Essential Reference Books on Chinese History and Culture

Author: Wu Xiaoru
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: Reference books cover a wide range of topics and serve many purposes. As the name suggests, this category of books is not the subject of academic research but tools used to achieve a certain goal. General reference books are roughly used for the following purposes:
1. Providing clues for research;
2. Guiding the way to reading;
3. Solving certain related puzzles;
4. Collecting similar thematic materials for researchers to use and reference.
Reference books are like keys to unlocking the treasure trove of knowledge and bridges to academic research. They are not meant for reading but for consultation. Most reference books within the scope of Chinese literature and history were compiled before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and some are even ancient works. This book mainly introduces the content and usage methods of reference books in the fields of literature and history. Since literature and history researchers face an endless sea of classical books, some reference-oriented ancient texts can also be broadly considered as tools, such as the Thirteen Classics and the Twenty-Four Histories. Therefore, from the perspective of academic research, the author has also included a considerable number of reference books. Additionally, since the author teaches reference book courses to students majoring in Chinese, history, and library science at Peking University and Renmin University, this book is compiled based on these teachings, making it highly practical.