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Japanese bombing the Oriental Library, Shanghai Library and Fudan University (Shanghai Library,
2014). Compared with traditional types of historical materials, the advantage of audio recordings
and photographs is that they can reconstruct lively historical scenes with sounds and pictures, and
make it more interesting to know all the details of history.

2.3 The documentary editions

The high utilization rate of historical materials depends on that they are well organized. Current
documentary editions can be classified into three groups.
1) Large comprehensive documentary editions. For example, Records and historical materials
compilation of Republic of China (1912-1949) was compiled by the Second Historical Archives
of China. The fifth volume dealt with the losses of Chinese cultural relics, ancient books and
educational business. Zhang Kaiyuan, as the chief editor, has directed and completed a series of
books about the situation of southwest China during the war. One of them is The compilation of
archives and documents on Chongqing’s being bombed: Property losses of culture, education
and public health, which collected records on book losses and equipment damage of public and
private schools, and municipal libraries. All the contents of these documentary editions are original
government records from the Second Historical Archives of China, Academia Sinica Institute
of Modern History, Nationalist Party’s Historica, Chongqing Archives, Sichuan Archives, and
Academia Historica. This kind of documentary edition is significant because of the quantity and
authenticity of the records presented.
2) Thematic documentary editions. This kind of historical data compilation not only collects
historical materials from local places, but also collects diaries, memoirs, and testimonies of
witnesses. For example, The selected historical materials of fighting against Japanese invaders
in Shanghai was compiled by the Institute of Historical Research of Shanghai Academy of Social
Science (1985). This book collected news reports about the cultural disaster in Shanghai that
appeared in the newspaper Lin Pao. The news reports recorded Japan’s destruction at Fudan
University, Tongji University, Jinan University and other educational organizations. Despite of
news reports, the compilation also collected several articles, for example, Cai Yuanpei accused
Japanese of destroying China’s educational institutes and The activities for protecting libraries.
Other areas like Wuhan, Guangxi, Sichuan and other provinces also have similar documentary
editions. The compilation of private diaries document that Japanese soldiers expropriated and
destroyed Chinese books, bombed schools. The examples are as follows: The diaries of Azuma
Shiro, The diaries of John Rabe (2009), The diaries of Minnie Vautrin (2000). The most famous
documentary edition is the Compilations of historical materials about Nanjing Massacre which
has 78 volumes. For our research, the useful materials are government records in the 16th to 18th
volumes and the 22th volume, and witnesses’ diaries and letters in the 8th and 10th volumes. The