This is a collection of code and other resources to facilitate use of the CGED-Q JSL Public Releases. It includes code snippets for recoding or otherwise handling unusual cases, tables for recoding/categorization/cleanup of variables, and sample code.
The code and other materials here are not part of the official data release. Use at your own risk. They may change as we release more data, or as we discover issues.
All the materials in this repository assume that you have read the User Guide, which is available at the download websites linked below. The material here is not a substitute for reading the User Guide, which has detailed information on the origin and context of each of the variables.
The CGED-Q JSL Public Releases are a Lee-Campbell Group project. Please visit our website to learn more about our projects and research outputs.
Introduction to the CGED-Q
Introduction to the CGED-Q Project at the Lee-Campbell Group Website. Read this to learn about the history and current status of the project.
We also published a detailed English-language introduction to the CGED-Q in the Journal of Chinese History.
Sites for CGED-Q JSL Public Release download
At these locations you can download the CGED-JSL Public Releases, along with documentation:
HKUST Dataspace
Harvard Dataverse
Renmin University Institute of Qing History
Code for working with the CGED-Q Public Release
This provides flag variables to identify sets of records that are commonly excluded, including records of empty posts, duplicates, and posts that only appear in commercial editions. It also provides code for variables that identify sets of records associated with particular types of officials, including those serving in the central government, and those who were Bannermen.
Recoding, recategorizing and cleaning variables
This provides code to regroup variables into analytically useful categories (e.g. chushen 出身) and clean up the contents of variables (e.g. province of origin, location of post).
Code that produces the extracts for the CGED-Q Public Release
STATA Do files that produce the CGED-Q Public Release from our work files
Nominative Linkage in the CGED-Q
We have published a long, detailed paper in Historical Life Course Studies describing our own approach to nominative linkage in the CGED-Q. This should be useful for anyone carrying out linkage in the public releases.
For reference, I have uploaded a STATA .do file with the programs that we use for linkage. It implements the procedures described in the article, as well as two additional follow-up routines for two special cases.
In the first special case, we identify pairs of records in adjacent editions where all aspects of the position are the same, and then we examine whether the identifying information for the official is similar enough to warrant a match. We allow looser criteria for a match than in the main procedure because the records in question already match on all features of the position.
In the second special case, we attempt to match isolated records that are not linked forward or backward to blocks of records where there is a gap in the same edition as the isolated record. Again, we allow for slightly looser criteria than in the main routine.
Using R to Analyze the CGED-Q JSL Public Releases
Chen Jun, our MA student at Central China Normal University, has produced a training guide in Chinese explaining how to use R to analyze the CGED-Q that he prepared while serving as my TA for a class that I taught there in fall 2022. He has also provided the slides he used in class sessions and sample code.