DigitalHumanities

Geographic Connections Xiamen, Gulangyu, Siming West Road, Shengping Road, Zhongheli, Houjiangdai, Hong Kong, Macau, Manila, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. Introduction: From ‘Treaty Port’ to Modern Financial Laboratory In the perspective of digital humanities, finance is not just an exchange of currency; it is a digital evolution of a city’s credit system. Xiamen, as a vital port open to foreign trade since the Qing Dynasty, has inherent maritime DNA, boasting a sophisticated historical network of traditional money shops and “Qiaopi” (remittances). According to the Xiamen City Chronicles, Xiamen Port became the maritime hub of Southeast China as early as the mid-17th century. However, the true institutional metamorphosis occurred in the mid-20th century. From the 1950s socialist transformation to the 1980s SEZ establishment, Xiamen’s financial archives record a thrilling leap from “planned allocation” to “global integration.” ...

Geographic Connections Fuzhou (Houguan), Xiamen (Egret Island), Mawei, Siming West Road, Gulangyu, Ding’an Road, Nanjing, Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London. Introduction: Ideological Messengers at the ‘Treaty Ports’ In the grand narrative of the Fujian Provincial Chronicles, Fujian is not merely a geographic gateway but a pioneer wharf for modern Chinese thought. In the late 19th century, with the impact of Western civilization brought by the “Five Treaty Ports,” Fuzhou and Xiamen became the earliest regions to adopt modern printing technology and journalism culture. Archives record a shift in Fujian’s publications from traditional classics to modern humanities and sciences. This transition was not just a technical upgrade but a profound social enlightenment. As a center for “opening eyes to the world,” Fujian introduced modern biological evolutionary thoughts, such as “Natural Selection,” through books and newspapers, fundamentally shaking the foundations of feudal ethics. ...

Geographic Connections Xiamen, Gulangyu, Wulao Peak, South Putuo Temple, Tong’an, Guankou, Huxi Rock (Moonlight over Huxi), Zuixian Rock, Jinbang Park, and Bailuzhou. Introduction: The ‘Temporal Memory’ between Mountains and Seas In the grand narrative of digital local chronicles, folklore is not merely a decorative element of life; it is a digital slice of the regional soul. According to Ba Min Tong Zhi, seasonal festivals in Fujian have long carried deep clan and ritual significance, such as the “ancestral banquets” of the Ghost Festival and “wearing dogwood to ward off evil” during the Double Ninth Festival. However, in Xiamen, the Mid-Autumn Festival evolved into a cultural landscape unique to China: “Mooncake Gambling” (Bo Bing). ...

Geographic Connections Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Zhao’an, Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming, Gulou District, Taijiang District, Cangshan District, Wangzhuang, and Fenghaoshan. Introduction: From Private Shelters to State-Managed Leasing In the vast ocean of digital local chronicles, the transformation of urban housing systems is the most delicate prism reflecting social structure changes. In the early days of the People’s Republic, the housing structure in Fujian’s cities was highly complex, consisting of century-old mansions, modern apartments funded by overseas Chinese, and sprawling shantytowns. According to the Fujian Provincial Chronicles: Urban-Rural Construction, to establish a socialist economic foundation, Fujian officially launched the “Private Housing Reform” (the socialist transformation of private rental housing) in late 1958. This was not a simple confiscation but a “redemption” approach where properties meeting specific thresholds were taken into state-managed leasing (经租). From that moment on, a “house” was no longer just a private shelter; it was integrated into a highly organized urban administrative system. Through a digital humanities interpretation of these dry area statistics, we can reconstruct the social reality of central cities like Fuzhou and Xiamen half a century ago. ...

Geographic Connections Xiamen, Gulangyu, Wuqiu Jiao, Ershisi Qijiao, Yong’an, Xiaotao, Fuzhou, Mawei, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Nanchang. Introduction: The Treaty Port as the ‘Eyes and Ears’ of the World From the perspective of digital humanities, communication is more than the transfer of information; it is a game of sovereignty. As one of the “Five Treaty Ports,” Xiamen’s postal history is highly emblematic. According to the Xiamen City Chronicles, Xiamen’s external interactions date back to the 16th century. However, the real explosion of modern post and telecommunications occurred at the end of the 19th century. From Qing Dynasty lithographic stamps to the sophisticated telegraph categories of the 1950s, the data in these archives records Xiamen’s transition from being passively integrated into a global network to actively constructing a modern communication system. ...

Geographic Connections Xiamen Island, Tongan, Jimei, Haicang, Xinglin, Gulangyu, Heshan, Guankou, Maxiang, Nanjing, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Introduction: The “Linguistic Living Fossil” at the Confluence of Mountain and Sea In the eyes of digital humanities experts, the most vibrant records in local chronicles are the dialect archives. Xiamen, as one of China’s earliest open treaty ports, has a dialect that is not only the core representative of Minnanese but also a “living fossil” of linguistic evolution shaped by historical migration, maritime trade, and colonial culture. ...

Geographic Connections Fuzhou, Xiamen (Siming), Quanzhou (Jinjiang), Zhangzhou (Longxi), Shima, Haicheng, Fugong, Jimei, Tong’an, Anhai, Maxiang, Guankou, Jiaowei, Songyu, Yong’an, Changting, Nanping, Shangrao. Introduction: When the ‘First Honk’ Pierced the Silence of Mountains and Seas In the grand narrative of the Fujian Provincial Transportation Chronicles, 1917 stands as a pivotal coordinate. That year, the first automobile was imported into Fuzhou. Before this, the scale of Fujian’s vast landscape was measured by “walking squads” and “shoulder poles”. In the early Republic era, fueled by a surge of patriotism from overseas Chinese returning to their hometowns, a unique commercial entity known as the “Automobile Road Company” (汽车路公司) emerged across southern Fujian. These entities did not just build roads (infrastructure); they held exclusive franchises for mail and passenger transport, initiating the first wave of private capital-driven infrastructure in Fujian’s history. ...

Geographic Connections Tongan Baijiao (now part of Longhai), Qingjiao (now Haicang, Xiamen), Quanzhou (Zayton), Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Xiamen, Kinmen, Taiwan (Yunlin, Xuejia, Taichung, Taipei, Kaohsiung), Penghu, Manila, and Singapore. Introduction: Survival Wisdom in the ‘Land of Miasma’ In the opening chapters of the Fujian Provincial Chronicles: Medicine, Fujian is described as a region “backed by mountains and facing the sea, with a hot and humid climate,” historically prone to epidemics where bacteria and disease-carrying insects thrived. The famous Song Dynasty scholar Wang Anshi once sighed in a poem: “Fujian’s mountains reach Zhangzhou’s end… where mist and miasma arise in spring and winter.” This extreme environment forced the ancestors of Fujian to develop a unique healthcare system—one that appears in digital archives as a fusion of “Medicine, Pharmacy, and Divinity.” ...

Geographic Connections Fuzhou (Dongye), Xiamen (Egret Island), Quanzhou (Zayton), Zhangzhou (Yuegang), Wuyishan (Chong’an), Manila, Mexico, Persia, Venice, Republic of Mali, Gulangyu, Tongan, and Jimei. Introduction: From ‘Qi Min’ Wilderness to the Zenith of Maritime Civilization In the opening chapters of the General Overview of Fujian Provincial Chronicles, Fujian’s origins are set in the “Qi Min” land of the Zhou Dynasty. It was once a remote area with sparse population and difficult transportation, but this geographical “isolation” allowed it to remain relatively stable during the turmoils of central China. However, what truly awakened this land was not the shelter of mountains, but the call of the ocean. As early as the Han Dynasty, Fuzhou (Dongye) emerged as the center of maritime trade in Southeast China, with tributes from various regions arriving by sea. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Fujian’s maritime character reached its peak. The port of Quanzhou (Zayton) traded with 95 countries and regions during the Yuan Dynasty, importing spices, medicines, and precious metals. This comprehensive openness did not just bring wealth; it invisibly inscribed Fujian’s dialects, customs, and commodity names into the dictionary of global civilization. ...

Geographic Connections Gulangyu, Dadan Island, Erdan Island, Qingyu, Wuyu, Shuixian Palace, Zengcuo’an, Seafront Bund (Haihoutan), Peace Wharf (Tai-koo Wharf), Dongdu Port, Gaoqi, Liuwudian, Jimei, Songyu, Baishitou, Houyu, Jiulong River. Introduction: Defense and Openness at the Gateway to Fujian In the grand narrative of digital local chronicles, the history of Xiamen Port is an epic of transformation from a “naval fortress” to a “treaty port.” In 1394, due to pirate disturbances, the Ming court built Xiamen City and established the Zhongzuo Thousand-Household Office. At this time, Xiamen Port first entered the historical stage with the status of a military port. ...