extracts from previously existing literature. Considering the date of production (A.D. 987), the Yü Lan must be regarded as a highly meritorious achievement. The next large encyclopaedia to appear (not counting the Wên Hsien T'ung K'ao) was the 玉海 Yü Hai or 'Sea of Jade', in 21 sections, comprising upwards of 240 subheads. 王應麟 Wang Ying-lin, the author, died in 1296, but his work was not printed until half a century later. By the time it appeared, the original edition of the T'ai P'ing Yü Lan was almost unprocurable, and it therefore supplied a keenly felt want. Although its plan is somewhat less systematic and complete than that of the Imperial encyclopaedia, the extracts are on the average longer, and, regarded as the work of one man, the Yü Hai is certainly a monument of industry and erudition. Passing over the gigantic 永樂大典 Yung Lo Ta Tien,[1] which was not strictly speaking a lei-shu, but arranged according to the characters in a rhyming dictionary, besides a number of other encyclopaedias of lesser importance, we come to the 淵鑒類函 Yüan Chien Lei Han, which was published in 1710, antedating the T'u Shu by less than twenty years. Primarily designed as a collection of phraseology for the purposes of poetic composition, it out-grew its original conception, and forms a magnificent thesaurus of extracts from the best classes of literature, both ancient and modern. It is divided into 45 sections, beginning with Heaven, and ending with the Animal Kingdom, classified as Birds, Beasts, Scaly Creatures and Insects. Each section (部),[2] as in the Yü Lan and Yü Hai, contains a varying number of subheads; e.g. under 舟 'Boats' there are 14, while other sections contain over 100. Although the Lei Han is in 450 chüan only, these contain perhaps half as much matter again as the 1,000 chüan of the Yü Lan. On the other hand, there is very little difference so far as the general plan and the arrangement are concerned.
In this latter respect, as well as in size, the 古今圖書集成 Ku Chin T'u Shu Chi Ch'êng marks a notable step in advance.History of the 'T‘u Shu.' Like its forerunners, this encyclopaedia was designed to provide a comprehensive survey of all that was best in the literature of the past, dealing with every branch of knowledge. It is thus a direct descendant of the Yü Lan. The early history of this great undertaking is obscure. All we know is that the scheme of the work had been conceived and formulated by the Emperor K'ang Hsi 'several decades' before the end of his reign, and that 陳孟雷 Ch'ên Mêng-leiCh‘ên Mêng-lei was the man chosen to carry it into execution.[3] The latter was a scholar of brilliant parts who had been mixed up in the rebellion of 吳三桂 Wu San-kuei and 耿精忠 Kêng Ching-chung in 1674, and subsequently pardoned by the Emperor. For some reason, however, he seems to have incurred the special enmity of Yung Chêng, K'ang Hsi's son and successor; for no sooner was the new sovereign on the throne than he fulminated the following decree of banishment against him (dated January, 1723)[4]:—
- ↑ Completed in 1407, in 22,877 books, with table of contents in 60 books. It was never printed, and the last remaining transcript was burned with the Hanlin College in 1900. Four odd volumes are now in the Chinese library at the British Museum.
- ↑ In the T'u Shu the corresponding sections are called 典, and the subheads 部.
- ↑ In the Industries anciennes et modernes de l'Empire Chinois, by Stanislas Julien and Paul Champion (Paris, 1869, p. 159), the following statement is made, without indication of the authority: 'Sous le règne de l'empereur Khang-hi, qui monta sur le trône en 1662, des missionnaires européens, qui jouissaient d'un grand crédit auprès de ce monarque, le décidèrent à faire graver deux cent cinquante mille types mobiles en cuivre, qui servirent à imprimer une collection d'ouvrages anciens'.
- ↑ For the Chinese text, see Appendix I.
