Navigating the Complexity of Describing Chinese Historical Places Using the Wikibase Platform

Chinese historical places, with their extensive history spanning thousands of years, serve as profound symbols of the nation's rich cultural legacy. Capturing their historical changes in a consistent data model for describing cultural heritage, however, poses significant challenges due to shifts in the places’ name, administrative boundaries, administrative units, and geographical locations. Various data models on platforms like Wikidata offer differing approaches: some separate place names and locations into distinct classes, while others consolidate them. This poster showcases the authors’ investigation into different data models for describing cultural heritage historical places and their chosen approach. By leveraging Wikibase as a testbed database, the authors delve into the merits and limitations of each data model, unveiling the techniques employed for bulk data creation, complexities encountered, and valuable insights derived from this exploration.