Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Visual Languages and Computing journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jvlc Knowledge graph based on domain ontology and natural language processing technology for Chinese intangible cultural heritage Jinhua Dou a,b,c , Jingyan Qin a,b, ⁎ , Zanxia Jin a , Zhuang Li a a School of Computer and Communication Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, No. 30, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China b School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, No. 30, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China c School of Art & Design, Tianjin University of Technology, No. 391, Binshui Xidao, Xiqing District, Tianjin, China ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Intangible cultural heritage The 24 solar terms Domain ontology Knowledge graph Natural language processing Deep learning ABSTRACT Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a precious historical and cultural resource of a country. Protection and inheritance of ICH is important to the sustainable development of national culture. There are many different intangible cultural heritage items in China. With the development of information technology, ICH database resources were built by government departments or public cultural services institutions, but most databases were widely dispersed. Certain traditional database systems are disadvantageous to storage, management and analysis of massive data. At the same time, a large quantity of data has been produced, accompanied by digital intangible cultural heritage development. The public is unable to grasp key knowledge quickly because of the massive and fragmented nature of the data. To solve these problems, we proposed the intangible cultural heritage knowledge graph to assist knowledge management and provide a service to the public. ICH domain ontology was defined with the help of intangible cultural heritage experts and knowledge engineers to regulate the concept, attribute and relationship of ICH knowledge. In this study, massive ICH data were obtained, and domain knowledge was extracted from ICH text data using the Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology. A knowledge base based on domain ontology and instances for Chinese intangible cultural heritage was constructed, and the knowledge graph was developed. The pattern and characteristics behind the intangible cultural heritage were presented based on the ICH knowledge graph. The knowledge graph for ICH could foster support for organization, man- agement and protection of the intangible cultural heritage knowledge. The public can also obtain the ICH knowledge quickly and discover the linked knowledge. The knowledge graph is helpful for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. 1. Introduction Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a precious historical and cul- tural resource of one's country. “Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage [1].” Protection and inheritance of ICH are im- portant to sustainable development of the national culture. There are many existing problems in the process of ICH protection and in- heritance. For instance, with the development of social economy, cer- tain ICH items have lost their survival environment- modern technology replaces traditional handicrafts, and it has a considerable impact on intangible cultural heritage. Additionally, the public also lacks interest in traditional intangible culture. These factors have led to the extinction of certain intangible cultural heritage items. With the development of information technology, e.g., database technology, internet of things (IOT), virtual reality (VR) and 3D scan- ning technology, the digital intangible cultural heritage protection methods have quickly grown. A public cultural service platform, data- base and websites of ICH were built by such organizations as culture management departments and relevant institutions. Because of this platform's flexible operation, convenient storage and management of information resources, the ICH digital service platform based on data- base technology has become an important way to protect and inherit intangible cultural heritage. There is rich and diverse intangible cultural heritage in China. National level intangible cultural heritage consists of a total of 1836 items [2–5]. In addition, there are also many regional intangible cul- tural heritage items, such as provincial level intangible cultural heritage https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvlc.2018.06.005 Received 19 January 2018; Received in revised form 10 June 2018; Accepted 26 June 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Computer and Communication Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, No. 30, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China. E-mail addresses: doujinhua6971@163.com (J. Dou), Qinjingyanking@foxmail.com (J. Qin), Jinzanxia_go@163.com (Z. Jin), lz_ustb@sina.com (Z. Li). Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 48 (2018) 19–28 1045-926X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T