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Back in 1994, I read a wonderful book (to which Tim Cheek had drawn my attention), an anthology edited by Robin W. Winks entitled The Historian as Detective: Essays on Evidence (Harper Torchbooks, 1968). I realize that the judicious study of evidence has since come to be seen as rather ”old school” or ”retro” and that facts no longer carry quite the same weight as does, for example, faith. But anyway, I was reminded of Winks and his book when I stumbled across the following explanation, in a Chinese document from 1950, of what the term 材料 may refer to:

Searching by following words, such as "重要文件汇编"/"重要文件选编"/"重要文献选编" or just "文件汇编"/"文件选编"/"文献选编", at National Digital Library of China, you will see many relevant results.

I'd like to recommend five selections for you to purchase : 《当代山西重要文献选編（1949-1966）》,《中国共产党黑龙江省委员会重要文件汇编（1949-1966）》,《中国共产党在广西档案选编（1950-1965）》,《中共武汉市委文件选编（1949-1966）》,《中共贵阳市历史文献选编》（1949-1978).

Hi, Covell:

I would suggest that you and your library look into the possibility of acquiring the Database on Contemporary Chinese Political Campaigns edited by Song Yongyi 宋永毅 and others and published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It's a rich source of materials, published and unpublished, related to, among others, the Anti-Rightists, Great Leap Forward, and Cultural Revolution campaigns.

The semi-recent 50 volume set of Central Committee documents (pre-Cultural Revolution) comes to mind: 中央档案馆 and 中共中央文献研究室, ed., 《中共中央文件选集, 1949年10月-1966年5月》, 50 vols. (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2013).

A number of municipalities and provinces also have similar types of document collections. Beijing, for instance: 《北京市重要文献选编》, covering 1948-1965.

I often use collections and neibu/books published under the 《中共重要历史文献资料汇编》 series by the 中文出版物服务中心 in Los Angeles. However, I know nothing about this organization--does anyone have any insights?

Chuck