On December 9, the 5th Chinese Digital Humanities Conference was held. The conference was under the guidance of the China Society of Indexers, sponsored by the School of Information Management, Wuhan University, and Special Interest Group for Digital Humanities of the China Society of Indexers, undertaken by the Intelligent Computing of Cultural Heritage Laboratory, Wuhan University, Big Data Institute of Wuhan University, and Center for Studies of Information Resources, Wuhan University.

The theme of this year's conference was Symbiosis of Virtual and Reality: Foreseeing the Future of Digital Humanities, focusing on the rejuvenation of Chinese excellent traditional culture in the digital age, aiming at discussing the new progress, new breakthroughs and new achievements of digital humanities research in China, and looking forward to the new themes, new methods and new trends of digital humanities development.

People attended the conference were as followings:

Quanchun Wang, Associate Dean of the Central CPC History and Literature Research Institute, Chairman of the China Society of Indexers,

Huiling Feng, First-level Professor at Renmin University of China, Dean of Digital Humanities Institute,

Yong Duan, CPC Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Shanghai University,

Xianchun Xu, Director of the Information Library of the Central Party History and Literature Research Institute and Executive Vice President of the China Society of Indexers,

Shuwu Zhang, Researcher of School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Director of Key Laboratory of Interactive Technology and Experience System, Ministry of Culture and Tourism,

Marcia Lei Zeng, Professor at Kent State University, Chairwoman of the Digital Humanities Curriculum Committee of iSchools,

Yezhong Zhou, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, and Vice President of Wuhan University,

Feicheng Ma, Senior Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wuhan University,

Wei Chen, Senior Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wuhan University,

Chuanfu Chen, Senior Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wuhan University,

Qing Fang, Dean of the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, Wuhan University,

Xingrong Fu, CPC Secretary of the SIM, Wuhan University,

Gang Li, Director of the Center for Studies of Information Resources, Wuhan University.

Xiaoguang Wang, Associate Dean of the SIM, Wuhan University, Director of the Intelligent Computing of Cultural Heritage, Philosophy and Social Sciences Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, presided over the opening ceremony.

Combining with the background of the times, Quanchun Wang emphasized the necessity of technology empowering the inheritance of traditional culture and promoting the implementation of "Digital China" strategy with informationization. Digital humanities research should dig deep into the philosophical thinking and humanistic spirit contained in traditional culture, organically combine cutting-edge technology with humanities, empower the narrative of cultural heritage, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture.

Yezhong Zhou said in his speech that digital technology has reshaped the research path, methodology and disciplinary boundaries of social life and humanities. Wuhan University took the lead in proposing a systematic training program for digital talents. Through the practice of setting up an interdisciplinary intelligent computing laboratory for cultural heritage and setting up uninterrupted education of the undergraduate-graduate-doctor pilot class majored in Digital Culture, it made great efforts to explore the experience of cultural heritage activation and interdisciplinary major construction, and to cultivate talents that meet the needs of national cultural power strategy, cultural industry digitalization strategy and regional economic and social development, and at the same time promoted the prosperity of digital humanities research.

Feicheng Ma pointed out that as one of the earliest universities in China that initiated digital humanities research, Wuhan University faced the major strategic needs of countries such as digital China and cultural power, relied on the resources of information resource management, surveying and remote sensing and other disciplines with outstanding advantages, cooperated with traditional arts disciplines such as history, literature and archaeology, focused on the needs of digitalization and intelligent activation of cultural heritage, supported the innovative development of "new liberal arts" and digital transformation of cultural industries, and actively promoted high-level digital humanities research and practice with Chinese characteristics and Chinese style.

Chuanfu Chen pointed out that digital humanism affects the production, organization, presentation, transmission and innovation of cultural knowledge, and provides profound thinking and rich imagination for cultural continuity. In the historical process of high-quality cultural development, digital humanities play a key role. Through in-depth cooperation and exchanges across disciplines, fields and time and space, we can further explore and present the unique value and modern significance of excellent Chinese culture. The research and deepening of digital humanities will further promote the prosperity and development of Chinese characteristic culture and help build a new national digital culture system with Chinese cultural connotation and spiritual temperament.

Huiling Feng, Wei Chen, Shuwu Zhang, Yong Duan, Marcia Lei Zeng, and Xiaoguang Wang gave keynote speeches.

Starting from the contradiction between the future development of digital humanities education and practical problems, Huiling Feng discussed how emerging disciplines should respond and develop. She believes that the complex interdisciplinary characteristics of digital humanities have increased the imagination of higher education organizations and disciplines, and guided students into an open and inclusive teaching state, which is a major change to the traditional education model.

Taking infrared imaging, hyperspectral and other technologies as an example, Wei Chen indicated that he was full of expectation for more emerging technology applications in the follow-up research of bamboo slips stitching, collection and text interpretation, and shared the comprehensive digital platform of China bamboo slips literature independently developed by the Bamboo Slips Research Center of Wuhan University and its functions.

Shuwu Zhang pointed out that culture, science and technology are the core of the digital economy in the future. It is necessary to implement the strategy of strengthening the country's culture and digitizing culture, accelerate the deep integration of culture and technology, make the digital cultural economy a core component of the digital economy, actively grasp the highland of digital cultural economic value, and develop a new value system led by new productivity.

Yong Duan introduced the historical evolution of the forms and functions of libraries, museums, archives and art galleries (GLAMS), and pointed out that their increasingly obvious "technicalization" and the “humanities” of science and technology museums converge. He believes that the metaverse represents the future development direction, and the cultural institutions related to GLAMS, as one of the earliest areas of digitalization, have the foundation of "humanities+technology", which provides a scene for the landing and application of metaverse-related technologies.

From the data, Marcia Lei Zeng explained its superiority and pointed out that at present, digital human resources have complex data types, different properties and quality, and artificial intelligence technology can be used to transform them into credible multi-modal intelligent data for subsequent diversified development and application.

Xiaoguang Wang pointed out that digital technology has changed the academic process of humanities, and the digitalization of academic environment has promoted the prosperity of digital humanities research. The Digital Theater of the Intelligent Computing of Cultural Heritage, Philosophy and Social Sciences Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, is dedicated to restoring the theatrical witness function of the early natural laboratories, exploring the construction methods of laboratories in the humanities field, completing the tasks of laboratory knowledge production, curation and experience, and making culture a soul for wisdom.

Chinese Digital Humanities Conference is the most influential annual academic event in the field of digital humanities in China. This year's annual meeting brought together nearly 500 participants from different disciplines such as information management, history, literature, art, computer, artificial intelligence, as well as libraries, archives, museums, publishing houses and cultural and technological companies. During the two-day sessions, 10 sub-forums were also set up, including intelligent data, digital publishing, ancient books activation, digitalization of cultural heritage, artificial intelligence and digital games, and digital humanities in the fields of language and literature, music and art, history and archaeology.