The Classic of Mountains is part of the pre-Qin ancient text The Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing 山海经). Within approximately 2,000 characters, it records a vast array of mountains, rivers, flora and fauna, and minerals in a highly stylized narrative, making it the earliest extant geographical and ecological compendium in China. However, research on The Classic of Mountains has been confined to traditional humanities research paradigms, and the related knowledge has not yet been systematically digitized.
This project proposes the use of artificial intelligence technologies such as knowledge graphs, Graph RAG, and LLM-based agents to create a knowledge integration platform for this book. This platform, based on the systematic organization of knowledge found in The Classic of Mountains, will enable intelligent Q&A and centrally present the annotations of scholars from various dynasties on particular entities, thereby saving time that would otherwise be spent repeatedly consulting and proofreading texts.
Furthermore, with human intervention, this research will obtain the geographical coordinates of mountain entities through geocoding and reconstruct the geographical and ecological landscapes described in The Classic of Mountains by utilizing algorithms such as boundary estimation. This project introduces digital methods to the study of The Classic of Mountains, thereby compensating—at least to some extent—for the limitations of traditional humanities research, which tends to be fragmented and struggles to present knowledge comprehensively. The digital map generated in this project may also contribute to ecological governance in the future.
Knowledge integration platform.