out joint research projects and builds networks with other study bases to contribute to overall contemporary Chinese research.

The Toyo Bunko has focused energy on the organized collection of the “basic data” that is conducive to the understanding of modern China and has promoted experimental study based on such basic data since its foundation in 1924. It has already established itself as a research library on Orient (Asian) Studies on par with the world’s leading collections. This is particularly true in the field of modern Chinese studies, starting with the formation of the “The Committee for Research on Modern China” in 1954, and continuing with the founding in 2003 of the “Contemporary Chinese Studies group, the Supradisciplinary Studies Department” a study group for conducting the comprehensive research on politics, economy and international relations, in order to work toward the full-fledged study and document collection on modern China.

Specifically in the research area, DCCS systematically collects and expands the usage system of literature and documents as the basis of modern Chinese study, and conducts relevant studies. For collecting literature and documents, while working toward the increase in basic books and documentation, DCCS aims to carry on research from the historical and international viewpoint, through collection and release of information and materials.

Member

Director:
TAKADA Yukio (Meiji University / The Toyo Bunko)

Main Researcher:
TSUCHIDA Akio (Chuo University / The Toyo Bunko)
UCHIDA Tomoyuki (Daito Bunka University / The Toyo Bunko)
KAWAI Shin’ichi (Aichi University / The Toyo Bunko)
KISHI Toshihiko (Kanagawa University / The Toyo Bunko)
KUBO Toru (Shinshu University / The Toyo Bunko)
KOHAMA Masako (Nihon University / The Toyo Bunko)
UCHIYAMA Masao (Utsunomiya University / The Toyo Bunko)
TAKISHITA Saeko (The Toyo Bunko)
TANAKA Hitoshi (Osaka University )
HATTORI Ryuji (Chuo University)
NAKAMURA Motoya (Nanzan University)
OSAWA Hajime (The Toyo Bunko / National Institutes for Humanities )

Global Partners:
WANG Jianlang (Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
SHEN Zhihua (East China Normal University)
CHEN Yungfa (Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica)
Christian HENRIOT (University Lumiere Lyon 2)

Research projects (2007-2012)

1. Organized and systematic collection, arrangement and release of modern Chinese documents:
(1) Collecting basic books and documentation on modern China.
(2) Reviewing the accumulated documents, so that material collections that are conducive to the understanding of modern China from wider points of historical and international view can be established.
(3) Not limited to general books and magazines, promoting the collection of microdocuments such as archive library collections, diplomatic documents, and electronic data.
(4) Improving the equipment necessary for using the information above.
(5) Collecting as many proceedings and papers as possible to use for China-related symposiums and workshops held inside and outside the nation as possible.
(6) Making a database of part of the collected documents with images or texts for saving and collecting the data. Additionally, releasing the data on the Web and creating a digital library for researchers and the public to use (considering the solutions of copyright issues, access and usage conditions, and technical problems).

2. Through collaboration and cooperation with domestic and international institutes, promoting the use of modern Chinese documents:
(1) Collecting, arranging and releasing on the Web of modern Chinese documents and materials.
(2) Creating a network with National Institute of Informatics and others to promote the release and use of the documents.
(3) Preparing the guide books and others on about Chinese archives and libraries.
(4) Collecting basic data on modern China and making it available on the Web.

3. Fostering empirical research based on primary documents on modern China:
(1) Jointly arranging and analyzing primary documents and announcing the results.
(2) Providing the opportunity to study modern Chinese documents for graduate students and young researchers, giving them the training of reading and analyzing Chinese primary documents, including hand-written documents, to enhance their empirical research ability.

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