This presentation deals with a TEI/XML technical problem that occurred in the process of text markup, as part of the collaborative research project with the National Museum of Japanese History.
This presentation deals with a TEI/XML technical problem that occurred in the process of text markup, as part of the collaborative research project with the National Museum of Japanese History. The object of the markup is an ancient Japanese ancient historical source called
Engi-shiki ([Torao, 1995](#torao1995)), which was compiled as an administrative manual in the tenth century. When it comes to marking up the Engi-shiki, we apply the methodology Transactionography, first developed by Kathryn Tomasek and Syd Bauman ([Tomasek and Bauman, 2013](#tomasekbauman2013)).
The technical problem is the quantity attribute in the measure element.
In the current default schema, we can only use numbers based on metric notation when storing the value of the quantity of a measure.
However, the
Engi-shiki contains many units that require complicated conversion, such as kin 斤 (equivalent to 16 ryō 両), ryō 両 (10 momme 匁 or 24 shu 銖), and momme 匁 (10 bun 分), which measured weight. Of course, it is possible to substitute the value of quantity by re-converting it to the metric system based on a certain interpretation, but then, we would be forced to store a value different from the original text data in the tag. A unit conversion based only on a certain interpretation will cause a problem that the development of discussion should be hindered, such as comparison with other possible interpretations. Also, the equivalences of these units to metric system units is approximate and subject to change during various historical periods. Therefore, in this presentation, we would like to report about the possibilities of making use of the existing attributes related to the measure element, such as n attribute.
It should also be useful to discuss better solutions through comparison with other markup cases involving participants. For example, historians of the British Isles cannot but deal with a similar problem when it comes to marking up currencies, such as pounds, shilling and pence. Or those tagging feet and inches would have the same problem as ours: viz., whether or not we should standardize numerical values in the original texts, based on the international equalization system which seems to have a Eurocentric bias that can make it difficult to express the original data measured in native units around the world.
Tomasek, Kathryn, and Syd Bauman. 2013. Encoding Financial Records for Historical Research. Journal of the Text Encoding Initiative, 6. . 10.4000/jtei.895.
Torao, Toshiya. 1995. Engi-shiki no Kenkyū (A Study on the Engi-shiki). Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan.