China's leading web search company has launched an online, user-generated encyclopedia modelled on the US-based Wikipedia, which is blocked by Beijing. The new service from Baidu.com, Baidupedia, is heavily self-censored to avoid offending the Chinese government. Wikipedia had become increasingly popular in China until blocked in 2005. China has strict laws on internet use and blocks content it deems a threat, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre and notable dissidents.
L’excellent blog d’Imagethief [Confessions of an American Spin Doctor in Beijing] reformulait dès le lendemain les données du problème dans un article intitulé Baidupedia dont voici l’essentiel :
Baidu has launched it's own user-generated encyclopedia, filling the gap that has existed since the Chinese authorities decided that Wikipedia was a swamp of dangerously controversial agitprop and punted it outside the great firewall:
The new service from Baidu.com, Baidupedia, is heavily self-censored to avoid offending the Chinese government. (...) Baidu has barred users from including any "malicious evaluation of the current national system", any "attack on government institutions" or even "promotion of a dispirited or negative view of life". This would be entirely in keeping with the standard Chinese government approach of setting vague guidelines, giving you a hard stare, and then letting you censor yourself far more effectively than they ever could. It also ensures that essentially any material deemed objectionable for any reason whatsoever can be deemed to transgress against at least some aspect of the content restrictions.
 Nevertheless, Baidupedia (or 百科, which is both shorthand for the Chinese word for encyclopedia, 百科全书, and agreeably close to 百度) now claims almost 110,000 entries, putting it substantially ahead of Wikipedia's 67,000 Chinese entries [维基百科，自由的百科全书].Anyway, a quick'n'shallow search for the old "Tian'anmen Square" litmus topic reveals articles on the banalities of the square's construction, history, and dimensions (this one in particular is worth a read if you want to be overcome by revolutionary spirit); the Monument to the People's Heroes; modern Chinese architecture; Beijing's Xicheng and Dongcheng districts; the PLA Type 99 tank; China's national day, etc. Seems ready for mass consumption. In fact, the expected paucity of controversial topics aside, I am all for China having its own wiki-style encyclopedia, although it's a shame they can't now contribute to the original Wikipedia. In fact, as a regular user of the actual Wikipedia, I can report that somewhat tighter editing and management hand might serve it well also, although I'd stop short of the political controls. Imagethief ajoutait aussitôt une note fournissant les réponses (ici en italiques) du responsable marketing du site chinois aux accusations portées contre Baidu Baike de piller Wikipedia : "The sharing of information is instrumental in the development and the continuity of knowledge." The act of sifting out relevant information and editing is in itself a process of information packaging, he pointed out. "Baidu Baike has a rigorous copyright system to protect the rights of the original contributor and editor of an entry," he said. Yes, the sharing of information is, de facto, instrumental in the development and continuity of knowledge. But usually the small matter of attribution is also considered important. If they're unclear on the concept, perhaps they can look it up in an encyclopedia. |
| Il ne restait plus qu’à voir comment ce Wiki-chinois traite Li Yu. Aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait, en un clic apparaissait une notice, dûment illustrée de la photo déjà utilisée ici pour MEA CULPA. En quelque 2000 caractères sont évoqués des éléments de la vie de Li Yu, principalement après 1666. L’accent est surtout mis sur son Xianqing ouji 闲情偶寄 pour lequel une rubrique a même été créée. Les autres œuvres ne sont qu’évoquées dans une énumération finale. Rien de bien renversant donc. Si lecteur sinisant en a plus que dans le Wiki-libre, il ne trouve plus de bibliographie. Par contre, il peut pousser sa recherche un peu plus loin et avoir, chemin faisant, d’agréables surprises. La recherche sur Li Yu révèle un aspect de Baidupedia à explorer plus avant. Le moteur de recherche propose, en effet, un choix d’une soixantaine d’entrées de type encyclopédique dont une sur Patrick Hanan, mais conduit également vers des entrées d’un dictionnaire qui s’appuie sur des citations de textes de Li Yu (romans, pièces de théâtre). |
 La source utilisée n’est pas signalée. Dans les cas consultés, il s’agit du monumental Hanyu dacidian 汉语大词典 supervisé par Luo Zhufeng 罗竹风, publié par les éditions Hanyu dacidian (Shanghai) d’abord en douze volumes en 1986, puis plus récemment (1997) en trois gros volumes fort peu maniables et depuis peu sur support numérique.Ainsi donc, à l’usage, Baidupedia (Baidu baike 百度百科), dont l’existence vient d’être signalée aux membres de l'Association française d'études chinoises dans sa dernière lettre d’information (n° 52), pourrait devenir un outil utile au sinologue en chambre. Il semble pourtant moins prometteur que le Baidu guoxue 百度国学, qui devrait répondre encore mieux à ses attentes. |
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