This page includes tips for evaluating primary sources that you find on the web or in other places. To find primary source material from the history or material culture of China, use the sections for each topic.

When evaluating primary or secondary sources, ask the following questions:

• How does the author know these details (names, dates, times)? Was the author present at the event or soon on the scene?

• Where does this information come from - personal experience, eyewitness accounts, or reports written by others?

• Are the author's conclusions based on a single piece of evidence, or have many sources been taken into account (e.g., diary entries, along with third-party eyewitness accounts, impressions of contemporaries, newspaper accounts)?