Chinese Singaporean Temples: Digital Humanities Approaches to Frequency Lists of Sponsors

新加坡華人廟宇碑銘所載芳名錄的數位人文探索

10.6853/DADH.202004_(5).0002

許多多(Xu Duoduo)；丁荷生(Kenneth Dean)；馬德偉(Marcus Bingenheimer)；Francis Bond

Chinese temple ； frequency analysis of sponsors ； digital humanities ； Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) ； 華人廟宇 ； 捐贈者頻率分析 ； 數位人文 ； 文本編碼規範

數位典藏與數位人文

5期（2020 / 04 / 01）

37 - 71

英文

Epigraphy in Chinese Singaporean Temples preserves local documentation of social connections in pre-modern Singapore. However, this valuable historical source has not yet been comprehensively analysed, in part due to the large amount of documents to be catalogued. The present study aims at the development of a frequency analysis of sponsors appearing in epigraphic texts in the pre-modern Chinese Singaporean Temples. This research examines the influence of donors by assessing their frequency, highlights the connections among sponsors, and their active areas, i.e., the links of sponsors to specific temples. The study applies a digital humanities approach, by utilizing Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), Python, DocuSky, and Palladio. TEI is used to mark up the texts of Chinese Epigraphy in Singapore, 1819-1911. The information under various labels can be extracted by Python programming. DocuSky is applied to produce graphic presentations that analyze the frequency of sponsors, assessing terms elicited from TEI files and terms from other sources as well. Palladio and Gephi provide graphic presentations of network among sponsors through the temples. This digital humanities work allows us to map specific aspects of Singapore in history.

華人廟宇碑銘是新加坡近代社會歷史面貌的重要文獻。因其浩繁的數據而尚未有全面深入的分析。本文旨在就近代新加坡華人廟宇碑刻銘文所載芳名錄進行頻率分析。頻率分析包括考察捐贈者的參與次數、社會關係，以及活動範圍（相關聯的廟宇）。此研究運用數位人文的多種工具，包括文本編碼規範（Text Encoding Initiative, TEI）、Python、DocuSky，以及Palladio。文本編碼規範用於標記和整理《新加坡華文銘刻彙編1819－1911》的原始文本。繼而可以通過Python程式提取添加了不同標籤的資訊。從原始文本中提取的訊息在DocuSky平臺可進行捐贈者的頻率分析。Palladio和Gephi為捐贈者的社會網絡關係提供圖示化呈現。此研究運用數位人文的視角探究新加坡早期華人社群的不同面向。

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