The Baiqian Project (百千計劃)
One Thousand Books in a Century: Peking University’s Academic Classics Translation Project
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Mission
The Baiqian Project (One Thousand Books in a Century) is dedicated to the systematic selection and translation of landmark Chinese scholarly classics produced over the past century, with the aim of bringing foundational works in philosophy, history, religion, art history, and related fields into the mainstream of international academia. Through high-quality English translations and sustained global collaboration, the project seeks to renew worldwide engagement with Chinese classical and modern intellectual traditions, deepen cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary dialogue, and promote the creative integration of Chinese intellectual resources into the contemporary global knowledge system.
Vision and Purpose
The Baiqian Project (百千計劃), formally titled One Thousand Books in a Century: Peking University’s Academic Classics Translation Project, is a long-term scholarly initiative launched by Peking University in response to contemporary developments and challenges in global Sinology and the humanities.
Over recent decades, Sinological research in parts of Europe, North America, and East Asia has increasingly shifted its focus from historical China and classical texts toward contemporary topics. While this shift reflects broader trends within the humanities, it has also led to a gradual decline in sustained engagement with Chinese classical literature, intellectual traditions, and major scholarly works of the modern period.
The Baiqian Project seeks to address this challenge by systematically translating into English a selection of more than 1,000 representative Chinese scholarly works produced over the past century, thereby bringing them into international academic circulation. These works span philosophy, history, religion, art history, and related fields in the humanities, and many are recognized as foundational or canonical within their disciplines. Through high-quality translation and sustained international collaboration, the project aims to renew global scholarly engagement with Chinese intellectual traditions and to foster deeper cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary dialogue.
Overall Strategies
The Baiqian Project emphasizes institutional design and long-term sustainability. Its main strategies include:
- Establishing Yun Yichang 雲譯場 (Cloud-Based Translation Seminars) as a permanent platform for cross-regional scholarly collaboration;
- Ensuring translation quality through team-based work and multiple stages of review;
- Treating the translation process itself as a form of scholarly training and professional development;
- Adopting a cautious, regulated, and reflective approach to the use of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence.
Overall Significance
While primarily focused on strengthening Sinology studies, the Baiqian Project aspire to be more than a translation initiative. The project also aims to serve as a model for an interdisciplinary, innovative, and collaborative approach that fosters lasting and renewal and vitality in global humanities scholarship. In summary, its significance lies in:
- Establishing Yun Yichang as a scalable and sustainable model for global collaboration in the humanities;
- Training a new generation of Sinologists grounded in Chinese texts and international academic standards;
- Providing a responsible and reflective framework for the integration of AI and Digital Humanities;
- Addressing structural challenges in global humanities through collaboration, shared learning, and long-term commitment.
Through the integration of translation, cloud-based scholarly collaboration, regulated technological tools, and international exchange, the Baiqian Project offers a concrete and forward-looking pathway to help reshape both Sinology and the humanities in the twenty-first century.
