American Archivist/Vol. 45, No. 4/Fall 1982 385 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021

Archives in the People's Republic of

WILLIAM W. MOSS

Introduction BETWEEN 19 APRIL AND 9 MAY 1982 Guangdong Provincial Archives in members of the Society of American Ar- Guangzhou.' In addition, six museums, chivists' study tour to the People's seven tombs and excavations, five parks Republic of China, including two Cana- and public gardens, eighteen historic dian colleagues from Alberta, traveled sites or buildings, and assorted other in- from Beijing (Peking), in the north to stitutions and enterprises were visited. Guangzhou in the south, visiting ar- The latter included a paper mill, a jade- chives and touring museums, historic carving factory, a silk embroidery in- sites, and other attractions in nine cities. stitute, a silk-weaving factory, a Seven archives were visited: the First cloisonne factory, a social welfare Historical Archives of China (Di Yi house, a normal school, a hospital, and Lishi Danganguan) and the Imperial an agricultural production brigade.2 Records Storehouse (Huang Shi Cheng) Such a three-week whirlwind tour of in Beijing; the Kong Family Archives China has its own rewards, and all (Confucian Archives) in Qufu; the Shan- members of the group derived their own dong Provincial Archives in Jinan; the pleasures from it. But the time is too Second Historical Archives of China (Di short, the subject too new, the cultural Er Lishi Danganguan) in Nanjing; the adjustments too great, and the language Shanghai Municipal Archives; and the barrier too formidable for more than

'Pinyin romanization of Chinese names is used throughout this article (except for the following cases: Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sen, , and ), even though we discovered that the Chinese themselves are not meticulously consistent in its use. 2The variety is explained in part by the fact that the tour was jointly hosted by the State Archives Bureau and the China Travel Service, and was booked through Special Tours for Special People, Inc., in New York.

The author is chief archivist at the John F. Kennedy Library. This article is an account of the Society of American Archivists' study tour of seven archives in the People's Republic of China in the spring of 1982. The author was linguistic and cultural adviser to the group. 386 American Archivist/Fall 1982

superficial impressions to be gained. It is briefings and discussions with Chinese hard to develop critical judgment under archivists. Although the State Archives such conditions, and it is difficult to Bureau is clearly the preeminent and pursue questions beyond the stage of predominant archival agency in the Peo- rudimentary understanding. ple's Republic for professional guidance Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Nevertheless, we know so little about and standards, and although its position Chinese archives, and there is so little directly subordinate to the State Council published on them in English language gives it great prestige and authority, it sources, that even fleeting impressions plays a much more limited direct ad- may be useful in preparing for more ministrative role than we expected to serious work in the future.3 In this in- find. It would appear that the State Ar- stance, international friendship and chives Bureau has administrative direc- cooperation among archivists were cer- tion and direct management control of tainly well served by our Chinese hosts. only the two national historical archives, Archives seldom visited by foreigners in Beijing and Nanjing (each of which is were opened to us. We asked many ques- described in detail later in this article). tions, and within the limits of transla- The State Archives Bureau, in addition tion and time available we received full to managing the two national historical and candid answers. Zhang Tianming archives, advises the State Council on and Shi Lin of the State Archives Bureau archival matters, recommends national (Guojia Dangan Ju) worked tirelessly to archival policies and programs for con- prepare our hosts at each archives to sideration by the State Council, provides meet our interests and to answer our archival and management advice to questions. Beyond this, we all developed various levels of government, and respect and affection for our two reports to the State Council on archival Chinese archival colleagues who trav- developments nationwide. It does not elled with us, and for Yin Guomei, the provide direct control, however, in a national travel service guide who did number of critical areas. splendid work in arranging all travel, The State Archives Bureau does not lodging, food services, and tours. They administer the Central Archives of the shared our professional concerns and People's Republic of China (Zhongyang travel problems, but they also shared Danganguan). This archives, which we our laughter and on occasion our dis- were not allowed to visit, is directly tress in a spirit of comraderie and can- under the management and direction of dor that greatly contributed to the suc- the State Council. It is the principal cess of the tour. repository for the records of the central organs of the Chinese Communist Par- Archives and Administration in the Peo- ty, certain records of various people's ple's Republic of China governments established in "liberated We went to China assuming that the areas" prior to 1949, records of various State Archives Bureau simply runs all revolutionary groups prior to 1949, and, the archives in China. In fact, the reality of course, records of the government of is much more complicated and diverse, the People's Republic after 1949. Accor- as we came to realize through the many ding to the current policy promulgated

'The only English-language article that I have come across dealing with Chinese archives in depth is Beatrice Bartlett's "An Archival Revival: The Qing Central Government Archives in Peking Today," found in Ch'ing-shih Wen-t'i (Topics in Ch'ing History) 4.6 (December 1981): 81-110. Bartlett is currently prepar- ing a research guide to several Chinese archives. Archives in the PRC 387 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 388 American Archivist/Fall 1982

by the State Council, records are to be local levels, the State Archives Bureau transferred to central archives at various does not manage or administer the local levels when they become 30 years old; archives. Further down the line, archives actually this transfer is slow in getting of counties, districts, cities, and towns underway, and the holdings of post-1949 have the same relation to their superior Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 records by the Central Archives is said to provincial, regional, or municipal ar- be quite small. In China, just as in the chives as the latter have to the State Ar- United States, we discovered that lack of chives Bureau in Beijing. Moreover, proper storage space and the reluctance many institutions, factories, communes, of operating agencies to part with files and commercial enterprises are owned make for less than prompt and total and operated by the government, so compliance with scheduled transfers to their records, too, are potential acces- archives. This is true not only at the sions for government archives at each center but also at the provincial and level. Some of these enterprises are municipal levels. directly subordinate to central govern- There are archives of a sort (what we ment ministries, and others to provincial might call records offices) in each staff or municipal departments. To date there office, ministry, or other organ of the does not seem to have been a great effort central government and Communist on the part of the Chinese to deal with Party apparatus. Although these receive the potential explosion of archives advice and archival guidance from the management should these myriad "ar- State Archives Bureau (by what chives" be transferred to central mechanism is not entirely clear), and repositories in accordance with the although their regulations for records 30-year rule. For the most part these retention and disposal originate in State records remain with operating units. Archives Bureau recommendations, American readers need to remember each records office is managed by and is that in China a Communist Party struc- primarily responsible to and responsive ture operates parallel to the ad- to the needs and policies of its operating ministrative government structure. Each principal. central government ministry and office, A similar relationship exists between and each provincial government or the State Archives Bureau and archives district or county government, has its of government organs below the na- own Party committee, with its own tional level. Provincial archives and ar- records and its own "archives" or chives for the autonomous regions and records office. Once again, the State Ar- special municipalities (Beijing, chives Bureau offers advice, through the Shanghai, and Tianjin) are subordinate State Council and the Party Central to and take their direction from the Committee, for the management of Par- respective provincial, regional, or ty records, but it does not itself manage municipal government councils. While or control Party records. the State Archives Bureau offers advice, Within each repository the local ad- while regulations governing local ar- ministration is about what one might ex- chives are consistent with those pro- pect when practical needs begin to take mulgated by the State Council for ar- over from general policies, governmen- chives nationwide, and while it is clear tal structure, and political ideology. that the approval of the State Archives Each repository appears to have a cer- Bureau is important in realizing plans re- tain overhead of staff and administra- quiring investment or impact beyond the tion tending to the overall management Archives in the PRC 389

of the place; a "compilation" section ject.) The association gives a profes- that is involved in preservation, arrange- sional and academic dimension to a ment, and description; a research section structure that already has its political that responds to reference inquiries and leadership and administrative manage- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 participates in the writing of official ment structures in place. histories; and a technical section that is The organizational structure of the concerned with temperature and humidi- State Archives Bureau and the other en- ty controls, research into preservation tities mentioned above is displayed in the methods, microfilming, and develop- accompanying chart. ment of equipment or facilities. Various combinations of these are found in each Archival Work—The State of the Art archives, but the basic purposes and Archival work (dangan gongzuo) in functions remain the same from place to the People's Republic of China appears place. to be characterized by an overwhelming It is not difficult, then, to see how the urgency to recover from the ill effects of Chinese can boast of more than 2,600 the 10 to 12 years of neglect suffered archives and more than 200,000 ar- during the (approx- chivists. When an archivist in Shanghai imately 1966-1976), when most archives spoke of "the broad masses of were simply closed down. Although archivists" he was trying to convey to us there was apparently little damage to the proletarian and grassroots character records, the hiatus in work and the of the archival profession, but we im- dislocation of personnel meant that mediately became bemused by the vision work was neglected; archivists could not of an army of archivists 200,000-strong practice their craft, facilities were not speaking to the record-makers with a well maintained, and operating units single and determined voice for the in- were not conscientious about keeping terests of archives! the records necessary to good archives. Finally, in addition to the official A second point of urgency is the rush to government and Party structures, the modernize facilities and management Chinese have recently added another practices in accordance with the national parallel structure, that of the Chinese policy of modernization in all fields. Archives Association (Zhongguo Beset, like archives the world over, with Dangan Xuehui), established in insufficient space, old buildings, November 1981. There is one national deteriorating original records, an explo- association, complemented by provin- sion of new records on cheap paper in cial and municipal associations the 20th century, and insufficient throughout the country. The Chinese resources, the Chinese have clearly Archives Association is intended to pro- established some priorities that must be vide the professional identity and incen- remembered if we are to understand tives for archivists to exchange ex- Chinese archives properly. periences, improve work methods, Archives exist primarily to serve the research archives history and principles, interests of the government, and this is and publish papers on'archival theory even more pronounced in China than in and practice. (The details of the profes- the United States, where responses to sional archives organizations are spelled reference requests from private in- out in the section on the Shanghai dividuals are a large part of the routine Municipal Archives, below, where we of the National Archives. In China the received the fullest briefing on the sub- archives are primarily the repositories of 390 American Archivist/Fall 1982

national treasures and government records, and the government's needs have priority in reference service, sometimes to the exclusion of other re- search interests. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 One of the government's interests is in being the first to publish the archives. In the case of the People's Republic of China this results not only in selective publication of the texts of documents in the archives, but also in the publication of official histories based on the archival resources. Access to records of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1644 and 1644-1911) by foreigners is fairly com- mon, largely because much of that history has already been published, or because the government's stake in per- mitting foreign research is higher than its stake in being first on the street with an official interpretation. It is more dif- ficult, although not always impossible, Chinese archivist at work, First Historical for foreign scholars to obtain access to Archives, Beijing. He is a master of the art of materials when the research topic com- filling in holes in documents with new paper. petes with work that is currently being Photograph by Jane K. Gibbs. done by official historians, or work that their research interests. Americans who they have not yet begun. go to China to study must be aware of The Chinese government is particular- this situation and be very careful and ly sensitive about foreign access to infor- tactful, and, yes, respectful of the mation that might be classified as a state Chinese position, if they wish to receive secret. The definition of just what is and sympathetic treatment in return. Those what is not a state secret is not clearly who act with care will find the Chinese fixed, and foreign researchers must be archivists most friendly and helpful. careful. In general, matters concerning A large share of Chinese archival foreign policy and national defense, and resources is devoted to restoration of data on national economy and Com- documents and to what they call "com- munist Party affairs that the People's pilation" (roughly analogous to "ar- Republic has not itself published rangement" in American archival previously, are off limits. In some terms). respects this policy is not unlike that en- Finally, the whole scope of manage- countered in other countries, including ment and buildings operation, including the United States, but the Chinese sen- plant improvement and stabilizing the sitivity extends further into history with environmental conditions, demands a respect to foreign relations and border large share of Chinese archival re- defenses, and in the more current data it sources. In each place we visited there extends into matters of vital statistics were clearly problems of plant and and information about the economy and equipment and work organization. society that have not yet been made Many of the devices employed were sim- public. And that, for many Americans, ple, manual ones. Where some more is a substantial difference that frustrates sophisticated devices were in use, we Archives in the PRC 391

were unable, in our short stay, to deter- groups. However, the volume of activity mine their long-range effectiveness and is small compared to American activity reliability. in the field and compared to the poten- Beyond these observations, there seem tial of the huge mass of Chinese archives to be several areas in which the Chinese for such treatment. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 have only begun to venture, and where Despite the fact that there are many they clearly need additional resources, hundreds of thousands of documents in experience, or expertise. Chinese archives, the archives are in There is nothing yet approaching a na- some ways incomplete. In Shanghai, for tional guide to archives and the holdings example, we were told that the material of archives, although we were told that actually accessioned and in custody Chinese archivists are going to par- amounts to only a small portion of the ticipate in compiling the Asian regional potential holdings transferable to the ar- archives guide now under preparation. chives under the 30-year rule. While Most internal finding aids are little more there has been some attempt to acquire than shelf-lists, and in some cases lists the records of nationally prominent are not compatible even within a single figures (e.g., the correspondence and archives. Much work needs to be done in files of Madame Sun Yat-sen) and the description to bring together a mass of records of revolutionary and mass disparate information in an organized organizations such as labor unions, and fashion so that reference inquiries may while this work is officially encouraged be more efficiently answered and more by the State Archives Bureau, there completely fufilled. Automatic data pro- seems to have been little progress along cessing alone is not the answer. Basic these lines. Lack of storage space is one concepts of information presentation of the main problems. Because priority and organization have to be established is given to government records and and tested, and the mass of data has to records of the revolution, little attempt then be put into a machine-readable has been made to canvass for or acquire form before it can be sorted into records of pre-1949 commercial firms, categories and analyzed and before industrial enterprises or institutions, or calculations can be made for a com- social service organizations. The prob- prehensive and detailed description in lem is not that the Chinese archivists modern terms. (Again, the Chinese are would not like to acquire such records. not alone in this, obviously, but the Indeed, they seemed eager to do so, but mass of data, and the need for an effec- limited resources play a large role in tive means of translating characters into what they are able to do. Some records machine-readable information, are add- of the period 1911-1949 were taken to ed difficulties for the Chinese.) Taiwan by the Kuomintang, and While the Chinese are doing some American scholars wishing to be certain rudimentary microfilming, much of of complete research coverage must go their equipment is still of the simple to both Taipei and Nanjing. The ar- planetary type, much of it old, and we chivists in Nanjing seemed to have little did not get the impression that a great clear grasp of just what proportion of deal of micrographic work is being the records of the Republic are in done. Some work is being done for im- Taiwan and what proportion are held in age preservation, and it is possible for Nanjing. Finally, for earlier centuries, researchers to order microfilm copies of records antedating the reign of the Qing records, and there is some attempt to emperor Qianlong (i.e., before 1735) are microfilm whole series and record much more sparse and fragmentary than 392 American Archivist/Fall 1982

subsequent ones. in the field. At Renmin University the Archives in China—at least those we program is associated with the history visited—seemed to be devoted almost department and the institute for the entirely to paper records. Such still study of the Qing Dynasty. At Fudan

photographic material as might be University the program is a two-year Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 associated with paper records is kept course in archival science leading to cer- with those records, and there are a few tification as an archivist. motion picture films and tape record- In general, we found Chinese ar- ings. There seemed to be little, however, chivists to be professionally aware, in the way of an audiovisual archives in deeply concerned about the records any of the places we visited. We learned under their care, dedicated workers, and from Zhang Tianming last year that eager to get on with the job and to have there is a film library or film archives in professional exchanges with American the Ministry of Culture in Beijing, and colleagues. They are hampered, perhaps in the future other archives will however, by large quantities of material take on more and more audiovisual that need to be brought under preserva- material, with the attendant need to tion, arrangement, and description con- broaden skills, methods, and facilities to trol, and by a lack of space and adequate accommodate them. technical resources to do the necessary Likewise, no archives appeared to be work. in the business of acquiring machine- readable records. Doubtless there are Beijing: Archives in the Capital City operating units—scientific institutes and Upon our arrival in Beijing our factories, for instance—that use com- Chinese colleagues welcomed us warm- puters and generate machine-readable ly, and throughout our stay in Beijing— records, and at some point the Chinese and indeed for the entire trip—we were archivists are going to have to face the given first-class treatment. Highlights of problem of what to do with them, but our stay in Beijing were visits to the First none of the archives we visited men- Historical Archives of China (Di Yi tioned any planning beyond a general Lishi Danganguan), the Imperial and vague awareness that something Records Repository (Huang Shi Cheng), would have to be done in the future. an afternoon series of seminars, and a They were, however, clearly interested in reception and banquet in the Great Hall the potential of automatic data storage of the People (Renmin Dahui Tang). In and retrieval and processing to assist in addition, we toured the Imperial Palace the control of archival management and (Gugong), the Summer Palace (Yi He description. There did not seem to be Yuan), the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), any immediate prospect for any applica- the Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall at tions. Badaling. We were also taken through Nor did we get a very good grasp of the Mao Zedong Memorial where the archival training in China. We were told late Chairman rests in state. It was an that eight colleges have some sort of ar- exciting, if exhausting, four days. chival training program, but little infor- The First Historical Archives is mation was available on course contents located inside the western wall of the old or curriculum emphases, standards, or Imperial Palace; the archives building theoretical principles. Renmin Universi- was constructed in 1974-75 specifically ty in Beijing and Fudan University in to house the archives of the Ming and Shanghai seem to be leading institutions Qing dynasties that were formerly Archives in the PRC 393

known as "the Palace Archives."4 The order, and then sewn into bound hallways of the masonry building at first volumes. seem rather dark and possibly dank, but The bound volumes become file units

the workrooms are light and airy and the and are arranged in proper sequence, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 stack areas or storage vaults (kufang) usually by the operating office that appear to be quite dry. Upon arrival we created or received the documents, and were immediately ushered into a large placed in quanzong, roughly corre- front room to the south of the main en- sponding to our notion of a record trance, where cups of tea were set at group. Each quanzong contains the each place on long tables. After much records of a major government entity or snapping of photographs by both sides, group of entities sharing similar func- we sipped tea as Huang Xiaoceng, tions or records of a particular kind, Director of the First Historical Archives, such as memorials to the throne or edicts gave us a briefing. He welcomed us from the throne. Within each quanzong warmly, described the archives and its the documents may be further divided holdings and operations, and then con- into series and subseries by working ducted us on a tour of the facility, chief- units, although the Chinese do not ap- ly of the document restoration pear to have a typology for the hierarchy workrooms and the stack areas. of arrangement. Within each fond (as it In the process of document restora- were), the documents appear to be ar- tion, the Chinese seem to rely chiefly on ranged in simple chronological order. a single process of adding new backing In the process of reconstructing docu- to old and deteriorating documents and ments into sequences and placing them then binding the documents into sturdy in proper series and quanzong, mere volumes for storage. The relatively sim- knowledge of modern Chinese is clearly ple methods employed owe much of insufficient. The literary Chinese in their success to the high quality of the which most of the documents are written original paper and inks of the old docu- is quite different from the modern com- ments. Each document is brushed down mon language of conversations and flat, face down, on an enamel-topped newspapers. Furthermore, some of the work surface and is thoroughly wetted documents we noted being restored were with water and a thin paste until it is in Manchu script, and we were told that translucent and without air bubbles. Ex- some are written in Mongolian. Clearly, cess bits of old dried paper and other mastery of language is necessary for at foreign matter stuck to the paper are least some of the "compilation" work at carefully removed with brush or spatula the First Historical Archives. We or knife, and the new backing is laid learned that many of the people working over the old document and again is on the documents had not only been do- brushed carefully flat with a wide, stiff ing this work for most of their adult brush to remove air pockets. When the lives, but that some were children of two sheets, old and new, are partially those who had done it before them. bonded but not yet dry, they are very Their work was interrupted between carefully peeled up from the work sur- 1966 and 1976 by the Cultural Revolu- face and hung on boards covered with tion, and only in the past six years have paper or cloth to dry. Once dry, the they begun to get their hands back in pages are trimmed, placed in proper again and to make progress on the work

"For a fuller description of the First Historical Archives, see the aforenoted article by Beatrice Bartlett, and also several of the articles, in Chinese, mentioned in her footnotes. 394 American Archivist/Fall 1982 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021

Typical stack area, First Historical Archives, Beijing. Photograph by Jane K. Gibbs. that has to be done. volumes in individual metal cases (each The stack areas of the First Historical about three cubic feet in capacity) than Archives are dimly lit with incandescent to air control systems. Thick stone walls bulbs. Surprisingly, we were allowed to and elevation of the stacks well above take flash pictures in both the stack ground provide nominal protection areas and in the areas where the docu- against temperature fluctuations and the ments were being restored. The basic dampening effect of groundwater. durability and stability of the materials However, there seemed to be little or no no doubt gave our hosts some attempt at controlling ambient air, and reassurance that the temporary intrusion given the pollution levels and the of American flash bulbs could not amount of wind-blown dust in Beijing, damage what 50 years of civil war and ambient air is probably a significant fac- international conflict had failed to tor that the Chinese should try to con- obliterate. A hygrothermograph was trol. The stacks smelled of camphor, noted and the Celsius readings appeared and we were told that essence of cam- to be within the nominal range of ar- phor was regularly used as a fumigant to chival tolerance, but we could not really protect paper against infestation by verify the conditions over long periods pests. of time. Nor could we ascertain if there The main research room was a large had been any change since Beatrice room, resembling one of the older Bartlett noted that the stack areas were classrooms or lecture halls of an unheated in winter. To the casual glance American college, and was fairly well the "control" of environmental condi- lighted with windows on two sides. A tions seemed to owe more to the building dozen or more researchers were seated at structure and to the placing of document tables, working quietly on manuscript Archives in the PRC 395

materials before them. On the day we actually doing the exercises, but others visited, all happened to be Chinese, but were playing with Frisbees or batting a a dozen or so American scholars are shuttlecock back and forth with badmin- known to have made good use of the ton racquets. It was all very casual and facilities at the First Historical Archives. "laid back," most unlike our stereotyped Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Near the research room we were expectations of rigid drill by uniformly- shown a display of publications of the dressed Chinese. There seemed to be a First Historical Archives and the State good deal of individual choice about Archives Bureau. Most of these were of- what sort of relaxation or exercise to in- ficial histories, selective documentary dulge in, or even whether to do anything publications, or issues of Lishi Dangan at all. (Historical Archives), a new journal. A Our second archival treat in Beijing complete set of these publications was was the Huang Shi Cheng, or Imperial presented to the Society of American Records Repository (or, in some transla- Archivists before our departure from tions, the Imperial Historical Archives). Beijing. All are in Chinese. None of the literal translations quite Upon leaving the building we were convey the purpose and contents or assembled on the front steps for a group character of the place. Set in its own photograph together with members of compound within the western wall of the the archives staff and representatives inner palace, this is the building de- from the State Archives Bureau. Nearby scribed in Arthur W. Hummel's transla- was a large number of staff members of tion of T.L. Yuan's 1928 article, "An- the First Historical Archives doing exer- cient Archival Depository in Peking."5 cises in the courtyard during their morn- We found the building much restored ing break. A loudspeaker blared music compared with the description in the and instructions. Some o'f the staff were Hummel-Yuan article, although a con-

sAmerican Archivist 17 (Fall 1954): 317-318.

The reading room of the First Historical Archives, Beijing. Photograph by Jane K. Gibbs. 396 American Archivist/Fall 1982

siderable quantity of construction rub- records, computerization of finding ble still lies along the walls of the com- aids, archival training in the United pound. The building is entirely of stone, States, American state archives, archives even to the massive stone doors set on in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, stone pintles. It was built originally in and oral history. The exchange was in- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 1534-35 by the Ming emperor, Jiajing, teresting. It helped to set the stage for expressly as a place to store dynastic the rest of the tour, and it gave us a sense records. It was later restored in the 12th of the difficulty of carrying on interna- year of the reign of the Qing emperor, tional and intercultural communication Jiaqing (1748), and again in 1956 before about archives among large groups of being once again refurbished recently. It people speaking through interpreters. is now open as a tourist attraction under The briefing by Li Fenglou was a the auspices of the First Historical Ar- thumbnail sketch, similar to that chives. The building covers an area of presented by Zhang Tianming at the 8,463 square meters and rests on a stone SAA annual meeting in Berkeley, Calif., base about two meters high. Inside the in 1981.6 Li noted that even as far back thick stone walls there are 152 large as the mythological Xia Dynasty (2000 + chests, each about two cubic meters in B.C.) archives were a feature of Chinese volume, set on a stone platform. The government, and that the history of chests are of camphor wood and are China is more than 4,000 years long, but bound with bronze or copper; they are that few records have survived because referred to as "golden chests." Some of of China's long history of wars and the chests are open, with glass tops set in natural calamities. Since 1949, observed place, and documents are on display to Li, the government of the People's visitors. The chests contain "authen- Republic has made a special effort to en- ticated chronicles" (annals approved by sure that records are properly kept and the emperor), imperial edicts, imperial transferred to archives, and to train ar- genealogies, and other records of state. chivists to care for and provide reference Adjacent to the Huang Shi Cheng service from the records. Archives are itself stands a smaller pavilion contain- organized from the State Archives ing a stone tablet with an inscription Bureau downward to the lowest levels in ascribed to the of the order to help support "socialist construc- Qing Dynasty. The inscription exhorts tion." Hundreds of thousands of visitors to "ponder the sacred documents reference requests are handled each diligently" and to use them "as mirrors year, most of them from government of- to examine ourselves." fices requiring data for their ongoing The afternoon of our archives day in work, but also inquiries from scholars. Beijing was spent at the Hall of the Peo- We then divided into three smaller ple's Political Consultative Conference, groups for the American presentations, listening to a briefing on Chinese ar- each group being addressed by two or chives by Li Fenglou, deputy chairman three Americans and including from 50 of the Chinese Archives Association and to about 150 Chinese archivists and deputy chief of the State Archives university teachers and researchers. The Bureau. This was followed by presenta- substance of our presentations was hard- tions by members of our group on the ly sophisticated and perhaps was unex- National Archives and Records Service, ceptional for an American audience, but American archival professional groups, the Chinese were vastly interested in American archives of machine-readable what American archives and American

''American Archivist 45 (Spring 1982): 224-226. Archives in the PRC 397

archivists are all about, and they asked of conditional and dependent clauses many questions. The need for transla- tended to be oversimplified and lost tion made the exercise both interesting because translations had to be done and a bit frustrating. We found, for in- quickly. We learned our lesson, and stance, that the whole concept of federal before the second series of seminars in Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 government archives versus state Shanghai some two weeks later most of government archives in the United States us had reduced our complicated prose to was a bit of a puzzle to the Chinese. Nor simpler declarative sentences. We left was it easy to explain to them, through the more complex written texts with our interpreters, the separation of the Socie- Chinese colleagues so that they could ty of American Archivists from the Na- puzzle over them at leisure. tional Archives and Records Service— The translation problem is one that although the Chinese seem to have no future cooperative ventures will have to problem understanding the (to us) equal- overcome. It will not be enough for ly strange relationship between the State Chinese archivists to learn the American Archives Bureau and the Chinese Ar- idiom. We, on our side, are going to chives Association. One observation have to learn to use Chinese skillfully if that may clarify this confusion is that there is to be any meaningful com- the Chinese tend to separate roles into munication. We have to be assured that different organizations with overlapping the nuances of meaning that we take for personnel and interlocking directorates, granted in our shared experience are ef- while we in the United States tend to fectively conveyed in whatever transla- have separate institutions and separate tion takes place. This can be done only personnel structures with overlapping when both sides have a comfortable and sometimes competing respon- working knowledge of the other's sibilities and roles. In the People's language. Republic of China, the different roles of In a plenary session following the political leadership, government presentations we explored, without com- management, and professional training ing to any conclusions, possible ways in and standards are carried out through which future international cooperation different organizational structures and might take place. Three possible steps different forums, but they are carried were proposed by the U.S. and Cana- out by essentially the same people. The dian side: further visits such as ours, to three themes, separated in a formal become acquainted with each other's ar- sense, are integrated through the minds chives; work-study exchanges in which of the operating personnel. It was very archivists from each side would spend difficult to get such subtle differences time actually working on projects in the through direct translation, and these other's country; and a possible things had to be discovered over time cooperative venture in publishing and through dealing with many rather documents of early Sino-American rela- simple declarative sentences within the tions. Li responded for the Chinese side capacity of various translators. In listen- by remarking that whatever occurred ing to the translations of our talks, it would have to be within the framework became apparent to us that the Chinese and under the auspices of the Sino- were having the same sort of difficulty American cultural exchange agreement with our concepts as we were having on a government-to-government basis. with theirs. Distinctions depending on We also encouraged the Chinese to press specific meanings or modified by strings forward with the publication of guides 398 American Archivist/Fall 1982

to Chinese archives and toward further between Confucius' death in 476 B.C. participation in international archival and the departure of the last magistrate catalogs. for Taiwan in 1949. A small city, Qufu Our first full day in China was cli- nonetheless boasts a magnificent Confu- maxed by a banquet in the Great Hall of cian temple (Kong Miao); the mansion, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 the People, hosted by An Qingzhu, courts, and prefectural halls of the Con- chairman of the Chinese Archives fucian descendants (Kong Fu); and the Association Council and director of the graveyard where Confucius and 76 of his State Archives Bureau. Toasts were ex- lineal male progeny and a host of other changed between An Qingzhu and Ann relatives are buried (Kong Lin). Morgan Campbell on behalf of their Housed in one of the many buildings respective organizations, and interna- within the courtyards of the Confucian tional friendship and understanding mansion compound are the Kong (Con- were praised and encouraged to the ac- fucian) Family Archives. They are ad- companiment of sips of maotai.1 Also at ministered by the Bureau of Cultural the dinner, Claudine J. Weiher, on Relics of the Ministry of Culture, which behalf of the Archivist of the United also manages the Confucian Mansion States, presented to the State Archives proper and the nearby temple, and are in Bureau a copy of the jointly published the care of Kong Fanyin, a descendant volume The United States and Russia: (via a cadet branch) of Confucius. He is The Beginning of Relations, 1765-1815. also a deputy director of the Qufu Our trip had begun well. Three more Historical Relics Museum. The Confu- days in Beijing were spent visiting the cian Family Archives contain not only sights mentioned at the opening of this the genealogies of the descendants of section, and then we went on to Xian to Confucius and the household accounts see the excavations of the Qin and other records of the family, but also Shihuangdi tomb complex, the Banpo include records of the magisterial court neolithic village excavations, and the hot of the local prefecture. springs where Chiang Kai-shek was cap- After a briefing, Kong opened his ar- tured by Zhang Xueling in 1936. We also chives for our inspection. Wooden visited the Qianling, tomb of Tang shelves and boxes of camphor wood Dynasty emperor Gaozu and his em- contain hundreds of bound volumes of press, and the nearby tomb of Princess documents, many of which were hand Yang. After an overnight trip by train to copies of earlier documents no longer , where we visited the Huai Hai extant. We noted that in many of the battle monument and museum and the documents there were emendations, and Xuzhou museum (including a Han Kong told us that it had not been un- Dynasty jade funerary coat), we then common for later generations of record went to Qufu, in Shandong Province, keepers to correct a text if they believed for our second archival visit of the tour. it to be wrong or the composition uninspired or unfelicitous. A number of Qufu: The Confucian Family Archives these documents are being prepared for Qufu was the home of Confucius publication, beginning with the (Kongzi), and his first-son lineal descen- genealogical records. It is obvious that dants were magistrates of the local Kong and his small staff have taken prefecture for all of the 77 generations great care of the archives and take great

7For those unfamiliar with it, maotai is a sorghum-based clear liquor that demands your undivided atten- tion with your first sip and deprives you of reason with the second. Archives in the PRC 399

pride in their work. We were given to records in their custody include a few understand that although both the tem- items from the Ming and Qing dynasties, ple and the mansion had suffered notably scattered records of the Water damage from overenthusiastic followers Conservancy Board (public works water of the "get rid of the old" school during projects), the Food Office, and the Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 the Cultural Revolution, the archives Treasury. They have records of pre-1949 were untouched. revolutionary groups in Shandong as This brief account cannot begin to well as records of the provincial govern- convey the charm of Qufu, the ex- ment between 1911 and 1949, including perience of lodging in the Confucian material from the Japanese occupation. mansion itself, or the quiet solemnity of Many of the pre-1949 records were lost visiting the grave of the ancient teacher or damaged during the war, and there is and philosopher who had so great an in- no really good estimate of exactly how fluence on China through the ages. much was thus lost. There is only one basic shelf list for the 100,000 volumes Jinan: A Provincial Archives of records organized into 170 quanzong. However, there seems to have been some Jinan (on some maps spelled Tsinan) attempt at writing summary descriptions is the capital of Shandong Province, and of the contents of some of the quan- in the provincial government compound zong, and an attempt was made to begin stands a new building constructed in a name index to some of the material. 1978 to house the provincial archives. The stack areas were all clean, neat, Upon arrival we were told that we were and well lighted. The total stack space the first foreigners to visit the archives, covers about 3,700 square meters of and we were given a warm and friendly flooring. We noted that the stacks were greeting by Zhong Chao, deputy direc- located in the center of the building, tor of the Shandong Provincial Ar- completely surrounded by a service and chives. The briefing was given by access corridor, which demonstrated Madame Liu Qi, also a deputy director good planning. The construction design of the Shandong Provincial Archives. spoiled the whole thing, however, by Both also serve as deputy chairmen of piercing the walls of each storeroom the Shandong Provincial Archives with windows just below the ceiling Association Council. level. When we asked about this the In her briefing, Liu noted that they Shandong archivists with a wry smile date their archival work from 1958, but that they have the same problems with that the provincial archives was not for- construction contractors as we do in mally established until 1963 and that America! work was interrupted during the Access to do research in the Shandong Cultural Revolution. The archives did Provincial Archives requires a certificate not really begin to function again prop- from one's work unit (danwei) erly after the Cultural Revolution until demonstrating a legitimate and genuine the new building was completed and oc- need for the information being sought. cupied in 1979. The archives is directly The provincial archives does not deal subordinate to the Department of directly with foreign researchers, and Science and Culture of the Shandong any request for access would have to be Provincial Government Council. The considered first by the State Archives work of the staff of 35 people is divided Bureau in Beijing. Only after approval into two major areas: compilation and by the central office would the local ar- research, and administration. The chives become involved in service to the 400 American Archivist/Fall 1982

researcher, and then only within the of China, notably at the beginning of the framework of a work plan and limits in the 14th century and agreed upon in Beijing. for the Kuomintang government and the Liu stated that there had been 37,000 Wang Jingwei puppet government under researchers since 1978, but we suspect the Japanese in the 20th century. It is the Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 that there is some confusion in terms or site of the Second Historical Archives translation here, and that the figure ac- (Di Er Lishi Danganguan) of China. The tually is for reference inquiries of all Second Historical Archives is easily the kinds rather than for people visiting the most attractive building we visited. Set archives to do research. When we were in a park-like grounds, the main shown the research room we found it to building was built in the 1930s by the be small, containing only four desks. Kuomintang as an archives, and there is Most of the work of the reference staff an underground stack area in the base- involves assisting with writing official ment, with the main research room or histories or responding to official hall set well up a flight of outside grand government and Party requests for in- entrance stairs. To each side of the land- formation from the archives. scaped courtyard in front of this older The archives does have provincial building are two recent buildings, each regulations for records retention and containing six storage rooms for disposal, in both long-term and short- documents. The modern buildings are term categories. The general classes of designed to blend in with and to comple- records selected for permanent archives ment the older building, making for a are determined by guidance from the very effective and attractive setting. State Archives Bureau, and they are The Second Historical Archives con- basically the same for each province in tains surviving records of the Sun Yat- the People's Republic. The provincial ar- sen provisional government, the Canton chives does not function as a bureau of government, the northern warlord vital statistics. Records of births, deaths, governments, the Wang Jingwei puppet marriages, licenses, etc., are kept by the government, and the Kuomintang provincial Bureau of Civil Administra- government of the Republic. Shi tion. Each bureau and office of the pro- Xuancen, deputy director of the Second vincial government has its own "ar- Historical Archives, stated in his brief- chives" (records office), and each level ing that the pre-1949 records are of government below the provincial fragmentary, although those for the level, including 110 counties and town northern warlord governments are fairly and 11 prefectures and municipalities, complete. He does not have a very has its own "archives" or records office. precise idea of what materials are miss- Each level is responsible for its own ar- ing or what was taken to Taiwan, nor chives within the general framework of what the holdings now on Taiwan con- national regulations for local archives sist of. The holdings of the Second and with guidance from the provincial Historical Archives occupy some 25,000 archives. meters of shelving and are divided into 800 quanzong. Shi stated that the archives are open to Nanjing: The Second Historical Ar- research and that they had more than chives 4,000 reference inquiries in 1981. Nanjing, on the Yangtze River (Chang Foreign researchers must apply through Jiang) in southwestern Pro- diplomatic channels to the State Ar- vince, has been at various times a capital chives Bureau in Beijing, and only then, Archives in the PRC 401 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021

The Second Historical Archives, Nanjing. Photograph by Thomas G. Campbell.

after approval by the central office, will Shi also gave us to understand that the they be given assistance in Nanjing. The Second Historical Archives is continuing holdings are completely cataloged on to receive, in bits and pieces, caches of cards, and they are beginning to publish records from all over China that have guides to the archives as well as to do re- been discovered to be files abandoned by search and writing of official histories. Kuomintang forces in the later months The facility has a total of 135 staff of 1949 as they were preparing to leave members, of whom 60 are archivists. for Taiwan. Since the Second Historical Forty of the archivists work in the com- Archives was established in 1952 pilation section and 20 in the research specifically to be the place for storing section. Other staff members are ad- and administering the records left ministrative personnel, technical person- behind by the Kuomintang, such records nel, or maintenance personnel. as are found are routinely sent to Nan- There was a modest microfilming jing at the behest of the State Archives shop in a building to the rear of the main Bureau. Indeed, the State Archives archives building. Three older planetary Bureau periodically broadcasts an ap- cameras seemed to be little used, and a peal for such records to be turned in and film processor in the next room seemed sent to Nanjing when they are found. to be out of operation entirely. In one of They are added to appropriate quanzong the stack areas we were shown some new as they are received. compact shelving on tracks, moved by hand cranks on the ends of the stacks. Shanghai: The Shanghai Municipal Ar- They worked very smoothly and the chives staff reported having no trouble with After a brief but pleasant stop in the them. canal city of Suzhou we spent three days 402 American Archivist/Fall 1982

in Shanghai; the visit included a winter temperatures fall to about 9 memorable tour boat cruise down the degrees, the system has its work cut out Huangpu River to its confluence with for it. It remains to be seen how well it the Yangtze at Wusung. At the Shanghai will work. The control panel is not only Municipal Archives, located just a few designed to operate the ventilation but is Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 blocks from the Bund in downtown also tied in to the fire alarm, fire- Shanghai, we received what was perhaps control, and intrusion alarm systems, the fullest and most comprehensive and monitors all of them. It was easily briefing of the entire tour from Lo Wen, the most sophisticated piece of building director of the archives, after being systems equipment we saw on the tour. greeted and welcomed by Zheng The Shanghai Municipal Archives is Shizong, chairman of the Council of the subordinate to the Shanghai Municipal Shanghai Municipal Archives Associa- People's Council, although it takes tion. guidance on archival matters from the The repository itself occupies four State Archives Bureau in Beijing. The floors of a nine-story building not archives organization of work is divided originally designed as an archives. The into five sections: the director's office archives was established in 1956 but was and administration; two numbered not formally dedicated until 1959. Its departments engaged in restoration and holdings include both pre-1949 and compilation; a technical department post-1949 materials of both the govern- engaged in research on document ment of Shanghai municipality and of deterioration and restoration and in the Communist Party of Shanghai. microfilming and environmental con- Shanghai, of course, is the city in which trols; and a research department en- the Party was founded in 1921. The gaged in the preparation of official holdings also include records from some histories and catalogs. 10 to 12 local district governments and The holdings themselves consist of 10 country governments incorporated 820 quanzong incorporating some into the present special municipality of 500,000 volumes of documents occupy- Shanghai. ing nearly 6,000 meters of shelving. The As with other archives, work was quanzong are further grouped roughly, severely interrupted during the Cultural for purposes of administration and Revolution, and the work since opera- general description, into three "super- tions were completely restored in 1979 quanzong": records of the Shanghai has concentrated on rebuilding and Municipal Government, records of the restoration. Temperature and humidity Shanghai Communist Party, and control are a major problem, and they records of Shanghai mass organizations recently designed and installed a new since 1949; records of the Shanghai control system for ventilation. We were Communist Party, records of trade shown the control panel of this system unions, and records of underground and were impressed with their statement units and other revolutionary groups that the archivists and staff members prior to 1949; and records of the themselves had built the system. Lo Shanghai Municipal Government be- stated that their objective was to keep tween 1927 and 1949 under the Kuomin- the relative humidity within a nominal tang and under the Japanese occupa- range of 58 to 65 percent and the tion. No mention was made of any temperature between 20 and 25 degrees earlier material, either for the 1911-1927 Celsius. Since Shanghai summer period of the Republic or for the earlier temperatures reach 30 degrees and imperial governments. Archives in the PRC 403

The Shanghai Municipal Archives has space prevent them from making more made some effort to acquire the per- than a cursory effort to collect other sonal records of principal government records, such as those of pre-1949 and revolutionary figures. We were foreign commercial and government in- given to understand that all archives had terests, although they would very much Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 been encouraged to do so, but the like to do so. He said he was sure that Shanghai archives seems to have been there were caches of documents located more active and more successful than under stairs in old buildings around the others. Their prize "catch" appears to be city, but that searching for them and do- the papers of Song Jingling (Madame ing something about them simply was Sun Yat-sen), whose correspondence not practical at the moment. He is faced and other papers cover most of 20th- with a more immediate problem of century China's history. After her death, mastering his own post-1949 respon- the Shanghai archivists were permitted sibilities. Records located in the to go to her house and move all her Shanghai Municipal Archives go up to papers to the Shanghai archives. The 1966 only. Of a potential of some success of the Shanghai archivists in ob- 5,000,000 volumes of documents that taining such materials was evident in a could be accessioned into the archives, display of documents they had out for they have in hand only about 25 percent, us. It included such gems as a letter from or about 1,250,000, including the Song Jingling to the famous Chinese 500,000 volumes already brought under short-story writer, Lu Xun, and a control. The remainder are still in the memorial written by Lu Xun on the records offices of operating units. A death of Hu Yepin (a revolutionary survey is being conducted to identify the writer and husband of novelist Ding materials that should be transferred so Ling). There was also a letter from that plans can be made and proposals Zhang Tailei to his wife, written in 1921. suggested for dealing with the problem, All these were collected through a but action will have to await a solution general public appeal published in the to the space problem. Shanghai area. In response to the blunt The research and reference activities question of whether the owners really of the Shanghai Municipal Archives had no choice but to offer them up to follows the same pattern found earlier in the archives, we were told that most peo- Shandong. Researchers require ple regarded it as an honor, a patriotic authorization from their units, and privilege, to do so, and that a further ra- foreigners may apply only through the tionale of persuasion, if any were need- State Archives Bureau. Research and ed, was that the archives could obviously reference is primarily in the service of take better care of the items than could a the cause of "socialist construction," private owner. Even after repeated ques- although pre-1949 materials have been tioning it was unclear to us whether such opened up to more general research. Re- gleanings and collectings were placed in search work done by archives personnel a separate quanzong of all such is mainly in support of official history materials obtained from private sources, writing, but archives assistance has also or were incorporated into existing quan- been sought in the revision of high zong where appropriate. school history texts, the devising of cap- Lo noted that while this collection ef- tions and labels for museum displays, fort is concentrating on government and and in the preparation of movie revolutionary figures, limitations of scenarios and plays or television scripts. 404 American Archivist/Fall 1982

The research staff has been heavily in- from the working archivists themselves. volved in writing a history of the The Shanghai association is a special , a work that organization for the purpose of mobiliz- has already produced more than 750,000 ing and conducting academic activity words of text. Archival work in support among archivists and promoting Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 of this project has concentrated on the theoretical principles based on practical records of the revolution of 1911, the work experience. The Shanghai associa- May 4th Movement of 1919, and the tion includes more than 400 archivists May 30th Movement of 1925. Other re- from some 35 groups and institutions, search has been concentrating mainly on most of them government offices or biographies of revolutionary martyrs universities. and other similar topics. In 1981 more The Shanghai Municipal Archives than 3,000 individual researchers, Association has a general business representing 1,700 groups and operating meeting every three years at which the units, used more than 10,000 volumes of association council of 44 members is documents. Finding aids are limited to a chosen to run the association between single card catalog (shelf list), although the triennial meetings. A standing com- this catalog has more than 1,000,000 en- mittee of the council is elected by the tries. A more general catalog is in prepa- council, and it consists of a chairman, 7 ration, but it has only 60,000 entries so vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 2 far. assistant secretaries general, and 14 Restoration of documents concen- general members. (Those readers trates mostly on older documents, many familiar with the organization of the of which were received in an aged, Chinese Communist Party and the Peo- yellow, and brittle condition. From ple's Republic will find this pattern April 1980 to the end of 1981 they were familiar.) The standing committee is able to restore 9,500 pages. Their biggest considered to be the leadership group problems are poor quality 20th-century for archival work in Shanghai. paper and inks. Although they do some The Shanghai Municipal Archives microfilming for image protection, this Association's activities include an an- takes second place in their priorities to nual meeting for the purpose of ex- working on the problems of restoring changing professional work experiences the original documents themselves, and (not association business), organizing ad they have done only 100 rolls of hoc seminars on archival topics (such as microfilm to date. At top speed, with the presentations made by our group in minor problems in the materials, their Shanghai), organizing and promoting restoration staff can restore up to 75 academic study groups on archival sub- documents per day, but many items take jects, managing practical training far longer. courses, selecting subjects that require We also gained a much better impres- research, encouraging research in need- sion of the nature and role of the ed areas, publishing an archival studies Chinese Archives Association from Lo's journal, and providing for archival description of the Shanghai Archives study rooms (not very clearly defined or Association. It was established on 10 described). November 1981, and he described it as In the afternoon we again, as in Bei- an organization of "mass character," jing, met with a large group of Shanghai stressing the grassroots nature of the archival colleagues, and again divided organization, which takes its strength into smaller groups for the presentations Archives in the PRC 405

from the American side as before. The tween archivists in the two countries questions were many and pertinent, and began to develop healthily as well. In on the whole the sessions were an im- 1980, a delegation of Chinese archivists provement over the ones in Beijing, sim- attended the Second World Records ply because our group knew more what Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 to expect and had a better grasp of the visited the National Archives in Chinese archivists' positions and in- Washington, D.C. In 1981, at the invita- terests. tion of the Society of American Ar- Guangzhou: The Guangdong Provincial chivists, China sent its representative to Archives the forty-fifth annual meeting of the society at the University of California, Our last archives stop in China-proper Berkeley. Now this SAA tour group has was the Guangdong Provincial Archives visited Beijing, Xian, Xuzhou, Qufu, in Guangzhou (Canton). We were wel- Jinan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, and you comed by Zhang Chaoxian, chairman of have given us a picture of archival work the Guangdong Provincial Archives in America, and you have had much Association Council, and a deputy direc- contact with archivists in China. We are tor of the Guangdong Provincial Ar- now happy to have you here in chives. In order to give our readers a Guangzhou, visiting the archives of the sense of the flavor of the various brief- Guangdong Provincial Government. We ings we received, Zhang's talk is given in hope the contacts and cooperation be- full below, as translated by Shi Lin of tween our two countries will develop the State Archives Bureau, with only a further. few minor emendations by the author of "Guangzhou is a big city in southern this article in the interests of smoothness China and is associated with Los and clarity. Angeles as a sister city. Recently, a fur- "Ladies and gentlemen: ther agreement has been reached, and "First of all, I would like to extend, on Baltimore's harbor and Guangzhou's behalf of the Archives Association of harbor of Huangpu (Whampoa) will Guangdong Province and all the staff of become associated as friendly harbors. the Guangdong Provincial Archives, a We are happy to exchange experiences warm welcome to the Society of with our American colleagues and to American Archivists tour group headed « further our friendship. by Ann Morgan Campbell, Claudine J. "I wish you a happy stay here in Weiher, and William W. Moss. The rela- Guangzhou, and I wish you good health. tions and friendship between the "This archives was set up in October Chinese and American peoples started 1958 as a scientific and cultural institu- long ago. During the visit of former tion to preserve permanently the president Nixon in 1972, he held talks historical records of Guangdong Prov- with Premier Zhou Enlai which resulted ince and archives created by the Party in the issue of a joint communique in and government agencies after the Shanghai, thereby laying the foundation founding of the People's Republic of for developing Sino-American relations. China. In accordance with the re- More recently, increasing contacts in quirements of the State Archives Bureau economy, science, culture, and so forth, concerning archival work in the prov- have promoted mutual understanding, inces, municipalities, and autonomous friendship, and cooperation between the regions,8 the job of our provincial ar- two peoples, and friendly relations be-

sTo those familiar with the PRC bureaucracy and its publications, this sounds very much like the title of a formal directive. If so, it would be interesting to see the text. 406 American Archivist/Fall 1982

chives covers the collection, processing, "Records preserved in this archives conservation, appraisal, and counting total about one hundred thousand [sic] of the historical archives and of volumes occupying sixteen hundred and the Party and government archives.9 We thirty linear meters of shelving. make various finding aids and we Although quite a lot of the pre-1949 ar- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 publish collections of historical archives chives were burnt and some were taken for the use of people in all walks of life. away by the Kuomintang forces before "After its establishment, the archives liberation, we still have acquired ar- has done an efficient job of acquiring a chives created during the ruling period great deal of historical material and of the Kuomintang by the provincial post-1949 archives of government and government and over seventy of its agen- Party organs. A normal sequence of cies, including the divisions of civil ad- work has been established. ministration, finance, education, "The archives at present has thirty agriculture and forestry, railway ad- staff members, among whom eighteen ministration, post office, and some are male and twelve are female.10 Thir- universities. We also have archives teen are graduates of universities while created by the customs office in sixteen have only a high school educa- Guangdong Province from the later tion. Sixteen of the staff have been en- Qing Dynasty to the founding of the gaged in archival work for more than ten People's Republic of China. The above- years, and they are the main force here. mentioned historical archives are of "The archives consist of such divisions great value to the research of economy, as the historical archives department, politics, military affairs, and culture in the government and Party archives Guangzhou before liberation. department, the compilation, research "Besides this, we have also acquired and publication department, the and preserved part of the revolutionary technical department, the materiel historical archives of the Chinese Com- department, and so on, each doing its munist Party from 1929 to 1949. These own bit of archival work. archives record the revolutionary ac- "The Party Committee and People's tivities of the Party in the early days. Government of Guangdong Province They include valuable records of the have paid great attention to archival first cooperation between the Com- work. After the downfall of Lin Biao munist Party and the Kuomintang, and and the Gang of Four, the government on the first and second civil wars. These allotted funds so that this new building, records play an important part in the with a floor space of thirty-four hundred textual research on how the Communist square meters, could be built, and so Party led the people of Guangdong in that some equipment could be intro- the revolutionary struggle to win the duced such as microfilming machines, democratic revolution. cameras, duplicators, tape recorders, "The archives created after liberation and equipment to control temperature by Party and government are fairly com- and humidity in the stacks. Thus, condi- plete, and those preserved in the archives tions are much improved. are the early records from 1949 to 1966.

'Note the deliberate distinction between "historical archives" (before 1949) and "party and government archives" (post-1949). 10Our persistent inquiries as to the proportion of women to men in archival work bemused our hosts, to the point that our national guide, Yin Guomei, at one point in reporting the population of water buffalo observed with a grin that forty-five percent were male and fifty-five percent were female. Archives in the PRC 407

They are comprehensive records of cial government compound. In one of government and Party leadership in the stack areas we were shown old Guangzhou in socialist revolution and customs records, many of them in

construction since 1949. They provide English. In contrast to the northern ar- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 fairly complete and systematic informa- chives, the Guangdong archives uses a tion for research in the development of different sort of large document case, economy, politics, military affairs, apparently of galvanized metal, which culture, etc., since 1949. may present some problems in the "Most of the archives are still kept in future. the old repositories due to the fact that In the microfilming area we were we have just built the new ones and shown the most modern and most therefore work has just begun. The sophisticated piece of equipment of the stacks cover thirty-five hundred square whole tour, a Kodak microfilm camera- meters. There are eleven thousand six processor-reader-printer system with the hundred volumes of records containing capability of computerized identifica- sixty-one thousand nine hundred pages. tion numerals for each frame. The More than one million words have been equipment was obtained from the published. Kodak outlet in Hong Kong, and we "According to a decision by the were told that the Guangdong archives government, we are going to have the has a service contract with Kodak and pre-1949 archives and part of the revolu- that a member of the archives staff had tionary historical archives open to scien- gone to Hong Kong for training in the tific research by institutions, univer- operation and maintenance of the equip- sities, Party and government officials, ment in order for the archives to have an and agencies. People can come to the ar- in-house capability for troubleshooting chives to consult, read, copy, or print the machinery. The installation was the historical materials they need, but we relatively recent, within the past year, also arrange, compile, and publish some and they are only just now beginning to collections of historical records. We are develop a systematic program of making historical records open to the microfilming materials. public gradually." As in Shanghai, the Guangdong ar- At this point, Zhang took questions chivists had prepared for us a display of from the floor and then we toured the several interesting documents. Among archives. The Guangzhou facility is a them (much to my personal delight) was new building, built in the "barracks" the diary of Feng Baiju, an anti- shape and style so common to new con- Japanese guerrilla leader on Hainan struction in tropical countries. Again, Island and a postwar official in the the problem of ambient air in Guangdong Provincial People's Govern- temperature, humidity, and pollution ment. There were also documents writ- control seemed hardly to have been ten by Ye Jianying and Tao Zhu, former grasped, much less coped with, but the governors of Guangdong Province in the building seemed strong and dry. As 1950s and early 1960s. These people, Zhang indicated, some of the kufang, or along with Ou Mengjue, had figured storage rooms, were completely bare prominently in my graduate essay on because material has not yet been moved localism in Guangdong Province, writ- from the old repositories. The move will ten at Columbia University as a require- no doubt be completed in the near future ment for my master's degree nearly 20 as the archives are located in the provin- years ago. It was very exciting indeed to 408 American Archivist/Fall 1982

see the original writings of people I had niques. They already have a firm base known only through secondary printed for their own archives work in arrange- sources in translation. Feng's diary is the ment, preservation, and description.

only one of the items to have reached the They need some assurance that the next Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 United States, in a Chinese published 10 or 12 years will provide the stability version by 1965. and consistency of support that is need- ed for a long-range solution to the prob- lems of coping with the masses of Zhongguo Zaijian: China, Au Revoir material on hand and the greater masses After Guangzhou it was goodbye to of records potentially transferable to the China except for a very brief stop in archives. And they need assurance that Hong Kong for a very rapid readjust- the resources to cope with the situation ment to Western ways. We left with will keep coming. The answers to these great regret, feeling that we had only questions lie more within China than just begun to get acquainted with they do in international cooperation. Chinese archivists and Chinese archives Americans can help in some areas where and that there was much more to be the Chinese have little experience, such learned and enjoyed. But we also left as the management of collections of per- with great pleasure at having had the op- sonal papers and non-government in- portunity and the experiences described stitutional archives. Americans can help above. Readers of this article will have on the technical side in planning only the barest glimpse of the bare buildings and applying environmental glimpse we ourselves had of China. We controls. Americans can help in making packed a great deal of travel and sight- modern equipment available within the seeing into the 21 days, and our friends, terms and conditions of trade agree- colleagues, and relatives will no doubt ments, and can train Chinese personnel be treated to endless travelogues, com- in their uses. Americans can help the plete with slides. But, none of us yet Chinese develop more sophisticated knows what it would be like to live in finding aids and catalogs to their hold- China, to do research in Chinese ar- ings. But, do not be surprised if the chives, to work as an archivist in Chinese learn most of what we have to Chinese archives, or to discuss Chinese teach them very rapidly. Do not be sur- history and Chinese archives with prised if soon the Chinese begin teaching Chinese scholars and archivists in great us a thing or two. We can learn from detail, seeing their problems as they see them as well. them and as they must face them. Until As Ann Morgan Campbell said in her Americans can spend more time—not toast to the Chinese archivists in the days but months and years—in China, Great Hall of the People in Beijing, only doing research as a number of if we understand each other's history, Americans have already done, we still honestly and candidly, can we hope to will not really comprehend what it is all develop a sound basis for future mutual about. understanding and cooperation between Our admittedly superficial tour sug- our two peoples. And an honest gests, however, some conclusions that understanding of history rests, in turn, need further testing. The Chinese need on good archives and on understanding equipment, facilities, and modern the archives of each other's country. I technology much more than they need hope that this report may in some instruction in or acquaintance with measure contribute to further contacts American archival principles and tech- and better understanding, that some Archives in the PRC 409

young archivist reading this article will available when Chinese archivists come begin to study Chinese so as to be able to to visit us as we went to visit them. And, speak to Chinese archivists in their own quite candidly, I hope that one day I language, that American archivists and may return to China as one of those Chinese archivists will have oppor- American archivists to enjoy the ex- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/45/4/385/2746939/aarc_45_4_24q7467764463454.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 tunities to work in each other's archives, perience of working in a Chinese ar- and that American archivists will sup- chives, and that I will be only one of port efforts at international cooperation many. by making their facilities and expertise