Evol project: a comprehensive online platform for quantitative analysis of ancient literature

Abstract

Quantitative cultural studies have witnessed a surge with the rapid development of computer technology in recent years. Since ancient literature constitutes a long-time-span repository for human culture, with quantitative methods and ancient texts, scholars can study the genesis and progression of human history and society across historical epochs from digital perspectives. Nevertheless, traditional humanities scholars often lack the requisite technical skills, creating a demand for interactive platforms. This paper introduces the Evol platform—an online tool designed for the quantitative analysis of ancient literature. Equipped with various analysis functions and visualization tools, the Evol platform allows users to quantify literary documents through intuitive online interaction. Using this platform, we investigated three cases of cultural evolution in ancient Chinese history: (1) the changing attitude of the government towards nomadic ethnic groups; (2) the formulation and propagation of an allusion phrase related to the Battle of Muye; (3) the influence of the Book of Changes across diverse cultural domains. By showcasing cases across diverse semantic units and topics, Evol demonstrates its potential in providing efficient and low-cost experimental tools catering to the realms of culturomics, history, and philology.