The Project of Historical and Cultural Heritages developed in the Institute of History & Philology¡GDigital Archives for Ethnological Artifacts, Photo and Scripts
Project Leader¡G
Executing organization:The Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
Archives Description¡G
From 1929 to 1943, the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, had dispatched several investigative teams to engaged ethnological survey over the vast southern, southwestern and western borderlands of China. The results are, beyond other things, a huge collection of artifacts, scripts, and photographs related to various non-Han ethnic groups. These materials are extremely valuable to the studying of contemporary Chinese nationalism as well as historical and anthropological research on ethnic minorities.The objectives of this project are as follows: 1. To preserve field photographs, artifacts and scripts of ethnic minorities in southwestern China, based on the IHP¡¦s collection, by means of digital technology. 2. To build the Database of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China for the purpose of effectively managing and allowing the utilization of the digitally archived materials by the general public. 3. To set up the Fortress Village website, which will share research results with the general public and function as a bridge for scholarly exchange between related academic fields. The special features of this project are its interdisciplinary (anthropological, historical, and literary) combination of methods and visions and its broad use of artifacts, documents (investigative reports, local gazetteer travel accounts, and even novels and plays), and visual images in presenting and explaining the elements of "People versus Earth" (the relationship between people and environment), "People versus People" (social identity and differentiation within ethnic groups), and "People versus Heaven" (rite of passage and religion). All in all, this project presents a pluralistic discourse on Chinese ethnic studies and probes into the historical processes of ethnic formation in China.
Websites:
The "Villages" website is a collaborative work by a group of field scientists who are devoted to the research of ethnic minority groups residing in China's southwestern region. Through this website, we hope to establish a digitalized image database of artifacts, documents, and photographs related to China's southwestern indigenous people, which will serve as references for research. The contents of the database comprise mainly of items collected by Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology between the years 1928-1943. Through this website, we are also presenting a survey on China's southwestern tribes, which was conducted by the Institute of History and Philology during the first half of the twentieth century. The survey reflects the meaning of "remaking of Chinese borders" within the context of neo-nationalism. The website also provides information on various aspects of the aboriginal people inhabiting southwestern China, including their society, culture, history, and other related topics, and serves as a place to promote knowledge and academic exchange.
http://ethno.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/
Recommended internet Resource
The Project of Historical and Cultural Heritages developed in the Institute of History & Philology¡GDigital Archives for Ethnological Artifacts, Photo and Scripts
http://140.109.18.243/race_public/index.htm
http://ethno.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/frameB.htm
http://ethno.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/frameD.htm
contacts
Wu Pei-Hua
Email: peihua@asihp.net
Hu Chi-Jui
Email: huchijui@asihp.net
Pai Pin-chien
Email: wistpai@asihp.net
