We have collected and selected historical materials related to the Small Swords Society（Xiao Dao Hui） Uprising. Apart from revolutionary literature, the majority of these materials consist of archives, newspapers, private writings, and notes from the reactionary rule of the Qing Dynasty and imperialist forces. These materials have significant historical value, and we have compiled them for researchers' reference. The editing methods we have adopted are as follows:

1. The collected materials, both in Chinese and foreign languages, are complex in content and form. To preserve the original documents, we generally refrain from cutting or fragmenting them. The materials are divided into six sections based on their nature. To provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Small Swords Society Uprising, we have prepared two introductory pieces: "Overview of the Small Swords Society Uprising" and "Timeline of Major Events in the Small Swords Society Uprising." These sections are accompanied by revolutionary artifacts, photographs, and maps, placed at the beginning of the compilation.

2. The materials in this compilation are divided into six sections: the first section contains literature on the Small Swords Society, the second section consists of records and reports on the uprising and its battles in Shanghai, the third section comprises archival materials on the Qing Dynasty's feudal ruling class suppressing  the Small Swords Society Uprising, the fourth section includes archives and records of foreign invaders' interference in the Small Swords Society Uprising, the fifth section contains other relevant historical materials on the uprising, and the sixth section comprises materials on the uprisings of the people in the counties near Shanghai, along with related materials documenting the response from Ningbo, Zhejiang.

3. Before each section, the editors have provided commentary to explain the content, nature, and historical value of the included materials, allowing readers to gain a clear understanding of each section.

4. Under each material's title, the editors have provided an evaluation to help readers understand the source, version, authors' perspectives, the historical value of the work, and any inaccuracies it may contain.

5. The titles of the materials are generally preserved without modification. Only a few highly reactionary titles that defame the revolution and are intolerable have been modified, with the original titles still included as annotations after the respective materials.

6. With regards to the foreign language materials in this compilation, the majority have been translated and selected by us. The translated names of individuals and places strive to match those already published. When using older translations from various books, we have made uniform changes to names of individuals and places while leaving the rest unchanged. A table providing name translations is included at the end. The most challenging to translate are the revolutionary documents. We have referenced the Chinese style of the Small Swords Society's proclamations to restore their original appearance as much as possible. However, due to significant differences between the Chinese literary style and English writing conventions, we can only strive for approximation.

7. The Chinese materials included in this compilation have undergone collation using different versions. We have selected the better versions and supplemented them using other editions. For example, "The Origins and Development of Westernization" was chosen over "The Qing Veritable Records" due to the former's earlier publication date. Similarly, for revolutionary documents of the Small Swords Society with multiple versions, the best version was chosen as the base text, with other versions used for supplementation and accompanied by explanations.

8. The materials related to the Shanghai Xidao Club Uprising in the North China Herald amount to approximately 160,000 words. Among them are original revolutionary documents that have been lost, detailed reports on the battles, historical records of imperialist occupation of customs and concessions, as well as special features on the Qing Dynasty's feudal rule compromising and surrendering. Based on the nature of these materials, they have been categorized and included in the respective sections. The discovery of revolutionary documents provides new evidence for studying the political situation of the Small Swords Society and their relationship with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although the continuous reports on the battles contain the perspective of the aggressors, they are still detailed historical materials of the revolutionary war. Therefore, we have compiled these reports for readers' reference.

9. The sources and origins of the cultural relics' images included in this compilation are indicated. Among them, the photos of Jiading were taken during our own investigation, and the maps were drawn by us.

10. We are currently lacking investigative materials on the Small Swords Society Uprising. We have only conducted preliminary investigations in Jiading. We hope comrades from Shanghai, Jiading, Qingpu, Baoshan, Nanhui, Chuansha, and other counties can assist us in order to supplement the investigative materials in the future.

11. This compilation of historical materials is a thematic collection aimed at organizing the history of the Shanghai people's struggles and supplementing the historical materials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Due to the limited collection time and insufficient in-depth work, there may inevitably be omissions and errors

我们搜集和选译的有关上海小刀会起义历史资料，除革命文献外，绝大部份是清朝反动统治和帝国主义的档案、报刊、私人论著、笔记等。这些资料都有一定的历史资料价值，我们把这些资料汇编起来，提供研究者参考。所采用的编辑方法说明如下：

(一)本编所收各种中外文资料，内容和形式均极为复杂，为保存原件，一般地不加删削或割裂，依照资料的性质分为六个部份。为使读者对上海小刀会起义的历史有一个概括的认识，编写“上海小刀会起义综叙”和“上海小刀会起义大事表”两种，并附以革命文物图片和地图，列入卷首。

(二)本编资料共分六部份：第一部份为小刀会起义文献，

第二部份为上海小刀会起义期间的记载和战况报道，第三部份为清朝封建统治阶级镇压上海小刀会起义的档案史料，第四部份为外国侵略者干涉上海小刀会起义的档案和记载，第五部份为其他有关上海小刀会起义的史料，第六部份为上海附近各县人民起义史料，并附浙江宁波人民起义响应史料。

(三)本编每一部份之前，均加上编者的按语，说明这一部份资料的内容、性质及其史料价值，使读者对每一部份资料得到明确的认识。

(四)本编在每一种资料标题之下，均加上编者的评介，使读者对于文件的来源、版本、作者的立场观点、作品的史料价值和它的谬误之处，都能得到一个明确的认识。

(五)本编对每一资料的标题，一般地均保持原状，不加删改；只有个别极为反动的标题，诬蔑革命而不可容忍者，酌予修改，仍将原标题附注于该资料后面。

(六)本编所收外文资料，除少数采用前人译本外，绝大部份是我们选译的，所译的人名地名力求与已经出版者相同，至采用旧译各书，除将人名、地名等予以统一外，其余不加改动。并于编末附以译名对照表。最难译的是革命文献，我们参考上海小刀会文告的中文风格，力求恢复本来面目，终因中国文言体与英文文字风格出入很大，只能力求其近似。

(七)本编所收中文资料，曾用不同版本加以校勘，选取较好的版本，另用其他版本校补。例如“筹办夷务始末”比“清实录”成书较早，凡两书互见者，采用“始末”。又如上海小刀会的革命文献，有不同版本的，采用最好的为底本，另用他本校补，并附注说明。

(八)“北华捷报”所载有关上海小刀会起义的资料，共约十六万字。其中有原件已失传的革命文献，有比较详晰的战况报道，有帝国主义侵占海关和租界的史料，亦有清朝封建统治妥协投降的特写。按其资料性质，分别编入各个部份，特别是革命文献的发现，对于研究上海小刀会的政治情况以及他们对太平军的关系可以找到新的证明，关于战况的连续报道，虽然含有侵略者的观点，却是较详细的革命战争史料，因此，把这一批报道汇编起来，供读者们参考。

(九)本编所采用的文物图片，均注明来源和出处。其中嘉定的照片是我们自己调查时拍摄的，地图也是我们草绘的。(十)本编尚缺对上海小刀会起义的调查资料，我们仅在嘉定进行过初步调查，希望上海、嘉定、青浦、宝山、南汇、川沙各县的同志们给以帮助，以便将来能够补充一些调查资料。

(十一)本编的历史资料是为整理上海人民斗争历史和补充太平天国历史资料而编成的一种专题史料汇编，因搜集时间较短，工作不够深入，难免有疏漏错误之处，希望读者予以指正。