This seminar examines Chinese archives and local documents from the Ming-Qing period to the present. We will be analyzing source materials such as imperial edicts, proclamations, business contracts, genealogies, inscriptions, family accounts and correspondences. This seminar is divided into three parts according to students’ own research needs. The first part introduces Hong Kong and the Mainland Archives and their collections. It will also discuss students’ research frameworks, geographical settings as well as archives and documents y that might be fundamental to individual research. The second part, using an integrated approach, introduces different types of source materials in the study of one particular research area (i.e.: a rural community, a business firm). The third part attempts to introduce and analzye several special type of documents (i.e.: genealogy, inscriptions, Taoist texts, vernacular literature) and how they are read in the context of a particular social environment.

To be able to read these texts, written in classical or vernacular Chinese, students wishing to enroll in this seminar will be required to have high level of competency in both written and spoken Chinese. All students are required to write a research proposal, weekly reading notes and a research presentation integrating various first hand source materials read.

Schedule

First round reading: Jan. 17 and 24
Second round reading: Feb. 28 and March 7
Third round reading: March 14 and 21
Fourth round reading April 18
Final presentation: May 2 and 9

Topics for 2014-15 include: (documents read will be decided according to students’ research need)

Readings (individual readings list, to be confirmed)

请注意大学有关学术著作诚信的政策和规则，及适用于犯规事例的纪律指引和程序。详情可浏览此处。

学生递交作业时，必须连同已签署的声明一并提交，表示他们知道有关政策、规则、指引及程序。

• 如属小组习作，则所有组员均须签署声明；所有组员 (不论有否签署声明及不论有否直接或间接撰写有问题的内容) 均须负上集体责任及受到惩处。
• 如作业以电脑制作、内容以文字为主，并经由大学「维诚」系统 (VeriGuide) 提交者，学生将作业的电子档案上载到系统后，便会获得收据，收据上已列明有关声明。
• 学生充分知悉到他们的作业可能会被人工智能内容检测软件审查，以确定其原创性。
• 学生充分知悉科目中采用人工智能工具的做法。在经允许下使用某些人工智能工具的情况下，学生已按照科目老师的指示明确注明出处和引文。

未有夹附签署妥当的声明的作业，老师将不予批阅。

学生只须提交作业的最终版本。

学生将作业或作业的一部份用于超过一个用途 (例如：同时符合两科的要求) 而没有作出声明会被视为未有声明重复使用作业。 学生重复使用其著作的措辞或某一、二句句子很常见，并可以接受，惟重复使用全部内容则构成问题。在任何情况下，须先获得相关老师同意方可提交作业。

由大学职员/老师制作的教学材料，包括课堂笔记、作业及考试题目等，其版权属香港中文大学拥有；学生可从大学采用的网上教学系统 (例如Blackboard) 下载由大学职员/老师制作的教学材料供其学习使用；惟未经相关职员/老师事先同意下，不得分发/分享/复制这些材料予第三者。