| Introduction |
The development of the China Biographical Database(CBDB) is a joint project of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, the Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica, and the Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History at Peking University. The original database system, designed by the late Robert Hartwell (1932-1996) of the University of Pennsylvania, was intended to analyze the composition of Song dynasty (960-1279) elites. He willed the database to the Harvard-Yenching Institute. Michael Fuller subsequently designed the current database structure.
The structure of this database differs from the conventional repository of digitized historical sources. Biographical data from each historical figure are extracted, collated, categorized, and evaluated for accuracy for the purpose of conducting prosopographical, spatial, and social network analysis. CBDB is not a biographical dictionary in digital form, but a relational database containing multiple tables for producing dynamic query outputs.
CBDB may be used as a reference database with advanced search functions, or as a tool for producing query outputs for statistical, network, and spatial analysis of Chinese history. Users will find duplications, mistakes, and inconsistencies. Nevertheless, the database as a whole is a reliable sampling of China’s political elite from Tang through Qing.
As of January 2012, the database contained 116,150 individuals, primarily from the 7th through 19th centuries. The data is meant to be useful for statistical, social network, and spatial analysis as well as serving as a kind of biographical reference. |
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