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The Baiqian Project (百千計劃)
One Thousand Books in a Century: Peking University’s Academic Classics Translation Project
The “One Hundred Years, One Thousand Volumes” Open-Access Publishing Initiative
I. Mission and Strategic Context
The Baiqian Initiative centers on open-access publishing as its guiding principle, with the aim of systematically advancing the translation and global dissemination of Chinese-language scholarship in the humanities. Responding to new patterns of knowledge production and academic exchange in the digital age, the initiative integrates digital publishing, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships to enhance the international accessibility and impact of Chinese scholarship. It seeks to expand cross-linguistic and cross-cultural dialogue, and to foster a deeper integration of Chinese intellectual resources into global knowledge networks.
II. Core Principles and Implementation
(1) A Gradual Expansion Strategy: Phased Open Access
Given the high costs and long timelines associated with scholarly translation and publication, the initiative adopts a gradual open-access strategy. Open-access editions of translated works will be released in stages, in accordance with project progress and available resources. While ensuring translation quality and publication stability, this phased approach aims to balance sustainability with long-term scholarly impact.
(2) Quality First and Institutional Safeguards
Open access does not entail lowered standards. The initiative will establish rigorous mechanisms for academic review and translator selection to ensure that each translation meets international standards in intellectual accuracy, linguistic expression, and scholarly norms. In doing so, it will strengthen the professional standing of Chinese humanities scholarship within global research communities.
III. Strategic Collaboration with Publishers
Rather than positioning itself in opposition to traditional commercial publishing, the initiative advocates a mutually beneficial partnership model with publishers. By balancing market mechanisms with public academic missions, it seeks to cultivate long-term, stable collaborations.
(1) A Progressive Incentive Framework
To encourage broader publisher participation, the initiative will design an incentive system that expands in proportion to the scale of translation and publication. Through coordinated arrangements in rights management, cost-sharing, and marketing collaboration, it aims to lower participation barriers and enhance cooperative motivation.
(2) Reinvestment of Profits: Public-Good Contributions to Scholarly Exchange
Publishers participating in open-access publication are encouraged to allocate a portion of their profits to support international academic exchange. Such reinvestment may fund conferences, visiting scholarships for early-career researchers, translator training, and collaborative research projects, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of “publication–revenue–reinvestment–renewed production.”
IV. Vision and Significance
The “One Hundred Years, One Thousand Volumes” open-access publishing initiative represents both a practical commitment to academic equity and knowledge sharing, and an institutional innovation for advancing Chinese humanities scholarship on the global stage. Through the integrated design of governance mechanisms, strategic partnerships, and public-oriented reinvestment, it seeks to build a sustainable, scalable, and collaborative global community for the translation of Chinese humanities scholarship.
In the long term, the initiative will not only promote substantive dialogue between Chinese and international academic communities, but also cultivate a new generation of translators and scholars equipped with linguistic competence, cross-cultural literacy, and intellectual depth—thereby contributing greater diversity and richness to the global academic system.
