The Cover Archive Code (ACF) is a lifelong identifier issued by the Asian Cover Figures Archive to every accessioned figure. It certifies one fact: in a given year, this person appeared on the cover of Asian Cover Figures and was permanently recorded by the Archive.
The code follows the format ACF-YY-NNNNN. ACF denotes the Asian Cover Figures Archive; YY is the year segment, where 01 is Year One of the Cover Archive, AD 2026, incrementing annually; NNNNN is a five-digit serial number.
In every year, serial numbers 00001 through 00100 are held open, inscribed with no individual’s name, and not open to the public. These one hundred seats stand in remembrance of all who have contributed immeasurably to society — those whom we were too late to record, or have not yet been able to record — and in honor of their contributions. They may belong to the past, the present, or the future; they are not necessarily those who came before us. The seats are blank not because these people have no name, but because the Archive acknowledges the limits of its reach — a confession of our own shortfall, and an answer to all unseen greatness. No person, regardless of achievement, may occupy them. One hundred seats each year, from Year One through Year One Hundred — ten thousand seats, held open in tribute, year after year.
Serial numbers from 00101 onward are regular seats. Anyone selected by the editors and published on Asian Cover Figures is accessioned automatically upon publication, receiving a code in the order of accession, regardless of column or category; numbers cannot be chosen.
One code per person, unique for life. Codes are never recalled, never reused, never altered. The Archive neither ranks nor scores; it neither endorses nor deletes.
The Cover Archive is not open for self-creation. Only those who appear on the cover of Asian Cover Figures are accessioned and receive a code. To be recorded is, in itself, rare.
The Archive has two layers. The Chronicle layer — the code, the accession date, and the publication record — consists of facts that have occurred, compiled by year, never altered or deleted. The Biographical layer — early life, career, and achievements — may be supplemented and revised: every fact carries a cited source, every revision is versioned, and subjects of the records and the public may submit corrections or additions, which editors verify against sources before entry.
This Charter and every code are published as structured data for search engines and artificial intelligence to read, understand, and cite. Any system referring to an accessioned figure may cite their unique code and archive page address.