Spatial-Temporal Dataset Development of Mr. WANG Yangming’s Footprints and Activities

SHAO Xinyi  LU Chengqi  CHEN Xuan  ZHENG Shanshan  MA Renfeng*

School of Geography and Remote Sensing, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China

Abstract: WANG Yangming was the foremost synthesizer of the School of Mind during the Ming Dynasty. His philosophical legacy, centered on the “unity of knowledge and action”, provides a vital link between traditional Chinese thought and modern practice. Drawing on historical sources— including The Extended Chronicle of WANG Yangming and relevant thematic databases—this study systematically constructs a database of WANG Yangming’s life trajectories using the semantic framework of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM). His activities are classified into 4 categories: official career events, military events, teaching events, and life events. The dataset is intended to provide standardized data and a methodological reference for research on the dissemination of Yangming Culture, historical geography, and spatial digital humanities. It contains: (1) Mr. WANG Yangming’s life activity footprints and classification of key events (.xlsx); and (2) point data of Mr. WANG Yangming’s life footprints and key event locations (.shp). The dataset consists of 41 data files with a total size of 584 KB (compressed into one file of 67 KB).

Keywords: Historical Geography; WANG Yangming; life footprints

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodp.2026.05.07

Dataset Availability Statement:

The dataset supporting this paper was published and is accessible through the Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository at: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.2026.05.05.V1.

1 Introduction

Spatiotemporal dimensions are fundamental to human society and civilization. However, traditional scholarship has often emphasized temporal attributes while overlooking spatial ones^[1]. In recent years, scholars have increasingly incorporated geographical information into historical figure research. Integrating geographical and historical perspectives around four core elements—time, place, person, and event—enables researchers to identify key events and locations across different life stages, understand historical figures’ experiences, analyze the factors shaping their movements and life trajectories^[2], and advance multidimensional and multilevel historical research.

WANG Yangming, a renowned Ming Dynasty thinker, philosopher, educator, and military strategist, profoundly influenced Chinese thought through his School of Mind. Revered for the “Three Immortalities” of enduring virtue, meritorious service, and influential writings, he led an eventful life and traveled extensively across China, leaving a rich cultural legacy. In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to preserving and promoting the sites associated with WANG Yangming’s life and cultural heritage. For example, the Yangming Hometown (Yangming Guli) cultural complex opened in Shaoxing in 2022 to support the development of educational tourism. In addition, Ningbo issued the Three-Year Action Plan for the Development of Yangming Culture in Ningbo (2023–2025) in 2023, outlining systematic measures to promote Yangming culture and establish the city as a “benchmark city for Yangming culture”^[3]. Despite these initiatives, systematic spatial representations of WANG Yangming’s life and activities remain limited, and the historical and geographical information in his life trajectories remains underexplored. To address this gap, this study draws on the Spatial-temporal dataset of footprints of WANG Yangming’s activity in Zhejiang Province of China^[4,5] and The Extended Chronicle of WANG Yangming^[6], integrating the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM)^[7] to construct a database of his activities and an event classification system. This provides standardized data and methodological support for research on the dissemination of Yangming Culture, historical geography, and digital humanities.

2 Metadata of the Dataset

Table 1 summarizes the metadata for the Spatial-temporal dataset of Mr. WANG Yangming’s footprints and activities^[8], including its title, authors, temporal coverage, data formats, etc.

3 Methods

3.1 Data Sources

The time data are derived from The Extended Chronicle of WANG Yangming^[6] and the official position field is sourced from Authoritative Name of People-biographical Database^[10]. Data for the event field are collected from the Database for WANG Yangming Subject^[11], the Digital WANG Yangming Resource Base Global Sharing Platform^[12], The Extended Chronicle of WANG Yangming^[6], and The Collated and Annotated Chronicle of WANG Yangming^[13]. These sources cover key events throughout WANG Yangming’s life, systematically tracing his life course.

3.2 Data Development Methodology

The CIDOC CRM was developed by the International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). It provides a formal framework for representing fundamental concepts and semantic relationships through 99 classes and 198 properties, thereby facilitating the semantic interoperability and integration of cultural heritage data.

This study employs seven CIDOC CRM classes to represent WANG Yangming’s life events: E5 Event, E7 Activity, E9 Move, E21 Person, E52 Time-Span, E53 Place, and E55 Type (Table 2). Nine properties are used to model the relationships among WANG Yangming,

Table 1  Metadata summary of the Spatial-temporal dataset of Mr. WANG Yangming’s footprints and activities

Table 2  CIDOC CRM classes used in this study

relevant events, locations, and other entities: P2 has type, P4 has time-span, P7 took place at, P11 had participant, P14 carried out by, P25 moved, P26 moved to, P27 moved from, and P127 has broader term (Table 3).

Because CIDOC CRM does not provide domain-specific classification vocabularies, this study extends its framework by using E55 Type as the superclass for the proposed classification scheme. Events are assigned to specific types through P2 has type, while hierarchical relationships among event types are represented using P127 has broader term. On this basis, an event-classification coding system consisting of 4 major categories and 13 subcategories was developed (Table 4). The system provides a standardized mechanism for constructing customized classification schemes within a unified semantic framework.

The coding system has 4 main advantages: (1) it covers the major types of WANG Yangming’s life activities; (2) its concise rules facilitate statistical analysis and data filtering; (3) it is compatible with the CIDOC CRM class E55 Type and links event records to their types through P2 has type; and (4) it supports multilevel classification and can be readily extended.

Table 3  CIDOC CRM properties used in this study

Table 4  Event classification coding system for the dataset

4 Data Results

4.1 Dataset Composition

The Spatial-temporal dataset of Mr. WANG Yangming’s footprints and activities comprises 2 components: a tabular dataset of WANG Yangming’s life activity footprints and classification of key events, including year, position, historical and modern place names, event descriptions, and classifications; and spatial point data of life footprints and key event locations, categorized into teaching, military, life, and official career events.

4.2 Data Results Analysis

The attribute table of Mr. WANG Yangming’s life activity footprints and classification of key events covers 11 attribute fields across 4 classes: Person, Event, Time, and Place. In the CIDOC CRM mapping, the Person class (E21) encompasses key attributes such as age and office position. The Event class (E5) incorporates pivotal events and human activities (E7); since the attribute table is structured using an annual recording unit, these events also manifest mobility characteristics (E9). The Time-Span class (E52) includes lunar years and reign-year chronologies. The Place class (E53) comprises modern and ancient place names, reflecting WANG Yangming’s location transitions through toponymic changes. Finally, the Type class (E55) is categorized into official career, military, teaching, and life.

Over his 57-year life, WANG Yangming’s activities spanned the Chenghua to Jiajing reigns of the Ming Dynasty, ranging from his hometown Yuyao in Zhejiang to Beijing in the north, the Guangdong and Guangxi region in the south, and Guizhou in the west. He studied in Zhejiang and Beijing before entering officialdom through the imperial examinations. Exiled to Guizhou in his middle years, he experienced the Longchang Enlightenment, a major intellectual turning point. After reinstatement, he served in Jiangxi and other regions, demonstrating his military abilities in campaigns against uprisings and the Rebellion of Prince Ning. In later years, he returned to Shaoxing to lecture. In terms of event type distribution, official career events were the most numerous, mainly distributed across Beijing, Jiangxi, and other posts. Military events were fewer, concentrated in his middle and later years, particularly in Jiangxi and Fujian. Teaching evolved from early examination studies to public lecturing after the Longchang Enlightenment, while life events remained centered in Zhejiang. Overall, each event type displayed distinct stage-specific patterns across regions and ages (Table 5, Figure 1).

Table 5  Event types and footprint waypoints of Mr. WANG Yangming’s life

Figure 1  Footprint sites map of Mr. WANG Yangming’s life activities

Key events in WANG Yangming’s official career are classified into 5 subcategories: assuming office, promotion, banishment/demotion, resignation/retirement, and reinstatement/reappointment. Among his life footprints, 30 key events relate to his official career, including appointments to the Nanjing Ministry of Justice and Chuzhou; promotions including appointment as Secretary of the Yunnan Bureau of the Ministry of Justice and elevation to Director of the Bureau of Evaluations of the Ministry of Personnel; demotion to Longchang after submitting a memorial to plead for the accused; repeated requests for leave or retirement, and reinstatement and subsequent promotions following exile.

Key military events are divided into 2 subcategories: expeditions/rebellion suppression and garrisoning/inspection. A total of 10 such events are identified, including the suppression of the Zhangzhou uprising, banditry in Hengshui, Tonggang, and Sanli, and the Rebellion of Prince Ning (ZHU Chenhao), among other expeditions and rebellion-suppression events; and his appointments as Left Assistant Censor-in-chief of the Censorate and Grand Coordinator and Superintendent of Military Affairs in Nan’gan and Tingshao, and later as Supreme Commander of Military Affairs and Director-general of Grain and Salt Supplies in Guangdong and Guangxi, and Grand Coordinator in Guangdong, overseeing military affairs in Si’en and Tianzhou, among other garrisoning and inspection events.

Key events in the teaching category are divided into 2 subcategories: academy lecturing and pursuit of knowledge. The dataset identifies 12 events in this category. Academy-lecturing events include WANG Yangming’s invitation by XI Shu, the Surveillance Vice Commissioner and Education Intendant, to lecture at Guiyang Academy; the period during which he systematically taught the doctrines of the School of Mind in Shaoxing; and his establishment of Yangming Academy and subsequent teaching at Jishan Academy. Pursuit-of-knowledge events include his success in the Zhejiang Provincial Examination and his attainment of the jinshi (metropolitan graduate) degree.

Key life events are divided into 4 subcategories: returning home, visiting relatives, and relocation; family events; recuperation and rest; and travel and visits to friends. A total of 21 events are identified. Events involving his return home, visits to relatives, and relocation include paying respects at his ancestral tombs in Yuyao and revisiting former residences. Family events include his birth in Yuyao, marriage to Lady Zhu, and the birth of his son Zhengyi. Recuperation-and-rest events include the recurrence of his lung illness, his request for medical leave to return home, and retreat at Yangming Cave. Travel and visits to friends include excursions to the mountains with his disciples.

5 Discussion and Conclusion

This study develops a dataset of WANG Yangming’s activities in his life. The CIDOC CRM-based event classification system supports the existing Zhejiang dataset to provide regional and national data collections for research on the dissemination of the School of Mind, historical geography, and digital humanities.

The results classify key events into 4 categories: official career, military, teaching, and life. Official career forms the backbone of his activities, covering appointment, promotion, banishment, and reinstatement. Military events reflect local governance and rebellion suppression; teaching events include study and academy lectures; and life events cover returning home, family events, recuperation, and travel.

The dataset nevertheless has certain limitations in the chronological and spatial precision of some records. Future research could therefore further verify and refine the temporal and geographical locations associated with WANG Yangming’s life trajectories.

Author Contributions

Ma, R. F. and Shao, X. Y. did the overall design of the dataset development. Shao, X. Y., Lu, C. Q., Chen, X. and Zheng, S. S. contributed to the data collection and processing. Shao, X. Y., Lu, C. Q. and Chen, X. wrote the data paper, and Ma, R. F. finally reviewed the data and paper.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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