Visual storytelling of Song Ci and the poets in the social–cultural context of Song dynasty

Abstract

Song Ci is treasured in traditional Chinese culture, which indicates social and cultural evolution in ancient times. Despite the efforts by historians and litterateurs in investigating the characteristics of Song Ci, it is still unclear how to effectively distribute and promote Song Ci in the public sphere. The complexity and abstraction of Song Ci hamper the general public from closely reading, analyzing, and appreciating these excellent works. By means of a set of visual analysis methods, e.g. the spatio-temporal visualization, we exploit visual storytelling to explicitly present the latent and abstractive features of Song Ci. We apply straightway visual charts and lighten the burden of understanding the stories, in order to achieve an effective public distribution. The effectiveness and aesthetics of our work are demonstrated by a user study of three participants with different backgrounds. The result reveals that our story is effective in the distribution, understanding, and promotion of Song Ci.