PolyU Innovation Reconstructs Geographic and Ecological Knowledge of Ancient Times, Awarded Top 10 Innovative Exploratory Projects in Tencent Tanyuan Scheme 2024

Scientific and technological innovations facilitate the preservation and dissemination of traditional knowledge and culture. Innovations are thus the keys to the sustainability of our cultural heritage. A pioneering research project at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) promotes the synergy of scientific technologies and the humanities, applying interdisciplinary approaches to make cultural heritage relevant today. By distilling and formally representing geographic and ecological knowledge from ancient texts, the project aims to overcome the limitations of traditional text studies. It offers novel solutions that allow the digitisation of ancient texts to enable the transmission of knowledge, including visually presenting ancient geographical and ecological information.

The project entitled "Knowledge Integration of the Classic of Mountains and Seas: Reconstructing Ancient Ecological and Geographical Knowledge Heritage with Artificial Intelligence" is led by Prof. HUANG Chu-ren, Chair Professor of Applied Chinese Language Studies of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of PolyU. The project has just been awarded as one of the "Top 10 Innovative Exploratory Projects" in Tencent’s "Tanyuan Project 2024”.

The new “Innovation and Exploration Track” of the Tanyuan Project received a total of 79 submissions from 48 universities and research institutes. The PolyU team led by Prof. HUANG is one of the five shortlisted and the only one awarded from Hong Kong and Macao. The expert jury commended the PolyU project for successfully addressing the limitations of traditional textual research through visualisation and its innovative approach “to build a digital knowledge integration platform and provide a new way of digitisation of classical texts”. Click HERE to read the full story.