Sancai Tuhui

Sancai Tuhui(Chinese:Tam tài đồ hội,san-TS'EYETOO-khwey), compiled by Wang Qi (Chinese:Vương kỳ) and his son Wang Siyi (Vương tư nghĩa), is a Chineseleishuencyclopedia, completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the lateMing dynasty,featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heaven, earth, and humanity. The work contains a large number of posthumous and contemporary depictions ofChinese emperors.

Sancai Tuhui
The world mapShanhai Yudi QuantuinSancai Tuhui
Traditional Chinese	Tam tàiĐồHội
Simplified Chinese	Tam tài đồ hội
Literal meaning	collection of illustrations of the three realms
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sāncái Túhuì Wade–Giles San1-tsai2Tu2-hui4 IPA [sán.tsʰǎɪ tʰǔ.xwêɪ] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping saam1 coi4 tou4 wui6

Title

The title of this encyclopedia has been variously translated into English as "Illustrations of the Three Powers","Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms", "Pictorial Compendium of the Three Powers", and others; in the original title, "Sancai" (Tam tài) refers to the three realms of "heaven, earth, and man", and "Tuhui" (Đồ hội) means "collection of illustrations".

Description

This encyclopedia is organized into 106 chapters in 14 categories (astronomy,geography,biographies,history,biology,and such), with text and illustrations for the articles. Reproductions of this encyclopedia are still in print in China.

While it contains some inaccurate or mythological articles (for example, the articles on thehorseshoe craband thecrane), it also distinguished itself from the common "everyday encyclopedias" (Nhật dụng loại thư,riyong leishu) at that time by being accurate in some other articles (for example, accurate depictions of theJapanese,KoreanandVietnamesepeople'sclothing,and a very accurateworld map(theShanhai Yudi Quantu).

See also

• Song Yingxing
• Wakan Sansai Zue- A Japanese encyclopedia inspired by the ChineseSancai Tuhui

External links

• (in Chinese)http://www.ncl.edu.tw/rarebook/oldcol.htm
• (in Chinese)https://web.archive.org/web/20050316001242/http://www.lib.ntu.edu.tw/dbs/dbs/ref/BOOKchin.htm
• (in Chinese)https://archive.today/20031217211032/http://www.xhlib.net/xinshu02.htm(World Maps in the Ming Dynasty from the Shanghai Xuhui District Library)
• (in English)http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~ihpcamp/pdf/92year/wang-cheng-hua-2.pdf- Wang, Cheng-hua.""Art and Daily Life: Knowledge and Social Space in Late-MingRiyong Leishu""(PDF).(207KiB),pp. 8–9.
• (in Chinese)http://horseshoecrab.sinica.edu.tw/15th.htm
• (in Chinese)https://web.archive.org/web/20051128075412/http://www.fhk.gov.tw/fhkbook/hist/hist.asp-sq_no=45.htm
• (in English)http://www.rice.edu//fondren/erc/projects/jingban/(A map from the Chinese encyclopedia)