Joseph Needham’s file title is '中 [China] Honours 80 / 83’. It contains correspondence, letters of congratulation, administrative papers and newspaper clippings. It includes 6 colour photographs taken by Ushiyama Teruyo of the presentation held at the Chinese Embassy in London on 29 Oct. 1983.

The First-Class National Award certificate is held in a large red envelope, which also contains a letter in Chinese (with a translation in English). The certificate (no. 00017) is from the State Science and Technology Commission. It is dated July 1982 and is signed by Fang Yi 方毅. The letter is from Wu Heng 武衡, Huang Xinbai 黄辛白 and Qian Sanqiang 钱三强 (Awards Committee of Natural Sciences, The State Science and Technology Commission of the People’s Republic of China) dated Nov. 1983. The letter states that the award was granted for ‘Science and Civilisation in China,’ which represents ‘a major contribution to the study of the world history of science and technology.’

The Honorary Professor certificate is dated 20 Oct. 1983. It is held in a red board folder inside a fabric-covered box. The box contains a letter in Chinese (with an English translation) from Wen Jize [温济泽] (President, Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) to Joseph Needham dated 8 Nov. 1983.

The Honorary Doctor degree certificate is dated 30 Oct. 1983. It is held in a red board folder inside a fabric-covered box. The box contains a letter in Chinese (with an English translation) from Ma Hong 馬洪 (President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) to Joseph Needham dated 3 Nov. 1983.