| The Iconography database is a kind of theme-oriented and theme-based classification logic image database,which is the object of research in this dissertation.The origin of iconography database is closely related to the methodology of art history research such as iconography and iconology,which shows the trend of mutual causation and promotion of development in the history of historiography.The construction of an image journal database needs to start from two levels,one is a bottom-up accumulation of a large amount of image thematic metadata generated based on semantic annotation of images,and the other is a top-down categorisation that integrates a thematic classification system conforming to the characteristics of image objects.Both levels are complementary to the research methodology of iconography,the former based on Erwin Panofsky’s three-level theory of iconology,and the latter creating the classification methodology on the basis of the cataloguing of subject block of visual resources.On the premise of analyzing the existing image database logic,construction principles,citation norms and development modes,this dissertation takes the folk prints of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China in the collection of the National Library as the image corpus,and analyses the specific construction method of the image database from these two levels,adopting the Visual Resources Association Core with the Extensible Markup Language as an indexing specification for the deep semantic annotation of the five types of folk prints,and determining controlled vocabularies of referable subject norms in the process,listing the range of data values of subject by general concept,iconographic topic,personal name,built work place and geographic place.A classification system is generated from the top-down level based on the metadata of the subject words of statistics,extraction and categorization.Since the image corpus embodies folk customs and popular beliefs,the classification system takes folk deities as the main object of presentation,and refers to the categories of the atlas-type book Assembled Illustrations of the Three Realms and The complete classics collection of ancient China,so as to form a classification system that embodies the concept of "heaven-earth-man".The system contains four categories:all gods,Taoist gods,nature gods,and secular world gods.In each subcategory,the deities are presented in the order of "heaven-earth-man".Through the application of deep semantic annotation to specific images and the construction of a subject classification system,this thesis argues that the approach to building an iconographic database should start from these two levels,and that under the premise of clarifying the use of digital image copyrights and improving preservation measures,the image corpus should be based on international common norms as a mode of sharing,reference word lists applying to the local cultural contexts as a standard range of data values,and the International Image Interoperability Framework(IIIF)as a standard of image interaction and circulation,so as to increase the utilization of the images in the study of art history and cultural studies. |
