Publications that Use CBDB Data

Luan, X., & Zhai, R. (2026). Where Ideas Come From: Experimenting on the “Spirit of Capitalism” in Medieval China. _Economic Development and Cultural Change_, _74_(2), 455–489. https://doi.org/10.1086/736139

Kwok, K. F. (2025). Applying and evaluating digital humanities tools in teaching Chinese history and culture to a diverse university-level student population. _Discover Education_, _4_(1), 419–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00778-y

Tsai, Chia-Yu. 2025. “Political Competition and Chinese Official Data.” _Public Choice_ 205 (3–4): 537–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-025-01295-0.

Chen, Xiaojiao, Yueying Li, Yonghao Chen, Tan Tang, Ruihan Wang, Yifan Wang, Yingchaojie Feng, Wei Chen, and Xiaosong Wang. 2025. “ACPAS: An Expert-Assistance System for Authenticating Ancient Chinese Paintings via LLM-Based Agents.” _Heritage Science_ 13 (1): 512. https://doi.org/10.1038/s40494-025-02093-z.

Kao, Chen-Hung, and Yu-Jung Cheng. 2025. “Mapping the Daoist Ritual Cosmos: A Social Network Analysis of Generals in Song–Ming Liturgies.” _Religions (Basel, Switzerland )_ 16 (8): 1063. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16081063.

Wang, Yang. 2025. “Status-Based Matching and Sheltered Sharing: Elite Family’s Marriage under the State Building of the Song Dynasty.” _She hui_ 45 (4): 96.

Li, Jiabin, Tingxin Wei, Weiguang Qu, Bin Li, Minxuan Feng, and Dongbo Wang. 2025. “Combining Lexicon Definitions and the Retrieval-Augmented Generation of a Large Language Model for the Automatic Annotation of Ancient Chinese Poetry.” _Mathematics (Basel)_ 13 (12): 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/math13122023.

Wang, Shunyi, Yiming Yang, Zhiyao Tang, Changsong Wang, and Fang Wang. 2025. “Evolution of Urban Network Patterns in the Yellow River Basin Based on Human Mobility over 1,300 Years.” _Applied Geography (Sevenoaks)_ 178:103587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103587.

Jian, Xueyan, Wen Yuan, Wu Yuan, Xinqi Gao, and Rong Wang. 2025. “Automated Construction and Mining of Text-Based Modern Chinese Character Databases: A Case Study of Fujian.” _Information (Basel)_ 16 (4): 324. https://doi.org/10.3390/info16040324.

Chen, Yang, Shang Jiang, King Yoong Lim, and Diego Morris. 2025. “Corporate ‘Greening’ and Innovation: A Reinterpretation Based on Historical Immortals.” _Business Strategy and the Environment_ 34 (2): 2320–40. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4105.

Chen, Chih-Ming, Barbara Witt, and Chun-Yu Lin. 2025. “A Knowledge Graph Analysis Tool of People and Organizations to Facilitate Digital Humanities Research.” _Data Technologies and Applications_ 59 (1): 82–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/DTA-01-2024-0009.

Flores Barba, María Laura. 2025. “From Historiography to Networks: A Digital Approach to Colonial Mexican Painters (1680-1730).” ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

LI, Wenlong, Jan-Dirk SCHMÖCKER, Ali-gul QURESHI, and Liang ZHAO. 2025. “Reconstructing the Transport Network of Ancient China and Its Relationship to Social Networks.” _Transportation Research Procedia (Online)_ 82:3664–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2024.12.023.

潘俊 & 胡飞瑜.(2026).A Study on Imperial Examination Families and Their Regional Distribution in the Ming Dynasty (明代浙江科举家族及其地域分布研究).中国考试,(02),89-99.https://doi.org/10.19360/j.cnki.11-3303/g4.2026.02.010.

潘俊 & 刘宁.(2026).Research on Social Networks of Song Dynasty Literati from the Perspectives of Network Analysis and Text Mining: An Analysis Based on CBDB and Complete Song Poetry (网络分析与文本挖掘视角下的宋代士人交游研究——基于CBDB与《全宋诗》的分析).科技情报研究,8(01),66-75.https://doi.org/10.19809/j.cnki.kjqbyj.2026.01.007.

周墨钦,王宏苏,刘军,包弼德 & 邓柯.(2025).Intelligent Optimization of Large-Scale Historical Kinship Networks (大规模历史人物亲属关系网络的智能优化).数字人文,(04),1-21.

钮亮 & 项玮.(2025).Research on the Formation of Song Dynasty Academic Networks Based on Exponential Random Graph Models (基于指数随机图模型的宋代学术网络成因研究).信息与管理研究,10(05),47-58.

王阳.(2025).Status Matching and Patronage Sharing: Elite Family Marriage under State Building in the Song Dynasty (地位匹配与庇护共享：宋代国家构建下的精英家族婚姻).社会,45(04),96-130.https://doi.org/10.15992/j.cnki.31-1123/c.2025.04.006.

王绪月.(2025).Research on the Construction and Application of a Knowledge Graph of Song Ci (宋词知识图谱构建及应用研究)(硕士学位论文,山西财经大学).硕士https://doi.org/10.27283/d.cnki.gsxcc.2025.000378.

徐浩洋,董燕 & 张玉辉.(2025).Construction of a Knowledge Graph of Master-Disciple Lineages of Jin and Yuan Dynasty Medical Practitioners (金元医家师承知识图谱构建).中国中医基础医学杂志,31(03),398-402.https://doi.org/10.19945/j.cnki.issn.1006-3250.2025.03.009.

许明武 & 王齐.(2025).A Study on the Spatiotemporal Network Structure of Scientific and Technological Translation Groups in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties from a Digital Humanities Perspective (数字人文视域下明末清初科技翻译译者群体时空网络结构研究).中国翻译,46(02),31-40+190-191.

康文林.(2025).Building an Academic Community for Chinese Quantitative Historical Databases (构建中国量化历史数据库学术共同体).广东社会科学,(01),150-156.

胡恒.(2025).Theory and Practice of Curriculum Development for "Digital Humanities and Historical Research" ("数字人文与历史研究"课程建设的理论与实践).广东社会科学,(01),157-162.

Zhan Lin, and Xiaoming Zhang. 2024. “Hedging Desperation: How Kinship Networks Reduced Cannibalism in Historical China.” Journal of Comparative Economics 52 (2): 361–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2024.01.003.

Li, Bin, Yiguo Yuan, Xuehui Lu, and Peter K. Bol. 2024. “Normalization of Kinship Relations to Enrich Family Network Analysis: Case Study on China Biographical Database.” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 39 (1). https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqad108.

Wan, Jing, Hao Zhang, Jun Zou, Ao Zou, Yubin Chen, Qingyang Zeng, Xinrong Li, and Qiya Wang. 2024. “WuMKG: a Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Multimodal Knowledge Graph.” Heritage Science 12 (1): 159–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-024-01268-4.

Dong, Baomin, and Bowen Cheng. 2024. “Neo-Confucianism and the Rise of Science and Technology in Medieval China.” The Economic History Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13325.

Weiling Chang, "Some Reflections on Digital Humanities and Historical Research," in Humanities and Polytechnic, eds. Hung-lam Chu and Xiaorong Han, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Press, 2024.

Zhang, Lei, and Enying Zheng. 2023. “Intergenerational Mobility through Inhabited Meritocracy: Evidence from Civil Service Examinations of the Early- and Mid-Ming Dynasty.” The Canadian Review of Sociology 60 (4): 567–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12452.

An Institutional Trilemma of Meritocracy: Evidence from Civil Service Examinations in the Ming Dynasty(KE Rongzhu, HONG Wei, ZHENG Enying, 2023)

Bai, Yu, Yanjun Li, and Pak Hung Lam. 2023. “Quantity-Quality Trade-Off in Northeast China During the Qing Dynasty.” Journal of Population Economics 36 (3): 1657–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-022-00933-x.

Zhang, Wei, Siwei Tan, Siming Chen, Linghao Meng, Tianye Zhang, Rongchen Zhu, and Wei Chen. 2023. “Visual Reasoning for Uncertainty in Spatio-Temporal Events of Historical Figures.” IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 29 (6): 3009–23. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3146508.

Chen, Chih-Ming, Chung Chang, and Yung-Ting Chen. 2023. “A Character Social Network Relationship Map Tool to Facilitate Digital Humanities Research.” Library Hi Tech 41 (2): 516–42. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-08-2020-0194.

Jin, Gan. 2023. “Circle of Fortune: The Long-Term Impact of Western Customs Institution in China.” Journal of Development Economics 163: 103075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103075.

Bai, Ying, and Ruixue Jia. 2023. “The Economic Consequences of Political Hierarchy: Evidence from Regime Changes in China, 1000–2000 C.E.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 105 (3): 626–45. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01058.

Guo, Sandang, Qian Li, and Yaqian Jing. 2023. “A Novel Consensus Reaching Method for MCGDM in Social Network with Intuitionistic Grey Linguistic Numbers.” Grey Systems 13 (2): 209–37. https://doi.org/10.1108/GS-05-2022-0043.

Zhu, Lihong, Amanda Xu, Sai Deng, Greta Heng, and Xiaoli Li. 2023. “Entity Management Using Wikidata for Cultural Heritage Information.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 61 (1): 20–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2023.2188338.

Dong, Baomin. 2023. “Capitalism and Confucianism: Was Weber Right?” Journal of Economic Issues 57 (1): 103–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2023.2154539.

The spatiotemporal evolution and network analysis of the imperial examination jinshi groups in the past dynasties (ZhANG Qiang et al., 2022)

Yasheng Huang, Clair Yang. 2022. "A Longevity Mechanism of Chinese Absolutism." The Journal of Politics 84(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/714934.

Bol, Peter K. Localizing Learning: The Literati Enterprise in Wuzhou, 1100-1600. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2022.

Wang, Yuhua. The rise and fall of imperial China : the social origins of state development. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2022.

China Biographical Database and Elite Distribution Research in Sichuan: A Case Study of Sichuan Elites in the Song Dynasty(Xiaohong Wang, 2022)

Blood is Thicker Than Water: Elite Kinship Networks and State Building in Imperial China(Yuhua Wang, 2022)

Visual Reasoning for Uncertainty in Spatio-temporal Events of Historical Figures(Wei Zhang, Siwei Tan, Siming Chen et al., 2022)

De Weerdt, Hilde, Brent Ho, Allon Wagner, Jiyan Qiao, and Mingkin Chu. “Is There a Faction in This List?” Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 4, no. 2 (2020): 347–89. doi:10.1017/jch.2020.16

Chen, Song. “Writing for Local Government Schools: Authors and Themes in Song-Dynasty School Inscriptions.” Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 4, no. 2 (2020): 305–46. doi:10.1017/jch.2020.11.

Tackett, Nicolas. “The Evolution of the Tang Political Elite and Its Marriage Network.” Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 4, no. 2 (2020): 277–304. doi:10.1017/jch.2020.6.

Tsui, Lik Hang, and Hongsu Wang. “Harvesting Big Biographical Data for Chinese History: The China Biographical Database (CBDB).” Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 4, no. 2 (2020): 505–11. doi:10.1017/jch.2020.21.

Bol, Peter. “The Visualization and Analysis of Historical Space.” Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 4, no. 2 (2020): 511–19. doi:10.1017/jch.2020.22.

A New Perspective on the Study of Literature (Songci): Text Correlation and Spatio-Temporal Visual Analytics(Zhang Wei, Tan Siwei, Liu Kai et al., 2019)

General Introduction of the Digital Resources of Historical Chinese Studies in U.S. and Europe (Geng Yuanli, 2019)

Mazanec, Thomas J. 2018. “Networks of Exchange Poetry in Late Medieval China: Notes Toward a Dynamic History of Tang Literature.” Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture 5 (2): 322–59. https://doi.org/10.1215/23290048-7257015.

The social networks of antiquities collectors in the late Northern Song(Hsu Ya-hwei, 2018)

Digital Humanistic Perspective, A Study on the Visualization of Political Network in Song Dynast Based on Symbolic Analysis(Chengxi Yan, Jun Wang, 2018)

Family, Marriage, and Confucian Ethics: Social Relationships in the Biographies of "Xianxi Zhi" (Tsong-han Lee, Li Zheng, 2017)

Temporal and Spatial Distributions of Northern Song Dynasty Authors in the Complete Song Prose - A Search Based on QGIS and Other Techniques(Xiaohong Wang, 2017)

Exploring Lives of China Ming-Qing Female Poets (Hu Jiajia, 2017)

Chen, Song. "Governing a Multicentered Empire: Prefects and Their Networks in the 1040s and 1210s." In State power in China, 900-1325, edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Paul J. Smith, 101-52. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2016.

Some Visualization Approaches to the Study of Classical Chinese Literature: A Case Study on Tang Xianzu (Yongming XU, 2016)

The Imperial Examination Society and Regional Order: a Study of Song Dynasty Notable Families in Xiuzhou(Junjie Huang, 2015, Master's Thesis)

如何利用CBDB 找出《鳳墅帖》結集的人脈 (PDF) Four students of National Taiwan University and Tamkang University reported their findings in using CBDB at the 4th International Conference on Sinology. They tried to explore the social relationships for the owner of Fengshutie 鳳墅帖, a collection of letters written in Chinese calligraphy.

GIS, prosopography and history (Peter Bol, 2012)

The Daoxue Movement and Local Society: The Jinhua Case / 道學運動與地方社會: 以南宋婺州為例 By Peter K. Bol Harvard University / 哈佛大學包弼德Given at The Fagu Lectureship on the Humanities at Peking University on 2011/12/18 at Peking University.

Visualizing CBDB Data from the Song to Ming Dynasties: ArcGIS Technique and Methodology This is a project paper by Darius Li and Adam Mitchell in Professor Peter Bol's c200r class. Darius and Adam gave a wonderful explanation of step-by-step procedures of how to visualize CBDB with ArcGIS software.

Anne Gerritsen. “Prosopography and its Potential for Middle Period Research.” Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, Volume 38, 2008, pp. 161-201

包弼德等. 中国历代人物传记资料库 (CBDB))的历史、方法与未来” 数字人文研究 1.1 (2021): 21–33.