| Chinese Text Project |
Content requirements
Introduction
Much of the utility of the Chinese Text Project textual database derives from its formal structure and the requirements placed upon texts included in it. For example, the site knows which lines of text are chapter or section headings, and how these relate to one another hierarchically; it knows, for instance, that "Xue Er" is a chapter of the Analects, and that "Annals of the Five Emperors" is the first chapter of the "Annals", itself being the first major division of the Shiji. This structure is semantically more detailed than the way texts are commonly represented in computer software as single text files or documents. As a result, adding a text to the Chinese Text Project textual database can require a significant amount of work, even when the text itself already exists as a computer readable file.
In order to make it easier to add texts to the textual database, the site has a Wiki section that is separate from the main textual database, but offers full-text search and other features, while also allowing collaborative editing of texts to prepare them for addition to the main database.
Requirements for the Wiki section
To add a text to the Wiki section, the following criteria must be fulfilled:
- The text must be a Chinese language work published before 1949.
- The text must be entered in traditional Chinese.
- The text must be split into sections of a reasonable length corresponding to high level divisions in the base text (e.g. 卷 [volumes], or 篇 [chapters] depending on the text).
- The text should be a standalone work and not merely a component of a larger text. In particular:
- Individual poems are typically not standalone texts in themselves, and should not have their own entry in the Wiki, but instead appear in any (and all) historically attested collections in which they appear.
- Typically any text that has its own entry in the Library should be considered a standalone work.
Requirements for the textual database
To add a text to the main textual database, in addition to the requirements for the Wiki section, the following criteria must also be fulfilled:
- The text must follow a specified early edition, a scanned copy of which must be included in the Chinese Text Project Library.
- The text must agree with the specified edition except where explicitly indicated.
- All divisions listed in the digital text must be explicitly indicated hierarchically.
- All commentary (if included) must be explicitly indicated.
- Texts must be fully punctuated using standard punctuation.
- Texts must be separated into paragraphs of a reasonable length.
Adding a text
To add a text to the site, first check that no version of the same text exists in the textual database or Wiki section. If no version of it exists, create a new Wiki text, and upload the text in suitable sections (e.g. 卷 [volumes], or 篇 [chapters]).
Once a text is in the Wiki section, it can be edited to correct errors and bring it into compliance with the textual database requirements given above. When all of these have been fulfilled, the text can be moved to the textual database to enable more advanced functionality not available in the Wiki section.