The Institution of Chinese Agricultural Civilization has four main databases and archives including the Collection of Ancient Books, the Collection of Local Records, the Republic of China Database, and the UshiyamaKeiji Collection.
The Collection of Ancient Books contains 346 original copies of ancient agricultural books amounting to over 3,000 volumes, including the 15 types of classic books such as the block-printed edition of the Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People (Qi Min Yao Shu) by Ma Zhiqing from the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty which was listed among the “Catalogue of National Rare Books” by the State Council’s ancient book compilation group, the block-printed edition of A Complete Treatise on Agriculture and Administration (Nong Zhen Quan Shu)by Pin Lutang from the Chongzhen Period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty block-printed edition of the Bai Kong Liu Tie from Tang and Song Dynasties, and the block-printed edition of the History of Flowers (Hua Shi ZuoBian)from the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty. The Collection of Local Records contains 613 volumes of Documents on Chinese Agricultural History, and 680 volumes of the Gazetteers of Local Records, Products of Local Records, and Categorized Documents of Local Records. It also has 10 volumes of Water Conservation Documents from the Twenty Five Histories, 53 volumes of Documents on Agricultural History in the Taihu Lake Region, 300 volumes of the Data Presentation on Agricultural History, which is reputed to be the only existing edition in China.
The Republic of China Database evolved from the Republic Period agricultural documents from the library collections of University of Nanjing and National Central University. It is an important archive for the study on agriculture, economy and society during the Republic of China. The UshiyamaKeiji Collection is based on the over 5,000 volumes of Japanese books donated by the renowned Japanese agro-economic history scholar, Mr. UshiyamaKeiji. It integrated the Japanese manuscripts from the Nanjing Agricultural University Library and the pre-existing ones at the Institution, providing the most comprehensive database for domestic studies of Japanese agriculture.
Today the Institution has also established five information resource platforms including the agricultural heritage information resource center, Chinese ancient agriculture database, local agriculture database, Republic of China agriculture database, and agricultural history research database. These platforms are the important achievements of the research on the digitalization of agricultural data at our Institution and provide an internet document platform for researchers of agricultural history.