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Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China

TheComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China(or theGujin Tushu Jicheng) is a vastencyclopedicwork written in China during the reigns of theQing dynastyemperorsKangxiandYongzheng.It was begun in 1700 and completed in 1725. The work was headed and compiled mainly by scholarChen Menglei(Trần mộng lôi). Later on the Chinese painterJiang Tingxihelped work on it as well.

TheColumbia Universitycopy of theComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China,rebound in a Western style by Professor Frederick Hirth for ease of handling

The encyclopaedia contained 10,000 volumes. Sixty-four imprints were made of the first edition, known as the Wu-ying Hall edition. The encyclopaedia consisted of 6 series, 32 divisions, and 6,117 sections.[1]It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 millionChinese characters,[2]making it the largestleishuever printed. Topics covered included natural phenomena,geography,history,literatureandgovernment.The work was printed in 1726 using coppermovable typeprinting. It spanned around 10 thousand rolls (Quyển). To illustrate the huge size of theComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China,it is estimated to have contained 3 to 4 times the amount of material in theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.[3]

In 1908, theGuangxu Emperorof China presented a set of the encyclopaedia in 5,000 fascicles to theChina Society of London,which has deposited it on loan toCambridge University Library.[4]Another one of the three extant copies of the encyclopedia outside of China is located at theC.V. Starr East Asian LibraryatColumbia University.A complete copy in Japan was destroyed in the1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

One of Yongzheng's brothers patronised the project for a while, although Yongzheng contrived to give exclusive credit to his father Kangxi instead.

Name

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TheComplete Classics Collection of Ancient Chinais known as theGujin Tushu Jicheng(traditional Chinese:Cổ kim đồ thư tập thành;simplified Chinese:Cổ kim đồ thư tập thành;pinyin:Gǔjīn Túshū Jíchéng;Wade–Giles:Ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'eng;lit.'complete collection of illustrations and books from the earliest period to the present') orQinding Gujin Tushu Jicheng(Chinese:Khâm định cổ kim đồ thư tập thành)[5]in Chinese, also translated as theImperial Encyclopaedia,theComplete Collection of Ancient and Modern Illustrations and Texts,theComplete Collection of Ancient and Modern Writings and Charts,or theComplete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times.

Compilation

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Illustration of mountains and rivers in Volume 52 of theComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China(3rd year of Yongzheng, Qing dynasty, 1725, Chen Menglei)

TheKangxi EmperorhiredChen MengleiofFujianto compile the encyclopedia. From 1700 to 1705, Chen Menglei worked day and night, writing most of the book, including 10,000 volumes and around 160 million words. It was originally titled theCompendiumor Tushu Huibian ( đồ thư hối biên ). By 1706 the book's first draft was completed, and the Kangxi emperor changed the title toComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China(Gujin Tushu Jicheng). When the Yongzheng emperor ascended the throne, he ordered Jiang Tingxi to help Chen Menglei finish the encyclopedia for publication by around 1725.[6]

Outline

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The 6 series are as follows.[7]

  1. Heavens/Time/Calendrics ( lịch tượng ): Celestial objects, the seasons, calendar mathematics and astronomy, heavenly portents
  2. Earth/Geography ( phương dư ): Mineralogy, political geography, list of rivers and mountains, other nations (Korea, Japan, India,Kingdom of Khotan,Ryukyu Kingdom)
  3. Man/Society ( minh luận ): Imperial attributes and annals, the imperial household, biographies of mandarins, kinship and relations, social intercourse, dictionary of surnames, human relations, biographies of women
  4. Nature ( bác vật ): Procivilities (crafts, divination, games, medicine), spirits and unearthly beings, fauna, flora (all life forms on Earth)
  5. Philosophy ( lý học ): Classics of non-fiction, aspects of philosophy (numerology, filial piety, shame, etc.), forms of writing, philology and literary studies
  6. Economy ( kinh tế ): education andimperial examination,maintenance of the civil service, food and commerce, etiquette and ceremony, music, the military system, the judicial system, styles of craft and architecture

The six series in total are subdivided into 32 subdivisions.

Note that a pre-modern sense is intended in both "society" (that is, high society) and "economy" (which could be called "society" today), and the other major divisions do not match precisely to English terms.

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Part 1: Heavens/Astronomy

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Part 2: Geography

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Territories

  • Map of the Qing dynasty's east coast (Mongolia and Taiwan marked as mông cổ and đài loan, Ryukyu and Korea marked as lưu cầu and triều tiên )
  • Further inside China (Chengdu marked as thành đô and the northern desert marked as sa mạc )
  • Map ofShanxi
  • Map ofGuangdong
  • Map ofJiaozhi(Vietnam)
  • Map ofFujian

Borders

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Part 3: Society

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Human Affairs

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Describes someanatomyof the human body

  • Diagram of human body
  • Liverdiagram
  • Dragon

Imperial Harem

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Imperial Perfection

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Part 4: Nature

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Plant Kingdom

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Part 5: Philosophy

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Canonical and other Literature section

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  • Page from theComplete Classics Collection of Ancient China
  • Guhe diagram ( cổ hà đồ )
  • Hetu Shengchengtu ( hà đồ sinh thành đồ )
  • Fuxi( phục hi ) diagram
  • Bagua
  • Qiankun ( càn khôn ) diagram
  • Tiandiji number diagram ( thiên địa cực sổ đồ )
  • Bagua trigrams
  • Xingtu ( tính đồ ) with calendar dates

Mathematics

  • Odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.
  • Parity:even and odd numbers

Education and Conduct

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Study of Characters

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  • Wang Yingdian liuyi tujie ( vương ứng điện lục nghĩa đồ giải )

Part 6: Economy

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Military

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Punishments and blessing

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  • Nine star diagram ( cửu tinh đồ )

Food

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^"Ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'eng (Completed Collections of Graphs and Writings of Ancient and Modern Times)".npm.gov.tw. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-11-25.Retrieved2012-07-25.
  2. ^Allen, Tony; Grant, R. G.; Parker, Philip; Celtel, Kay; Kramer, Ann; Weeks, Marcus (June 2022).Timelines of World History(First American ed.). New York:DK.p. 176.ISBN978-0-7440-5627-3.
  3. ^Fowler, Robert L. (1997), "Encyclopaedias: Definitions and Theoretical Problems", in P. Binkley,Pre-Modern Encyclopaedic Texts,Brill, p. 9; citing Diény, Jean-Pierre (1991), "Les encyclopédies chinoises,"inActes du colloque de Caen 12–16 janvier 1987,Paris, p. 198.
  4. ^"Introduction to the Chinese Collections".Cambridge University Library.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-12-23.Retrieved2012-07-25.
  5. ^Wilkinson, Endymion Porter; Wilkinson, Scholar and Diplomat (Eu Ambassador to China 1994–2001) Endymion (2000).Chinese History: A Manual.Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 605.ISBN978-0-674-00249-4.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^Elman, Benjamin A. (2009).On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550–1900.Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-03647-5.
  7. ^"An alphabetical index to the Chinese encyclopaedia... Chʻin ting ku chin tʻu shu chi chʻêng".1911.

Sources

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