China Biographical Database
Available
Author/Editor
- Harvard University
Description
Adapted from the project website (Accessed 2024-12-24):
The China Biographical Database (CBDB) is a freely accessible relational database with biographical information about approximately 641,568 individuals as of August 2024, currently mainly from the 7th through 19th centuries. With both online and offline versions, the data is meant to be useful for statistical, social network, and spatial analysis as well as serving as a kind of biographical reference. The CBDB project was initiated by the Harvard Yenching Institute on the basis of datasets and a software program created by Robert M. Hartwell (1932 – 1996) as part of "China Historical Software, Inc."
CBDB is long-term, open-ended project. Its sources include: modern syntheses of biographical data (宋人傳記資料索引, 元人傳記資料索引, 明人傳記資料索引, 清代人物生卒年表), traditional biographical records (正史列傳, 墓誌銘、墓表等, 地方志列傳), evidence for social associations from literary collections (文集之祭文、序、記、墓誌銘,題跋, 書簡等), evidence for office holding from modern and traditional sources (郡守年表 會要、實錄等), and other biographical databases (Ming Qing Women's Writings (MQWW), Ming Qing Name Authority files, Pers-DB Knowledge Base of Tang Persons (Kyoto))