Project title: Database
of Chinese Bronze Inscriptions
Abstract
The goal of this project is to develop a relational database of Early Chinese
paleographic materials. It will serve not only as a collection of source material
and information, but also as a tool for the graphical and lexical analysis
of paleographic material. The content of the database is to be developed by
faculty and research assistants in the University of Chicago’s Department
of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, with technical assistance from
the Digital Library Development Center. We hope that after an initial development
period, we may make the database available to scholars via the internet.
Objects
The Database of Chinese Bronze Inscriptions will include the following
objects:
-
Inscriptional Texts: The basic source
material for the database are bronze inscriptions, which are short texts
(usually less than 100 graphs) that were originally cast into a bronze vessel.
Attributes for these objects would include basic information about the text,
such as the name of the inscription, periodization, references, etc.
-
Vessels: This
is the media onto which bronze inscriptions were cast and the source from
which rubbings (see next item) are taken. Attributes for these objects would
include references to scans of photographs of the vessel, provenance information,
notes on the size and appearance of the vessel, references, etc. Since a
single inscriptional text could be cast onto multiple vessels, one inscription
could be related to multiple vessels.
-
Rubbings: Inscriptional texts are
reproduced by making a rubbing of a vessel, which produces a black-and-white
“negative” of the inscription. Scanned images of such rubbings will be used
to reproduce inscriptional texts in the database. Attributes for these objects
would include a reference to a scan of the rubbing, location of the rubbing
on the vessel, source of the rubbing, etc. Since multiple versions of a
single inscriptional text could be cast into a single or multiple vessels,
one vessel or one inscription could be related to multiple rubbings.
-
Graph Exemplars: Each instance of
a graph appearing in the inscriptional corpus will be included. Attributes
would include a reference to a scanned graph (cut from the scan of the original
rubbing) together with notation of its position in the inscription. Each
graph exemplar will be linked to a particular position in the transcription
of the inscriptional text (see next object).
-
Transcriptions: Each inscriptional
text comprises a collection of graphs, each of which indicates a particular
lexeme. Transcription objects will serve to relate each position in the
inscriptional text to both a graph and a lexeme. The attributes for these
objects will include the sequential position of each graph, notes on the
transcription, and links to a particular graph and a particular lexeme (see
next two objects).
-
Graphs: Each unique graphic
form appearing in the corpus of bronze inscriptions will be a distinct Graph
object. Attributes will include a transcription into modern script, an analysis
of the graphic form, and references to citations in paleographic dictionaries,
etc.
-
Lexemes: These objects consist of
modern graphic forms together with dictionary-type entries. Attributes will
include a modern graph, definition and usage notes, pronunciation data,
graphic analysis, as well as references to citations in major dictionaries,
etc.
-
Translations: These objects will
consist of English phrases that correspond to a set of graphs in the transcription
of a particular inscriptional text. Attributes will include English text
as well as notes on the translation.
A note about copyrighted material: During
an initial development period, the database will use only material that is
not under international copyright protection. This includes all material published
in the People’s Republic of China before that country became a signatory to
international copyright protection treaties and conventions.
Relationships
The relationships between the above objects may be schematically
represented as follows:
Functions
The Database of Chinese Bronze Inscriptions is designed to have the
following functions:
-
Repository of primary sources: The
database will collect a variety of source materials: rubbings, photographs,
transcriptions, and translations, to be culled from a variety of sources.
By doing so, the database will significantly ease access to such materials
by providing a single point of entry and a convenient search mechanism.
-
Collection of data: Aside from collecting
primary source material, the database will also collect supplementary information
about these objects (e.g. physical dimensions of vessel, provenance, number
of graphs), culled from a variety of disparate sources. The database will
also allow full annotation of primary objects so that research notes can
be appended to objects at any time.
-
Bibliography: References to inscriptions,
excavations, and graphs will be attached to each object, giving the database
a bibliographic function.
-
Graphical dictionary: All graphs
that appear in the corpus of inscriptions will have an entry that provides
an analysis of the graphic form (in terms of radical composition), variants,
and a strict transcription into modern script, as well as references to
citations in important paleographic dictionaries.
-
Lexical dictionary: All graphs that
appear in the corpus of inscriptions will have an entry that provides pronunciation
information, definition and usage notes, and references to citations in
important dictionaries. This dictionary will be organized under headwords
that correspond to standard graphs in the modern script. The link between
graphic form and lexical entry is interpretative and may vary from inscription
to inscription or even within an inscription. That is, the same graph will
not indicate the same lexeme in all instances. We anticipate that a good
deal of lexical content will be developed in collaboration with an existing
electronic dictionary project, Synonyma Serica Comparata, under the
direction of Christoph Harbsmeier, University of Oslo.
-
Concordance:
The database will serve as a concordance that will locate graphs
or lexemes and display them in context, both in transcription and translation.
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Data Screen: This series of screens
would display all information associated with a particular inscription:
names of the vessels on which it appears, publication data, archaeological
provenance, present whereabouts, physical description of the vessel, photos
of the vessel, etc. This screen should link to the both the Rubbing Screen
and the Transcription/Translation Screen (see below).
-
Rubbing Screen: This screen would
display a scanned image of a rubbing of the inscription. Overlying the rubbing
scan will be an image map embedded with links or scripts so that clicking
on a certain character in the image would cause information about the transcription
of that character to appear, either in a separate window or perhaps within
the current window. From there it should be possible to query information
on the graph or lexeme in the “Graphical Dictionary Screen,” “Lexical Dictionary
Screen”, or “Concordance Screen.” Additionally, the user should be able
to access a transcription and translation of the inscription by calling
up a “Transcription/Translation Screen.” Ideally the user could jump from
a particular graph in the rubbing directly to the line in the transcription
that contains that graph.
-
Graphical Dictionary Screen: This
screen would display information about the graphic forms appearing in the
database: a standard form of the character, strict transcription into modern
script, common variants, references, the list of radicals used to classify
and sort the graph, etc. There would be a link to the “Concordance Screen”
(see below), which would allow the user to call up the concordance entry
for the graph in question. The screen would also display a query of lexemes
that are associated with this graph (which should link to the “Lexical Dictionary
Screen” [see below]).
-
Lexical Dictionary Screen: This screen
would display the information about lexemes that appear within the corpus
of inscriptions: an image of the graph, Unicode number, pronunciation information,
definition and usage notes, etc. There would be a link to the “Concordance
Screen” (see below), which would allow the user to call up the concordance
entry for the lexeme in question. This screen would also display a query
of graphs used to indicate this lexeme (which should link to the “Graphical
Dictionary Screen”).
-
Concordance Screen: For any graph
or lexeme, this screen would list the inscriptions in which it appears.
From this list, the user should be able to link to the “Data Screen” for
the selected transcription, the “Rubbing Screen” for a selected rubbing,
or the “Transcription/Translation Screen,” ideally directly to the line
that contains the graph or lexeme.
-
Transcription/Translation Screen: This
screen would present a formatted transcription and translation of the inscription.
Each inscriptional text will be parsed into phrases. This screen will display
Chinese text, English translation, and translation notes for each phrase.
Since many of the characters in the transcription will be nonstandard, Chinese
text attribute will contain a mixture of Unicode characters and images for
those graphs that are outside Unicode. From this screen it should be possible
to call up the “Graphical Dictionary Screen,” “Lexical Dictionary Screen”
and “Concordance Screen” for any character appearing in the transcription.
Development of the Database
Content for the Database of Chinese Bronze Inscriptions will be developed
by Faculty and graduate students at the Department of East Asian Languages
and Civilizations at The University of Chicago. We hope also to collaborate
with other projects that are computerizing paleographic material. For technical
guidance and implementation of the database on the internet, we hope to rely
on the Digital Library Development Center.
