Qing Dynasty Official Position Searching System
The “Qing Dynasty Official Position Searching System” is a cooperative plan between the Institute of Modern History (Academia Sinica) and Digital Humanities Research Center of Taiwan University. IMH provided Qing Dynasty Official Position and Biographies Catalogue edited by Ms. We Hsiu-me, and Digital Humanities Research Center of Taiwan University designed the database.
The Chronological documents of Qing Dynasty Official Position and Biographies Catalogue are mainly based on “Veritable Records of the Qing Dynasty” (Qing Shi Lu); documents insufficient in “Veritable Records” are supplemented by “Imperial Edicts Records” (Shangyu Dang), “Grand Council Records” (Junjichu Dang), “Records of Memorial to the Throne” (Tsouzhe Dang), “Emperor Daily Life Records” (Qijuzhu Tse), “Biographical Packets and Drafts” (Chuan Bao, Chuan Gao) or another chronological lists, anthologies, local histories etc.. This work uses years and months to integrate the trivial historical episodes. Drawing Qing official positions as longitude, the successive officials as latitude, this work fill in successive officials and their institutes from Jiaqing to Xuantong. The appointments, promotions or demotions of central or local officials all cited years, months and reasons; otherwise, the biographies record their names, ancestral home, family background, portfolio, born and death dates, posthumous names and references.
The system’s searching function is based on original references, and further arrangement by information structure. Users can search by mutiple ways:
- Organization official system: searching civil politics, eight banners’ and foreign affairs related to official system in organization tree by years.
- Searching by time: searching position and its holding figure according to year.
- Searching by position: searching certain position’s successive officials by position title.
- Searching by names: searching certain historical figure’s biography and career by name.
By these cross comparing searching results, one would establish Qing Dynasty official position system wholesomely from multiple facets and represents some figures relationships.
(From the original website.)