Call for Papers: Playing Heaven – Remapping Early Modern Neo-Confucian Worlds with AI

The “Playing Heaven” team is now accepting paper submissions for their mini-conference at DH2026, scheduled for 28 July 2026 (Pre-Conference Day 2).

This mini-conference invites intellectual historians, specialists in early modern East Asia, and scholars in the digital humanities to present 20-minute papers on the effective application of artificial intelligence to the study of the history of ideas, cultural history, and multilingual historical research.

About the Project

“Playing Heaven” is an inter-university collaboration based in Hong Kong and Singapore and one of the inaugural recipients of the Schmidt Sciences Humanities and AI Virtual Institute (HAVI) grant. The project seeks to rethink the intellectual and cultural history of early modern East Asia through the development of a domain-specific AI system. Rather than treating philosophical schools, literary traditions, and cultural practices as fixed categories, the project approaches them as historically contingent formations shaped by processes of transmission, adaptation, and reinterpretation.

This DH2026 mini-conference constitutes the second part of the Playing Heaven team’s project launch. The first launch event is scheduled to be held at the University of Hong Kong on 1 June 2026.

Submission Guidelines

• Abstract length: Up to 500 words in English (excluding bibliography)
• Format: PDF
• Submission deadline: 21 April 2026, 23:59 (anywhere on Earth)
• Submit to: javiercha@hku.hk
• Notification of acceptance: 30 April 2026

Submissions will be evaluated on the basis of originality, rigour, and significance. Selected contributors will be required to register for DH2026.

For further information, please contact Javier Cha (javiercha@hku.hk).