Historian Workflow

Initial question: In this simple example I will do a short inquiry concerning the participants in the imperial examination on capital level within a certain period or a special year, itemize them by place of origin and attained result, and finally display them on a map. The graphic representation ought to demonstrate, which region provides how many candidates alltogether, and which region provides how many successful examinees.

• Step A: Defining time and location of the examination
  • defining the place of examination - Since imperial examinations on the capital level Huishi (会试) after the Yuan dynasty generally took place in Beijing, Beijing has the be the location. The examination location would change, if I decide f.e. to display results on province or county-level.
  • defining the year - Since capital examinations only took place once every three years (ox, dragon, sheep, dog), I have to check first whether the year is an examination year or not, then choose the specific year of my research. The year will change, if I choose another examination level.

• Step B: Subdividing the initial question
  • making a list of all the participants in the capital examination in the certain year
  • associating the name of participant with his native county and prefecture
  • making a list of all successful examinees Jinshi (進士) from the group of total participants in the certain year

• Step C: Geographic representation
  • choosing different colors for easier understandable representation, f.e. green dots for ordinary participants, yellow dots for successful examinees
  • displaying the dots, each representing an examinee, on map at the location of their native place