先秦兩漢一切傳世文獻電腦化資料庫研究計劃

計劃簡介

　　1988年，香港中文大學中國文化研究所獲「香港資助研究局」撥款建立古文獻資料庫，首項計劃為「先秦兩漢一切傳世文獻電腦化資料庫」，研究目的有二：

  1. 兩漢及以前全部傳世文獻，乃中國傳統文化精粹，具有重大歷史價值。建立資料庫目的在以電腦重新紀錄這批重要文獻，藉以傳世，有助學者全面探討中國上古文化特質。
  2. 編纂《先秦兩漢古籍逐字索引叢刊》，及以電子媒體出版「漢達古籍資料庫檢索系統」。不論學者之研究範圍屬文學、歷史、語言或哲學，均可利用資料庫進行歸納、分析、統計及比勘等工作，節省時間，集中精力於更高層次及更具創意之研究工作。

資料庫特色

  1. 以一固定年代之全部傳世文獻為對象，不論經、史、子、集，不論文獻字數多寡，均悉數輸入資料庫，俾便學者從事有關時代之文化、歷史、語言之全面探討，以及斷代字典、辭典之編纂工作。
  2. 資料庫輸入文獻所據版本，均為舊刻善本而未經後人擅意改動者，當中大多為《四部叢刊》本，然後由研究人員重新標點、校勘；凡經校改之處，均加上校改符號，以建立原始文獻資料庫。

A Computerized Database of the Entire Body of Extant Han and Pre-Han (pre-220AD) Traditional Chinese Texts

Project Summary

The project was started in 1988 under the support of the Research Grant Council in Hong Kong. There were two specific aims of the project:

  1. The Han and Pre-Han traditional texts are the essence of the Chinese culture and are of paramount historical values. It was hoped that by establishing an electronic database of these important texts, it would be conducive for a comprehensive study of the characteristics of ancient Chinese culture.
  2. To publish the Han and Pre-Han Traditional Texts Concordance Series and to publish the CHANT Database via electronic media. Scholars of diverse interests, for instance, literature, history, linguistics or philosophy, can also make use of the database for inductive, analytical, statistical, comparative studies and the like. By saving the time on data retrieval and preparation, they can focus on high-level creative studies.


Special Features

  1. The entire corpus of traditional texts of a specific period, regardless of their categories and volumes, is inputted into the database. It can assist scholars in the comprehensive study of the culture, history and language of the relevant period as well as in the edition of various dictionaries.
  2. All inputted texts were based on the best available editions with the least subsequent tampering, mainly from the Sibucongkan edition. Textual comparisons and punctuation were carried out for all texts. Variant readings were given in footnotes for the reference of the readers so even if readers disagree with our judgment, they can always convert back to the original texts.