Database Construction of Ci Tune Names
Principal Supervisors

Professor SIU Chun Ho
(Department of Chinese Language and Literature)

Duration

10 months

Approved Budget

HK $99300

 
  • Abstract
  • Brief write-up
  • Video Report

Abstract

  • The conventional name of tune, or cipai 詞牌, is confusing to most students and even scholars. While there is no available electronic resources on cipai, such database is essential both for teaching and research purposes.
  • The supervisor will construct a new database on cipai that includes texts of Tang and Song ci lyrics, using Wikipedia format with hyperlinks to hold all data. Page number reference of dictionaries, alternative names and forms of cipai, their prosodic patterns in two different formats, rhyme patterns and dialectal features will also be included.
  • The output of this project includes 1 workshop and 1 paper introducing the database. The database will be adopted in 2 courses taught by the supervisor.
  • The database is a sustainable tool for postgraduate undergraduate students for learning poetry writing, Chinese phonology and ci studies. It can be also replicated in general education courses like courses like “Appreciation of Classical Poetry and Lyrics”.
  • The construction of the database will help development of professional and general skills, training of postgraduate and undergraduate students, as well as an integral part of teaching materials.

Brief write-up

Project objectives

The supervisor aims at launching a database of conventional name of tune, or cipai (詞牌). The database will serve as development of professional and general skills among postgraduate and undergraduate students, as well as integral parts of teaching materials.

Activities, process and outcomes

The supervisor consulted professional advice from Professor Chia-yun Yu and launched a database with hyperlinks for cipai indices, including ancient indices of cipai, namely Shiyu Tupu (詩餘圖譜), Shiyu Pu (詩餘譜) and Cixue Quanti(詞學筌蹄).

Deliverables and evaluation

The research output has been disseminated in courses “Major Author(s) (Ci Poetry”) (CHLL 3314) and “Seminar” (CHLL5013), and the supervisor gave a talk titled “Reunderstanding Chinese Versification: Digital Humanities Initiatives” in April 2022. The supervisor has also been invited to submit a chapter on “Technology and Chinese Literature” for Routledge Encyclopedia of Technology and the Humanities.

Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices

We have merged the database with the database for Tang-Song Versification tunes for better illustration and comparison of prosodic patterns among different genres. We have also consulted professional advice of Digital Scholarship Librarians of the University Library System, for the feasibility of adopting OCR (Optical character recognition) in recognizing ancient cipai indices, including various symbols that are not included in the Unicode standard. The librarians suggested further collaboration with the Digital Analysis System for Humanities (DASH), Academia Sinica.

Impact on teaching and learning

The project encourages teachers and students to focus on the complexity and knowledge of cipai, as well as the composition of ci lyrics. They are encouraged to write ci lyrics with the aid of this database. We shall further evaluate the feasibility and satisfaction of the database at the end of the said course.

Video Report

Please click the following link for viewing the report.
https://cuhk.ap.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a198f733-699b-4306-b737-b12200b39909