The oracle inscriptions of the Shang, the inscribed bamboo strips of the Han, and the documents found in Dunhuang can already be considered the remains of archives. The largest number of archival documents still extant today, however, date from the Qing period, the Chinese Republic, and the years after 1949. The most important central archives are the First Historical Archives of China in Beijing, the Palace Museum Archives in Taipei (late Ming and Qing periods), the Second Historical Archives o…