ICH-Qwen: A Large Language Model Towards Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage

TL;DR

This paper introduces ICH-Qwen, a large language model trained on Chinese intangible cultural heritage data, aimed at aiding preservation, dissemination, and research of cultural assets amidst modernization challenges.

Contribution

The study develops a specialized large language model for Chinese ICH, integrating synthetic data and fine-tuning to enhance domain-specific understanding and applications.

Findings

ICH-Qwen effectively performs ICH-specific tasks

The model supports preservation and dissemination efforts

It offers new tools for digital humanities research

Abstract

The intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of China, a cultural asset transmitted across generations by various ethnic groups, serves as a significant testament to the evolution of human civilization and holds irreplaceable value for the preservation of historical lineage and the enhancement of cultural self-confidence. However, the rapid pace of modernization poses formidable challenges to ICH, including threats damage, disappearance and discontinuity of inheritance. China has the highest number of items on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, which is indicative of the nation's abundant cultural resources and emphasises the pressing need for ICH preservation. In recent years, the rapid advancements in large language modelling have provided a novel technological approach for the preservation and dissemination of ICH. This study utilises a substantial corpus of open-source Chinese ICH data to develop a large language model, ICH-Qwen, for the ICH domain. The model employs natural language understanding and knowledge reasoning capabilities of large language models, augmented with synthetic data and fine-tuning techniques. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of ICH-Qwen in executing tasks specific to the ICH domain. It is anticipated that the model will provide intelligent solutions for the protection, inheritance and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage, as well as new theoretical and practical references for the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage. Furthermore, it is expected that the study will open up new paths for digital humanities research.