The Baiqian Initiative – Approaches and Practices

First, Yun Yichang 雲譯場 (Cloud-Based Translation Seminars) serves as the Initiative’s central operational platform. Each translation establishes its own online seminar forum, where translators, proofreaders, editors, and, when appropriate, original authors regularly convene to review completed sections. Discussions focus on linguistic accuracy, stylistic coherence, terminological precision, annotation standards, and the work’s positioning within international scholarship. Meetings are typically held every two to three weeks at the outset and later transition to a monthly schedule. Beyond coordination, Yun yichang ensures quality control, enables real-time problem-solving, reduces revision costs, and fosters a sustained scholarly community dedicated to methodological reflection and professional development in Sinology.

Second, the project adopts a strictly regulated approach to AI-assisted translation. While recognizing AI’s potential to improve efficiency—particularly for modern Chinese (白話文)—its use requires prior approval and full transparency. Translators must submit all AI-generated drafts and provide a substantive comparative analysis demonstrating human judgment and revision. AI functions only as an auxiliary tool; full intellectual responsibility remains with the human translator. Especially in the translation of Classical Chinese (文言文) and technically complex texts, nuanced interpretation continues to depend on human expertise. In this way, the project critically engages broader questions concerning AI and the future of Digital Humanities.

Third, the Youth Sinology Summer Institute, hosted at Peking University in collaboration with partner institutions, provides an international platform for emerging scholars through lectures, workshops, forums, and field visits, strengthening classical scholarship within global humanities discourse.