Please scroll down for the English version - Ningbo History Digital Humanities project /a special journey across time and space.

從古至今，時間一直是科學、哲學、宗教等領(lǐng)域的重要研究對象。通常，人們認為時間是不可逆的，正如歲月在物轉(zhuǎn)星移中一遍遍沖刷著歷史，直到那些痕跡被磨平，并最終消失在后人的視野中。然而，一群志同道合的寧波諾丁漢學生因?qū)幉v史數(shù)字人文項目聚集在一起，他們帶著熱愛走進了一座有著1200多年歷史的城，去修復它的記憶，去還原它的相貌，并結(jié)合當下的技術(shù)跨越時間長河，為今天的人們講述著寧波那些被塵封已久的舊事。

01

最熟悉的陌生人

吳文博

吳文博是個土生土長的寧波人，他說著一口流利的寧波話，對于哪里聚會玩樂也頗有心得。但是當有人問哪里可以體驗寧波當?shù)氐娜宋臍v史時，除了天一閣、月湖等幾個耳熟能詳?shù)木包c，他還會把寧波火車站加在最后作為調(diào)侃。在吳文博最初的印象里，寧波的歷史無非就是幾棟老房子那失修的橫梁和生銹的銅鎖罷了。

2020年暑期，還是寧波諾丁漢大學國際事務與國際關(guān)系在讀本科生的吳文博擱置了因疫情延誤的旅行計劃，加入了寧波歷史數(shù)字人文項目組。他的任務從整理20世紀30年代《鄞縣通志》所附地圖上橋梁、寺廟、學校等場所的點位，逐步擴展到搜集在地方志中有記載的寺廟的歷史文件。

隨著項目的推進，吳文博逐漸改變了對寧波歷史的看法，并意識到自己或許正在做著一件意義非凡的事。他說：“寧波歷史數(shù)字人文項目是一個龐大的系統(tǒng)性工程，它用數(shù)字化的形式重現(xiàn)歷史上的寧波，跨越了時間和空間的維度，揭示了寧波歷史文化、宗教、城市形態(tài)、水資源管理等方面的發(fā)展。歷史從來不是關(guān)于一件事、一個人、或是一座寺廟，而是無數(shù)條交織在一起的線，它們相互影響，最終形成了后人的認知�！�

吳文博十分享受自己和寧波之間這段新的關(guān)系。在他看來，城市的歷史講述著我們是誰，從哪里來，由此便可知道我們要往何處去。而吳文博也從生活在寧波變成了追尋寧波的過去，并以此為基礎(chǔ)探索寧波的無限未來。

02

十年磨一劍

賀鈺婷

比吳文博稍早加入寧波歷史數(shù)字人文項目組的是賀鈺婷。本身就對寧波歷史文化充滿興趣的她，卻在最開始龐大的工作量中迷失了方向。面對著古代地圖中數(shù)千計的地點標記和成堆的地方志史料，她不禁開始思考——該從哪里入手、又該如何系統(tǒng)性梳理這些資料，同時還必須兼顧效率和質(zhì)量？

“寧波人文歷史的挖掘和數(shù)字化轉(zhuǎn)錄需要的是十年磨一劍、愚公移山式的精神和勇氣。” 賀鈺婷心里默念著，讓自己靜下心來。巨幅的地圖攤在地上，讓空間本就不富裕的小會議室沒了落腳的地方。她趴著身，一寸一寸反復搜索著地圖的每個角落，再用記號筆標注出所有帶有宗教場所的圖例符號。桌上是成堆的地方志和歷史文獻，甚至堆得看不到坐在鄰座的人。最終，賀鈺婷和團隊整合了超過25萬字的地方寺廟摘錄數(shù)據(jù)，標記了900余個可視化后的寺、庵、院、亭、殿等宗教場所的地圖點位，建立了19世紀末外國人用剛發(fā)明不久的相機記錄下來的寧波影像的數(shù)據(jù)庫。

賀鈺婷清楚地記得一位項目組老師曾經(jīng)說過，這個項目的完成可能需要十年甚至更久的時間。她希望能在多年后回到學校時，還能看到學弟學妹坐在一堆地方志前，或是專心致志地工作，或是暢所欲言地討論，就像多年前夏日里的那個自己。

03

跨越時空的交匯

王雅卓和李昕茗

王雅卓和李昕茗是參與籌備“海外寧波記憶1200”建城周年系列展的兩位成員。她們和團隊通過研究城市歷史發(fā)現(xiàn)，作為一個從古至今承載著大量水路運輸和文化交流的港口城市，寧波在不同的觀察維度下會呈現(xiàn)出多姿多彩的樣貌。同時，外國商人和傳教士對寧波的認知與本地人也有著很大的差異。

王雅卓說：“基于這些發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們有了新的靈感，并搜尋了大量海外文獻，最終決定在展覽中通過12位歷史上到訪過寧波的西方人物的視角來描繪老寧波。此外，我們也采訪了當今生活在寧波的外國友人，同樣選取了12位來自不同行業(yè)的在甬外籍人士，展出了他們與寧波的故事�！�

李昕茗則談到，在篩選古代西方人物的過程中，有時會看到這些外籍人士相識于寧波，并都在自己的日記中記錄了彼此的出現(xiàn)。百年后的今天，來自不同地區(qū)的同學們因這個項目匯聚在寧波，共同尋覓古人的足跡，無形之中完成了不同時間同一空間下的交匯。這給把歷史研究作為長期發(fā)展方向的自己帶來了一種特殊的觸動。

古今交映，不同時代下的寧波彰顯出多維、立體的姿態(tài)，并隨著觀察視角的變化而變化。這正是寧波歷史數(shù)字人文項目組的工作目標之一，即通過數(shù)字化工具還原出不同個體腦海中的城市印象，并讓這些畫面跨越時空、相互交匯，最終呈現(xiàn)在后人面前。

以吳文博、賀鈺婷、王雅卓、李昕茗為代表的寧波歷史數(shù)字人文項目初代實習生已相繼從寧波諾丁漢大學畢業(yè)，并先后進入劍橋大學、牛津大學、倫敦政治經(jīng)濟學院等世界頂尖學府繼續(xù)深造。自2019年項目成立，已有超過200名來自不同學院和專業(yè)的寧諾學生投身參與到相關(guān)的工作中，寧諾的學子們也將繼續(xù)在浩瀚的歲月長河中搜尋著屬于寧波的記憶碎片，為這座城市的人文歷史注入更多的活力。

Ningbo History Digital Humanities project | a special journey across time and space

Generally, people regard time as irreversible. Just as the passage of years erodes history repeatedly until traces of it are smoothed over and eventually disappear from the view of future generations. Yet, a group of like-minded students from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) have gathered for the Ningbo History Digital Humanities project. With a deep love for history, they embarked on a journey to restore the memories and recreate the appearance of a city with a history spanning more than 1200 years. They have used modern technology to bridge the gap in time and share long-forgotten stories of Ningbo with people today.

01

Wenbo Wu is a native of Ningbo, but his initial impression of the history of Ningbo was nothing more than a few old houses.

In the summer of 2020, Wenbo, an undergraduate student of International Studies at UNNC, joined the Ningbo History Digital Humanities project. His task gradually expanded from sorting out the locations of bridges, temples, schools and other places on the map attached to the General Annals of Yin County in the 1930s to collecting historical documents of temples recorded in local chronicles.

As the project progressed, Wenbo's perception of Ningbo's history gradually changed. He realised that perhaps he was involved in something exceptionally meaningful. He said, "The Ningbo History Digital Humanities project is a massive systematic undertaking that reproduces the historical Ningbo in a digital format, transcending the dimensions of time and space. It reveals the development of Ningbo's history, culture, religion, city morphology, and water management. History is never about a single event, person, or temple, but countless intertwined threads that influence each other and ultimately shape the understanding of future generations."

Wenbo greatly appreciates this new connection he has with Ningbo. In his view, a city's history tells us who we are, where we come from, and thus where we should go. He has transformed from simply living in Ningbo to actively exploring its past and using it as a foundation to discover Ningbo's infinite future.

02

Yuting He, who has always been fascinated by Ningbo's history and culture, joined the Ningbo History Digital Humanities project even earlier than Wenbo. Faced with thousands of place markings on ancient maps and piles of local chronicles, she once felt lost - where to begin, how to systematically organise the data, all the while balancing efficiency and quality?

“The exploration and digital transcription of Ningbo's historical culture requires years of hard work and dedication,” Yuting silently reminded herself to stay focused. The huge map was spread out on the floor, leaving no room in the already cramped meeting room. She leaned over, inch by inch, scanning every corner of the map, marking all symbols representing religious sites. The table was piled high with local chronicles and historical documents, so high that it was impossible to see the person sitting next to her. Ultimately, Yuting and the team integrated over 250,000 characters of local temple-related data, marked more than 900 map points for visualised temples, nunneries, monasteries, pavilions, and halls, and established a database of Ningbo images captured by foreign photographers in the late 19th century using the newly invented camera.

Yuting remembered that a project team supervisor once said it might take ten years or even longer to complete the project. She hoped that when she returned to UNNC many years later, she could still see young students sitting in front of piles of local chronicles, fully engrossed in their work or engaged in passionate discussions, just like herself on a summer day many years ago.

03

Yazhuo Wang and Xinming Li are two members involved in the preparation of the Overseas Memories of Ningbo 1200 Exhibition to celebrate the 1200th anniversary of the founding of Ningbo. Their research on the city's history revealed that Ningbo, a port city with a long tradition of waterway transportation and cultural exchange, showcases diverse facets depending on one's perspective. Moreover, the way foreign traders perceive Ningbo varies greatly from the locals' perspective.

"Based on these findings, we were inspired to explore extensive overseas literature. Ultimately, we chose to depict old Ningbo from the perspectives of 12 Western figures who had visited Ningbo in history. In addition, we interviewed 12 foreigners from different industries who now live in Ningbo to share their stories about the city," said Yazhuo.

Xinming mentioned that during the process of selecting ancient Western figures, she sometimes came to know these foreigners met in Ningbo and documented each other's presence in their diaries. Today, a century later, students from different regions gather in Ningbo for this project, jointly searching for the footprints of these ancient figures, thereby inadvertently creating an intersection of different times within the same space. This experience has brought a special resonance to her, who regards historical research as a long-term pursuit.

The interplay between the ancient and the present reveals Ningbo's multifaceted and three-dimensional character across different eras, which shifts according to the observer's perspective. This aligns with one of the goals of the Ningbo History Digital Humanities project: to digitally restore the impressions of the city in the minds of different individuals, allowing these images to transcend time and space, intersect, and ultimately be presented to future generations.

The first group of interns of the Ningbo History Digital Humanities project have graduated from UNNC and pursued further studies at world-leading institutions such as the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Since the launch of the project in 2019, more than 200 UNNC students from various disciplines have participated in the related work. They will continue to search for fragments of memories belonging to Ningbo throughout history, injecting more vitality into the city's cultural and historical narrative.

圖文來源 | Patrick Cai

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