---
license: cc0-1.0
task_categories:
- text-classification
task_ids:
- multi-class-classification
language:
- zh
multilinguality:
- monolingual
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
pretty_name: Classical Chinese Poetry Theme Classification
tags:
- poetry
- chinese
- classical-chinese
- theme-classification
- multi-class-classification
- mteb
- poetrymteb
- embedding-evaluation
annotations_creators:
- expert-generated
source_datasets:
- doi:10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK
configs:
- config_name: default
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: data/train-*
  - split: test
    path: data/test-*
  default: true
dataset_info:
- config_name: default
  features:
  - name: id
    dtype: string
  - name: poem
    dtype: string
  - name: label
    dtype: int64
  - name: label_name
    dtype: string
  - name: label_name_en
    dtype: string
  - name: label_name_zh
    dtype: string
  splits:
  - name: train
    num_examples: 2624
  - name: test
    num_examples: 292
---

# Classical Chinese Poetry Theme Classification

Multi-class **theme classification** of **classical Chinese poetry** for PoetryMTEB embedding evaluation.

Upstream: [A thematic classification dataset for Classical Chinese poetry](https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK) (Hou, Harvard Dataverse, [DOI](https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK)), with Hou & Zhang, *JOCH* 2024 ([paper](https://doi.org/10.1145/3685679)). Nearly 3,000 annotated poems across **seven** themes (Chunqiu → Qing).

## Dataset Card

| Item | Description |
|------|-------------|
| **Dataset version (PoetryMTEB)** | `1.0.1` |
| **Source** | [Harvard Dataverse DVN/6QJ7RK](https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK) (`train.xlsx` / `test.xlsx`) |
| **Paper** | Hou J, Zhang S. *Exploring Thematic Diversity in Classical Chinese Poetry…* *JOCH* 17(4), 2024 ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1145/3685679)) |
| **Languages** | Classical Chinese / Chinese (`zh`) |
| **Unit** | Full poem text (`poem`) |
| **Labels** | Single-label **7** themes (`label` **0–6**, matching Dataverse README) |
| **Size** | train=2624; test=292; **total=2916** |
| **Splits** | **train / test only** (no validation) |
| **License** | [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) |
| **Evaluation metrics** | Accuracy, macro/micro F1 |

## Label taxonomy (7)

| id | label_name (zh) | name_en | train | test | total |
|---:|-----------------|---------|------:|-----:|------:|
| 0 | `爱情婚姻` | Love and Marriage | 269 | 43 | 312 |
| 1 | `交友送别` | Friendship and Farewell | 621 | 74 | 695 |
| 2 | `羁旅思乡` | Journey and Homesickness | 318 | 35 | 353 |
| 3 | `边塞战争` | Frontier and War | 207 | 23 | 230 |
| 4 | `山水田园` | Landscape and Countryside | 337 | 31 | 368 |
| 5 | `咏史怀古` | History and Nostalgia | 354 | 33 | 387 |
| 6 | `托物言志` | Expressing emotions through objects | 518 | 53 | 571 |

| id | Description (EN) |
|---:|------------------|
| 0 | Joys, sorrows, and ups and downs of love, marriage, and family life. |
| 1 | Praise of friendship, sorrow of parting, anticipation of reunion. |
| 2 | Longing for hometown and family; loneliness of travel and exile. |
| 3 | Border warfare; loyalty, courage, and sacrifice of soldiers. |
| 4 | Love of natural scenery; pastoral and landscape imagery. |
| 5 | Historical events, figures, and cultural memory; nostalgia. |
| 6 | Thoughts and feelings conveyed via portrayal/symbolism of objects. |

Codebook: `label_taxonomy.json`.

## Features

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `id` | string | Example id (`ccptc-{split}-{row}`) |
| `poem` | string | **Classification input** |
| `label` | int64 | Theme id **0–6** |
| `label_name` | string | Chinese theme name |
| `label_name_en` | string | English theme name |
| `label_name_zh` | string | Chinese theme name |

## Construction method

1. Download upstream `train.xlsx` / `test.xlsx` from Dataverse.
2. Keep official **0–6** labels; attach ZH/EN names from the Dataverse README.
3. Write PoetryMTEB parquet + Dataset Card + supporting materials.

## Supporting materials

| Path | Content |
|------|---------|
| `VERSION` / `LICENSE` / `CITATION.*` / `metadata.json` | Packaging metadata |
| `label_taxonomy.json` | Theme codebook (ZH/EN) |
| `splits/*_ids.txt` | Split id lists |
| `checksums.sha256` | File checksums |
| `scripts/evaluate_cc_theme_clf.py` | Baseline TF-IDF + LR probe |

## How to load

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("PoetryMTEB/ClassicalChinesePoetryThemeClassification")
print(ds["train"][0]["poem"][:80])
print(ds["train"][0]["label_name"], ds["train"][0]["label_name_en"], ds["train"][0]["label"])
```

## Citation

```bibtex
@article{10.1145/3685679,
  author  = {Hou, Jingrui and Zhang, Shitou},
  title   = {Exploring Thematic Diversity in Classical Chinese Poetry: A Novel Dataset and a BERT-enhanced Ensemble Learning Approach},
  year    = {2024},
  journal = {Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage},
  volume  = {17},
  number  = {4},
  publisher = {ACM},
  doi     = {10.1145/3685679},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3685679}
}
```

```bibtex
@data{hou2024classical_theme,
  author = {Hou, Jingrui},
  title  = {A thematic classification dataset for Classical Chinese poetry},
  year   = {2024},
  publisher = {Harvard Dataverse},
  doi    = {10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK},
  url    = {https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK}
}
```

This Hub packaging: `PoetryMTEB/ClassicalChinesePoetryThemeClassification` (version 1.0.1)

## License

**CC0 1.0** ([Dataverse](https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/6QJ7RK)).

---

# 古典汉语诗歌主题分类（中文说明）

7 类：爱情婚姻、交友送别、羁旅思乡、边塞战争、山水田园、咏史怀古、托物言志。  
train=2624 / test=292（无 validation）；标签 **0–6**。