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NEWLY EXCAVATED TEXTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: REFLECTIONS ON NEW RESOURCES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2014

Lee-moi Pham  and
Kuan-yun Huang
Lee-moi Pham
Affiliation:
Lee-moi Pham, 范麗梅, Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica; email: lmpham@gate.sinica.edu.tw.
Kuan-yun Huang
Affiliation:
Kuan-yun Huang, 黃冠雲, Department of Chinese Literature, Tsing Hua University; email: kuanyun@mx.nthu.edu.tw.
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Abstract

Based on a special issue entitled “Newly Excavated Texts in the Digital Age,” volume 21.2 (June 2011) of the Newsletter of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica (Zhongyang yanjiu yuan Zhongguo wen zhe yanjiu suo tongxun 中央研究院中國文哲研究所通訊), this article reflects on the various digital resources now being developed at institutions in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere, looking, in turn, at topics related to the graphic form of characters, the relation between character and word, and the question of context. In addition, the article considers the web forum, a platform of research and discussion that is increasingly becoming a part of scholarly exchange.

提要

本文根據《中央研究院中國文哲研究所通訊》2011 年出版的第 21 卷第2期，「數位時代的出土文獻」專輯，討論近幾十年來在大陸、香港、台灣等地區，由不同單位開發的各種數位工具，從使用者的角度對字形、字詞對應、語境等幾個方面提出感想。此外，論文也考慮互聯網論壇在研究和交流上所扮演的日漸重要的角色。

Keywords

newly excavated textspaleographydigital resourcesweb forumsWiki approach出土文獻古文字數位資源互聯網論壇「維基」模式
Type
Review Articles
Information
Early China , Volume 37 , 2014 , pp. 551 - 565

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References

1. For an early call to integrate digital technology with the study of newly excavated texts, see Qiu Xigui 裘錫圭, “Tuidong Gu wenzi fazhan de dangwu zhi ji” 推動古文字學發展的當務之急, in Xueshu shi yu fangfa xue de shengsi: Zhongyang yanjiu yuan Lishi yuyan yanjiu suo qishi zhounian yantao hui lunwen ji 學術史與方法學的省思：中央硏究院歷史語言硏究所七十周年硏討會論文集 (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiu yuan Lishi yuyan yanjiu suo, 2000), 433–39Google Scholar. The growing importance of digital resources has resulted in serious discussions in some neighboring disciplines. An example of this is Huang Yi-long 黃一農, “Mingmo zhi Aomen mu Pubing de Jiang Yunlong xiaokao: jian da Xiong Xiong xiansheng dui ‘e-kaoju’ de piping” 明末至澳門募葡兵的姜雲龍小考：兼答熊熊先生對「e-考據」的批評, Zhongyang yanjiu yuan Jindai shi yanjiu jikan 中央研究院近代史研究所期刊 62 (2008): 155–66Google Scholar. The article includes references to earlier debates between Huang and other scholars on the significance and impact of “e-philology.”

2. This as well as all previous issues of the newsletter are available on the website of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy (http://www.litphil.sinica.edu.tw/home/6-2.htm).

3. Some popular books that have been helpful in our thinking through some of the issues addressed in the following are Gleick, James, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood (New York: Pantheon Books, 2011)Google Scholar; Weinberger, David, Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder (New York: Times Books, 2007)Google Scholar; and Wright, Alex, Glut: Mastering Information through the Ages (Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2007)Google Scholar. The following reference works contain a wealth of information: Schreibman, Susan, Siemens, Ray, and Unsworth, John, eds., A Companion to Digital Humanities (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004)Google Scholar; and Siemens, Ray and Schreibman, Susan, eds., A Companion to Digital Literary Studies (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. A useful account of what “digital humanities” is (or is not) can be found in Burdick, Anne, Drucker, Johanna, Lunenfeld, Peter, Presner, Todd, and Schnapp, Jeffrey, Digital_Humanities (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012)Google Scholar.

4. Here it is worth noting a project developed by Kwan Tzu-wan 關子尹 and his team from the Department of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which analyzes (à la the Shuowen jiezi) characters into minimum components and organizes such components into a hierarchical structure. A part of this project is described in Kwan's proposal for the project, “Multi-function Chinese Character Database: An Infra-structure for Future Chinese Education” (http://qcrc.qef.org.hk/project.php?id=2009/0456).

5. Such an effort is now reportedly under way. The project “Zhonghua ziku” 中華字庫, led by Qiu Xigui of Fudan University, aims to create a comprehensive database of Chinese characters (http://www.gwz.fudan.edu.cn/srcShow_NewsStyle.asp?Src_ID=1612).

6. Related to this, it is possible to mention the xizi 習字 or practice exercises frequently seen among Han administrative documents from the northwest. These writings, in spite of their clumsy and unskilled execution, pose interesting challenges to the current understanding of the standards and procedures for transcribing a character. In addition, there are various kinds of non-linguistic symbols appearing on newly excavated texts, conventionally referred to as mogou 墨鈎 “ink hook,” moding 墨丁 “ink block,” among others. These items are useful for understanding the layouts of manuscripts, their internal organizations, among others, but they are generally not included in databases.

7. This is also a feature attempted in both the Xian Qin jiagu jinwen jiandu cihui ziliao ku 先秦甲骨金文簡牘詞彙資料庫 developed by Academia Sinica and the project by Kwan Tzu-wan. In both cases, under each character, one finds a list of words that the character corresponds to. Kwan's project is especially noteworthy because it also lists words that are homophonous, thus facilitating the search for phonetic loans. In addition, each entry contains an explanation of how the different meanings relate to one another.

8. The study of Old Chinese phonology has seen several new developments recently; especially noteworthy are the hypotheses presented by the comparative study of Old Chinese with languages from the Tibeto-Burman and even Austronesian families. Besides the ongoing work by William Baxter and Laurent Sagart, it is possible to mention Zheng Zhang Shangfang 鄭張尚芳, Shangwu yinxi 上古音系 (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu, 2003)Google Scholar, and Schuessler, Axel, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007)Google Scholar, both with reconstructions that are easy to look up. Further, there now exist several online resources. The first is the website http://www.eastling.org/, which features the reconstructions by Bernhard Karlgren, Li Fang-kui 李方桂, Wang Li 王力, Baxter, Zheng Zhang Shangfang, and Pan Wuyun 潘悟雲. More recently, under the direction of the Department of Chinese Literature at National Taiwan University and several institutes at Academia Sinica, a new website is launched, http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/ccr/, which provides Old Chinese reconstructions by several scholars, among other valuable information. These resources would no doubt play a significant role if the aforementioned databases of newly excavated texts were ever to expand in the direction of Old Chinese phonology.

9. This is attempted in the project directed by Kwan Tzu-wan, which divides various components of characters into seven major categories: the human body, bodily gestures and physical behavior, natural phenomena, plants and animals, life and culture, deictic (zhishi 指事) characters, and those with multiple or uncertain meanings. In addition, it identifies the word class as well as provides an English translation. But the database with the most detailed treatment of these matters is perhaps the Thesaurus Linguae Sericae (TLS) created by Christoph Harbsmeier, University of Oslo (http://tls.uni-hd.de/home_en.lasso). Among the rich information found under each entry are phonological profile, synonym groups, synonym groups definition, syntactic categories, and semantic categories.

10. Some papers from the “Bamboo Silk” website have been reissued in print form; see Gumu xinzhi 古墓新知 (Taibei: Taiwan guji, 2002)Google Scholar and Guodian Chujian yu zaoqi Ruxue 郭店楚簡與早期儒學 (Taibei: Taiwan guji, 2002)Google Scholar.

11. For some of the same reasons, one might push for more academic conferences to take place via the web.

12. Evans, James A., “Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship,” Science, July 18, 2008, 395–99CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

13. For an useful discussion of Wikipedia and the challenges that it presents, see Rosenzweig, Roy, “Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past,” Journal of American History 93.1 (2006): 117–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14. This is of course also true for databases of transmitted texts, for which commentaries are found not only in the standard editions, but also in various formats in the scholarly literature. Once again, a collaborative approach can be helpful.

15. Under the direction of the late D.C. Lau (Liu Dianjue 劉殿爵, 1921–2010), the Ancient Chinese Texts Concordance Series of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, is a direct continuation of Hung's work.

16. Hong Ye 洪業, Yinde shuo 引得說 (Beiping: Hafo Yanjing xueshe yinde bianzuan chu, 1932)Google Scholar.