San Zhou Fu Wen Jian Xiu Ji (三州府文件修集), or A Text Book of Documentary Chinese, Selected and Designed for the Special Use of Members of the Civil Service of the Straits Settlements and the Protected Native States, was published in 1894 in Singapore for training of British colonial officers in Malaya and Singapore. The collection of papers consists of a total of 383 documents in 7 chapters.
The contents deal largely with the affairs and circumstances of the Chinese living in the British colonies. The documents collected include edicts of the Chinese Government, excerpts from local Chinese newspapers, legal appeals, public notices, business contracts, commercial agreements, and miscellaneous papers, etc.
Chapters 1 to 3 and chapters 4 to 7 are compiled in volume 1 and volume 2 of our digitized version respectively. The book is a rich source of historical materials detailing lives of the Straits Settlement Chinese in the 19th century.
