Digital memory construction for cultural heritage: Methodology and applications in China

Abstract

Digital memory is an emerging form of digital storage capable of capturing, organising, storing, and displaying historical and cultural information of specific entities in a digitised manner for purposes of sustaining, representing, and disseminating such information within cyberspace. In contrast to the mere digitisation of the physical carriers of cultural heritage, digital memory places greater emphasis on the emotional interplay between humans and cultural heritage, striving to preserve systematically and comprehensively both tangible and intangible humanistic elements within the specific historical and cultural spatiotemporal contexts. Directed by the principles of digital memory, the Digital Humanities Research Team at Renmin University of China has undertaken extensive research and practice on the digital preservation and dissemination of historical cultural heritage. Based on these efforts, this chapter elucidates our understanding of digital memory, introduces a theoretical framework for constructing digital memory oriented towards cultural heritage, and presents as an example of its application the ‘Beijing Memory’ project. Finally, this chapter discusses prospective developments and challenges in the digital memory field, aiming to furnish a scalable solution for an exhaustive exploration, in-depth interpretation, digital representation, and wide-ranging dissemination of cultural heritage in the digital era.