Digital technologies have empowered research on humanities and social sciences. The application of digital technology is expected to trigger the reflection and progress of humanities and social science research by transforming its knowledge base, methodology, and evaluation system. Digital humanities and social sciences are ushering in an era of great collision of disciplines and integration of knowledge.

New research paradigm

For a long time, discrete information and the separation of time and space have been two major problems that afflicted the study of ancient literature. However, digital technology will change the methods for searching and retrieving ancient literary materials, said Wang Zhaopeng, director of the Digital Humanities Resources Research Center of South-Central University for Nationalities. Digital technology can also automatically compare and identify intertextuality, reconstruct the historical scene of ancient literature, and provide a brand-new experience in reading and appreciating ancient literature.

The Chronological Map of Tang and Song Literature is a map that helps visualize poets’ lives in the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties. For example, logging on to the map’s platform, one can follow Song-poet Su Shi’s steps, see his vigorous works, and also empathize with his creation of “First Ode on the Red Cliff” after being exiled to Huangzhou. Click to switch to the City of Luoyang [in present-day Henan Province] and one will see that 57 poets wrote 603 poems here in the city during the two dynasties.

In the past, we may only know the experiences and works of one or a few writers in a certain place. With the Chronological Map of Tang and Song Literature, however, we can understand the trajectories of all writers’ activities at a certain time or over a period of time, Wang said.

Digital cultural heritage

When Dunhuang culture gets on board the digital train on the track of the new era, the “Digital Dunhuang” project enables people to travel across time and space.

When we logged into Digital Dunhuang, 30 classic caves and 4,430 square meters of beautiful murals over the time span of ten dynasties were presented right before our eyes. One can appreciate these grottoes in all directions through VR, and even get a more stunning and immersive artistic experience than when actually walking into the caves. In addition, it also greatly reduces the damage to the murals caused by body heat, air flow, and humidity changes.

The huge quantities of academic literature and high-fidelity digital resources accumulated by the Dunhuang Cultural Heritage Digital Project have provided a good foundation for the protection, research, and dissemination of Dunhuang cultural heritage. In recent years, Wuhan University and the Dunhuang Academy have worked together to explore the construction of Dunhuang’s intelligent data resources, and their services and application.

Wang Xiaoguang, executive vice president of Wuhan University’s Big Data Research Institute, said that the rise of the concepts of intelligent data and intelligent computing has provided the possibility to transform and boost Dunhuang’s cultural heritage in a creative way.

“With the emergence and accumulation of massive digital resources, the scope of human cultural heritage is expanding and new humanities academic issues are raised, such as digital heritage and digital memory,” Wang Xiaoguang said.

Under the support of large-scale digital literature and thematic databases, the application of various new research methodology and approaches, such as text mining, social network analysis, affective computing, and digital simulation recovery analysis, has changed humanities scholars’ previous paradigm of individual analysis and interpretative analysis.

Avoiding overdependence on technology

Sang Hai, an editorial board member of the Journal of Digital Humanities, gave two examples of digital humanities research. One article is a study of the narrative form of science fiction, using algorithms to distinguish the two narrative forms of “showing” and “telling.” Its conclusion is that the narrative rhythm of mainstream literature tends to be faster than that of science fiction, which provides a new perspective for narrative analysis. The other article analyzes economics, race, and American post-war novels from the perspective of the history of quantitative literature. Through modeling and analysis of nearly 5,000 contemporary American novels, the article found that the novels written by white males in the mid-1970s saw a significant increase in words related to economics. The sample size of this research is much larger than that of traditional research.

In light of the rich materials, new research models, and new ideas provided by big data and digital processing technology for humanities and social science research, Li Jinhua, a research fellow from the Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, proposed that the application of digital technology in humanities and social science research should be treated dialectically. It is important for scientific research to avoid dependence on software and analysis technology.

Li said that the humanities and social sciences are about human thoughts, emotions, concepts, spirit, and values, studying humans and their relationships. The humanities and social sciences have ideas, warmth, and value orientation. The independence, seriousness, and brilliance of humanity in the humanities and social sciences should be maintained, and the coordination of the scientific and critical nature of humanities and social sciences should be promoted.

“Data and technology are ultimately tools, and the core is people. Regardless of how digital technology develops, research in the humanities and social sciences must always adhere to the original intention of ‘innovating ideas and viewpoints,’ prioritizing producing great ideas and masters,” said Tao Xidong, a research fellow from the Institute of Sociology at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.