The goal of this special issue is to highlight some exemplary ways in which the digital humanities are being applied to the study of classical Chinese literature. By digital humanities we mean methods of humanistic inquiry assisted by digital sources and tools. The articles in this issue cover a wide range of such sources and methods, but rather than focus on theory or methodology, they provide concrete case studies that offer new insights driven by digital tools and databases. These articles do not just promise to open up new avenues of inquiry but represent tangible efforts to make good on that promise. They put forth bold conclusions about the history of traditional Chinese literary culture, showing how these technologies can help support and extend the traditional concerns of philology and literary studies: to reexamine classical literary texts within the contexts of their production, reception, and circulation.
The digital humanities, simply...
