Modern China Geospatial Database - Main Dataset

MCGD_Data_V2.2 contains all the data that we have collected on locations in modern China, plus a number of locations outside of China that we encounter frequently in historical sources on China. All further updates will appear under the name "MCGD_Data" with a time stamp (e.g., MCGD_Data2023-06-21) You can also have access to this dataset and all the datasets that the ENP-China makes available on GitLab: https://gitlab.com/enpchina/IndexesEnp Altogether there are 464,970 entries. The data include seven variables:- Name: Place names and their variants in Chinese, pinyin, and any recorded transliteration- Prov_Zh: Chinese province names in Chinese characters (新疆, 江蘇, 河北, etc.)- Prov_Py: Chinese province names in pinyin- LAT: Latitude coordinates- LONG: Longitude coordinates- LocID: Location identifiers- NameID: Location name identifiers The Name IDs all start with H followed by seven digits. This is the internal ID system of MCGD. Locations IDs that start with "D" are data points extracted from China Historical GIS (Harvard University); those that start with "E" are locations extracted from the data points in Geonames or data points we have added from various map sources. One of the main features of the MCGD Main Dataset is the systematic collection and compilation of place names from non-Chinese language historical sources. Locations were designated in transliteration systems that are hardly comprehensible today, which makes it very difficult to find the actual locations they correspond to. This dataset allows for the conversion from these obsolete transliterations to the current names and geocoordinates. From June 2021 onward, we have adopted a different file naming system to keep track of versions. From MCGD_Data_V1 we have moved to MCGD_Data_V2. In June 2022, we introduced time stamps, which result in the following naming convention: MCGD_Data_YYYY.MM.DD. UPDATES MCGD_Data2025_08_06 introduces a significant update with the addition of the ‘Code’ column. This column categorizes place names as follows: A: Canonical Chinese name C: Alternative Chinese name P: Romanized name in pinyin W: Romanized name in another transliteration system When the codes P or W are doubled (PP, WW), this indicates that the place name does not match any existing Chinese name in the dataset. These unmatched names will be reviewed and linked progressively, rather than through a systematic batch process, due to their high volume.The coding system is designed to facilitate name-matching operations between MCGD and place names extracted from historical sources using programming tools. It also enables filtering for more precise and efficient matching. The dataset contains a total of 472,749 entries. MCGD_Data2025_02_28 includes a major change with the duplication of all the locations listed under Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing (北京, 上海, 天津, 重慶) and their listing under the name of the provinces to which they belonge origially before the creation of the four special municipalities after 1949. This is meant to facilitate the matching of data from historical sources. Each location has a unique NameID. Altogether there are 472,818 entries MCGD_Data2025_02_27 inclues an update on locations extracted from Minguo zhengfu ge yuanhui keyuan yishang zhiyuanlu 國民政府各院部會科員以上職員錄 (Directory of staff members and above in the ministries and committees of the National Government). Nanjing: Guomin zhengfu wenguanchu yinzhuju 國民政府文官處印鑄局國民政府文官處印鑄局, 1944). We also made corrections in the Prov_Py and Prov_Zh columns as there were some misalignments between the pinyin name and the name in Chines characters. The file now includes 465,128 entries. MCGD_Data2024_03_23 includes an update on locations in Taiwan from the Asia Directories. Altogether there are 465,603 entries (of which 187 place names without geocoordinates, labelled in the Lat Long columns as "Unknown"). MCGD_Data2023.12.22 contains all the data that we have collected on locations in China, whatever the period. Altogether there are 465,603 entries (of which 187 place names without geocoordinates, labelled in the Lat Long columns as "Unknown"). The dataset also includes locations outside of China for the purpose of matching such locations to the place names extracted from historical sources. For example, one may need to locate individuals born outside of China. Rather than maintaining two separate files, we made the decision to incorporate all the place names found in historical sources in the gazetteer. Such place names can easily be removed by selecting all the entries where the 'Province' data is missing.MCGD_Data_V2.2 收录了我们收集的所有当代中国境内地理点位数据，以及中国历史文献中频繁出现的若干境外地理点位数据。后续所有更新版本均将以「MCGD_Data」加时间戳的形式命名（例如MCGD_Data2023-06-21）。 您亦可通过GitLab平台获取本数据集及ENP-China发布的全部数据集：https://gitlab.com/enpchina/IndexesEnp 本数据集总条目共计464,970条，包含7项变量： - 名称（"Name"）：地名及其中文、拼音、所有已记录的音译变体 - 省级行政区中文名称（"Prov_Zh"）：以汉字书写的中国省级行政区名称（如新疆、江苏、河北等） - 省级行政区拼音名称（"Prov_Py"）：中国省级行政区名称的汉语拼音拼写 - 纬度坐标（"LAT"）：纬度地理坐标 - 经度坐标（"LONG"）：经度地理坐标 - 点位标识符（"LocID"）：地理点位唯一标识 - 名称标识符（"NameID"）：地名唯一标识 所有"NameID"均以字母H开头，后跟7位数字，这是MCGD的内部标识体系。以D开头的"LocID"代表从哈佛大学中国历史地理信息系统（China Historical GIS）提取的点位；以E开头的"LocID"代表从Geonames数据库提取的点位，或是我们从各类地图来源补充的点位。 MCGD主数据集的核心特色之一，是系统收集并整理了非中文历史文献中的地名。过往这些地名多采用现已难以理解的旧音译体系标注，导致难以匹配其对应的实际地理点位。本数据集可实现将这类过时音译名称转换为现行地名及地理坐标。 自2021年6月起，我们采用了全新的文件命名体系以管理版本迭代：从MCGD_Data_V1版本升级至MCGD_Data_V2版本。2022年6月起，我们引入时间戳命名规则，最终形成如下命名格式：MCGD_Data_YYYY.MM.DD。 ### 更新日志 1. **MCGD_Data2025_08_06**：本次更新新增「Code（代码）」字段，用于对地名进行分类，分类规则如下： - A：标准中文名称 - C：中文别名 - P：汉语拼音转写名称 - W：其他音译体系的罗马化名称 当代码P或W重复出现（即PP、WW）时，表示该地名未匹配到数据集中的任何现有中文地名。由于此类未匹配地名数量较多，我们将通过逐步审核关联的方式进行处理，而非采用系统性批量流程。本代码体系旨在辅助通过编程工具实现MCGD与历史文献提取地名的匹配工作，同时支持精准过滤以提升匹配效率。本数据集总条目共计472,749条。 2. **MCGD_Data2025_02_28**：本次更新做出一项重大调整：将北京、上海、天津、重庆四个直辖市的全部点位，按照1949年后设立直辖市前所属的省级行政区名称重新归类。此举旨在优化历史文献数据的匹配工作。所有点位均拥有唯一的"NameID"。本数据集总条目共计472,818条。 3. **MCGD_Data2025_02_27**：本次更新补充了从《国民政府各院部会科员以上职员录》（*Directory of staff members and above in the ministries and committees of the National Government*，南京：国民政府文官处印铸局，1944年）中提取的地理点位数据。同时修正了"Prov_Py"与"Prov_Zh"字段中存在的拼音与汉字名称不匹配的问题。本数据集总条目共计465,128条。 4. **MCGD_Data2024_03_23**：本次更新补充了来自《亚洲名录》（Asia Directories）的台湾地区地理点位数据。本数据集总条目共计465,603条，其中187条地名未包含地理坐标，在"Lat"与"Long"字段中标记为"Unknown"（未知）。 5. **MCGD_Data2023.12.22**：本版本收录了我们收集的所有不同时期的中国境内地理点位数据，总条目共计465,603条，其中187条地名未包含地理坐标，在"Lat"与"Long"字段中标记为"Unknown"（未知）。为实现历史文献提取地名的匹配需求，本数据集同时收录了境外地理点位（例如用于定位出生于中国境外的人物相关数据）。为避免维护两份独立文件，我们将历史文献中出现的所有地名均整合至本名录中，用户可通过筛选"Province（省级行政区）"字段为空的条目，快速移除境外点位数据。