The "Chinese Folklore Resources Overseas" (CFRO) is a website established in 2017, sponsored by the Chinese "National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science" through its Key Project "Investigation and digitalization of valuable Chinese folkloristic artifacts and documents in overseas collections" (2016-2021). It is directed by Professor Xiaobing Wang of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China).
"Folkloristic artifacts" refers to objects reflecting customs, beliefs and traditions used in daily life of the population in general, e.g. working tools, dress, decoration, toys, ritual objects, art work. "Folkloristic documents" comprise two important sub-categories, namely original books/texts and pictures produced by local persons to be used in cultural performances such as rituals, and as a second sub-category written and pictorial documents produced by travelers and ethnographers focusing on Chinese folk culture.
The main purpose of this project is to make these documents accessible for research. They have not been in the focus of Chinese scholars as yet, since they are mostly hidden and dispersed in overseas collections. The database will provide basic information on these collections. It will also serve international non-Chinese scholars to appreciate the rich and often unknown resources on Chinese folk culture. Furthermore, it will enable interested scholars to evaluate Chinese folkloristic resources in comparative perspective so as to develop various research topics in the fields of international cultural exchange, museology and communication, anthropological studies on material culture and the social life of things etc.
The project is divided into five research sections:
（1）Investigation, cataloging and research of Chinese folkloristic artifacts and documents in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Portugal.
（2）Investigation, cataloging and research of Chinese folkloristic artifacts and documents in France, Italy, Vatican and Spain.
（3）Investigation, cataloging and research of Chinese folkloristic artifacts and documents in United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium.
（4）Investigation, cataloging and research of Chinese folkloristic artifacts and documents in Japan and the United States.
（5）Establishing a database of Chinese folklore resources overseas.
