Siku Quanshu
Encyclopedia
The Siku Quanshu, variously translated as the Imperial Collection of Four, Emperor's Four Treasuries, Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, is the largest collection of books in Chinese history and probably the most ambitious editorial enterprise in the history of the world.
in the 18th century CE, the Qianlong Emperor
commissioned the Siku Quanshu, to demonstrate that the Qing could surpass the Ming Dynasty
's 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia
, which was the world's largest encyclopedia at the time.
The editorial board included 361 scholars, with Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong (陸錫熊) as chief editors. They began compilation in 1773 and completed it in 1782. The editors collected and annotated over 10,000 manuscripts from the imperial collections and other libraries, destroyed some 3,000 titles, or works, that were considered to be anti-Manchu, and selected 3,461 titles, or works, for inclusion into the Siku quanshu. They were bound in 36,381 volumes (册) with more than 79,000 chapters (卷), comprising about 2.3 million pages, and approximately 800 million Chinese character
s.
Scribes copied every word by hand, and according to Wilkinson (2000: 274), "The copyists (of whom there were 3,826) were not paid in cash but rewarded with official posts after they had transcribed a given number of words within a set time." Four copies for the emperor were placed in specially constructed libraries in the Forbidden City
, Old Summer Palace
, Shenyang
, and Wenjin Chamber
, Chengde
. Three additional copies for the public were deposited in Siku quanshu libraries in Hangzhou
, Zhenjiang
, and Yangzhou
. All seven libraries also received copies of the 1725 imperial encyclopedia Gujin tushu jicheng
.
The Siku quanshu copies kept in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou were destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion
. In 1860 during the Second Opium War
an Anglo-French expedition force burned most of the copy kept at the Old Summer Palace. The four remaining copies suffered some damage during World War II
. Today, the four remaining copies are kept at the National Library of China
in Beijing, the National Palace Museum
in Taipei, the Gansu Library in Lanzhou
, and the Zhejiang Library in Hangzhou
.
According to some sources, a famous encyclopedia Tiangong Kaiwu (Chinese: 天工開物) was banned by the Qing court, resulting in its disappearance from China for 300 years, and was discovered later that some original copies were preserved intact in Japan.
Many Siku series including the Siku Jinshu were published as books or CD.
The books are divided into 44 categories or lèi and include the Analects of Confucius
, Mencius
, Great Learning
, Doctrine of the Mean
, I Ching
, Rites of Zhou
, Classic of Rites
, Classic of Poetry, Spring and Autumn Annals
, Shuowen Jiezi
, Records of the Grand Historian
, Zizhi Tongjian
, The Art of War
, Guoyu
, Stratagems of the Warring States, Compendium of Materia Medica
, and other classics.
The Siku quanshu collection includes most major Chinese texts, from the ancient Zhou Dynasty
to the Qing Dynasty, covering all domains of academia
.
History
During the height of the Qing DynastyQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
in the 18th century CE, the Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
commissioned the Siku Quanshu, to demonstrate that the Qing could surpass the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
's 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia
Yongle Encyclopedia
The Yongle Encyclopedia was a Chinese compilation of information commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in 1403 and completed by 1408...
, which was the world's largest encyclopedia at the time.
The editorial board included 361 scholars, with Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong (陸錫熊) as chief editors. They began compilation in 1773 and completed it in 1782. The editors collected and annotated over 10,000 manuscripts from the imperial collections and other libraries, destroyed some 3,000 titles, or works, that were considered to be anti-Manchu, and selected 3,461 titles, or works, for inclusion into the Siku quanshu. They were bound in 36,381 volumes (册) with more than 79,000 chapters (卷), comprising about 2.3 million pages, and approximately 800 million Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s.
Scribes copied every word by hand, and according to Wilkinson (2000: 274), "The copyists (of whom there were 3,826) were not paid in cash but rewarded with official posts after they had transcribed a given number of words within a set time." Four copies for the emperor were placed in specially constructed libraries in the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
, Old Summer Palace
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing...
, Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
, and Wenjin Chamber
Wenjin Chamber
The Wenjin Chamber is an imperial library built in 1773 by Emperor Qian Long inside the Mountain Resort in Chengde, China. A copy of Siku Quanshu was stored in this library.Wenyuan Chamber is another remaining imperial library of the Qing Dynasty....
, Chengde
Chengde
Chengde , previously known as Jehol or Re He , is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China, situated northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by the Qing emperors as summer residence...
. Three additional copies for the public were deposited in Siku quanshu libraries in Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Jiangsu province in the eastern People's Republic of China . Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.Once...
, and Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
. All seven libraries also received copies of the 1725 imperial encyclopedia Gujin tushu jicheng
Gujin Túshu Jíchéng
The Gujin Tushu Jicheng , is a vast encyclopaedic work written in China during the reigns of Qing emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng, completed in 1725. The work was headed initially by scholar Chen Menglei , and later by Jiang Tingxi. It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters...
.
The Siku quanshu copies kept in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou were destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
. In 1860 during the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
an Anglo-French expedition force burned most of the copy kept at the Old Summer Palace. The four remaining copies suffered some damage during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Today, the four remaining copies are kept at the National Library of China
National Library of China
The National Library of China or NLC in Beijing is the largest library in Asia, and one of the largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million volumes...
in Beijing, the National Palace Museum
National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum is an art museum in Taipei. It is the national museum of the Republic of China, and has a permanent collection of over 677,687 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection encompasses over 8,000 years of...
in Taipei, the Gansu Library in Lanzhou
Lanzhou
Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. A prefecture-level city, it is a key regional transportation hub, allowing areas further west to maintain railroad connections to the eastern half of the country....
, and the Zhejiang Library in Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
.
Timeline of the collection of books
- In the first month of the 37th year of the Qianlong Emperor, people were requested by Imperial Decree to hand in their private book collections for use in the compilation of the Siku Quanshu. However, only a small number of people actually did so at this time, partly in fear of possible persecutions due to Literary InquisitionLiterary InquisitionLiterary Inquisition refers to official persecution of intellectuals for their writings in Imperial China. Wénzìyù took place under each of the dynasties ruling China, although the Qing was particularly notorious for the practise. Such persecutions could owe even to a single phrase or word which...
such as in the case of Treason by the BookTreason by the BookTreason by the Book, by Jonathan Spence is a fast-paced historical account of the Zeng Jing case which took place during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of China, around the 1730s...
.
- In October of the same year, seeing that only a limited number of people actually handed in books, the Qianlong Emperor issued furthered Imperial Decrees stressing that (1) Books would be returned to their owners once the compilation was finished. (2) Book owners would not be persecuted even if their books contained Bad words. Less than three months after the issue of this decree four to five thousand different books were handed in.
- Apart from reassuring the book owners that they would be free from persecution, the Qianlong Emperor also made promises and gave rewards to Chinese book owners, such as that he would perform personal calligraphy on their books. By this time 10,000 books had been handed in.
Siku Jinshu
Siku Jinshu (Chinese: 四库禁书) is the catalogue of all the books that were rejected and banned by the order of Emperor Qianlong. The catalogue contained up to 2855 titles of books, which were then subsequently burned. The banned and destroyed 2855 titles were comparable to the 3461 titles of the catalogue of the Siku Quanshu.According to some sources, a famous encyclopedia Tiangong Kaiwu (Chinese: 天工開物) was banned by the Qing court, resulting in its disappearance from China for 300 years, and was discovered later that some original copies were preserved intact in Japan.
Many Siku series including the Siku Jinshu were published as books or CD.
Contents
The Siku quanshu collection is divided into four kǜ (库); "warehouse; storehouse; treasury; repository") parts, in reference to the imperial library divisions.- Jīng (经 "Classics") Chinese classic textsChinese classic textsChinese classic texts, or Chinese canonical texts, today often refer to the pre-Qin Chinese texts, especially the Neo-Confucian titles of Four Books and Five Classics , a selection of short books and chapters from the voluminous collection called the Thirteen Classics. All of these pre-Qin texts...
- Shǐ (史 "Histories") histories and geographies from Chinese history
- Zĭ (子 "Masters") philosophy, arts, sciences from Chinese philosophyChinese philosophyChinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
- Jí (集 "Collections") anthologies from Chinese literatureChinese literatureChinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
The books are divided into 44 categories or lèi and include the Analects of Confucius
Analects of Confucius
The Analects, or Lunyu , also known as the Analects of Confucius, are considered a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held....
, Mencius
Mencius
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
, Great Learning
Great Learning
The Great Learning was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism. The Great Learning had come from a chapter in the Classic of Rites which formed one of the Five Classics. It consists of a short main text attributed to the teachings of Confucius and then ten commentary chapters accredited to one...
, Doctrine of the Mean
Doctrine of the Mean
The Doctrine of the Mean , is both a concept and one of the books of Confucian teachings. The composition of the text is attributed to Zisi the only grandson of Confucius, and it came from a chapter in the Classic of Rites...
, I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
, Rites of Zhou
Rites of Zhou
The Rites of Zhou , also known as Zhouguan, is one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the classics of Confucianism. It was later renamed Zhouli by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the Classic of History which was also known as Zhouguan.Though tradition ascribed the text of the...
, Classic of Rites
Classic of Rites
The Classic of Rites , also known as the Book of Rites, Book of Customs, the Record of Rites, was one of the Chinese Five Classics of the Confucian canon. It described the social forms, governmental system, and ancient/ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty...
, Classic of Poetry, Spring and Autumn Annals
Spring and Autumn Annals
The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...
, Shuowen Jiezi
Shuowen Jiezi
The Shuōwén Jiězì was an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary , it was still the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them , as well as the first to use the...
, Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...
, Zizhi Tongjian
Zizhi Tongjian
The Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE, Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered the great historian Sima Guang to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the...
, The Art of War
The Art of War
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise that is attributed to Sun Tzu , a high ranking military general and strategist during the late Spring and Autumn period...
, Guoyu
Guoyu (book)
The Discourses of the States or Guoyu is a classical Chinese history book that collected the historical records of numerous states from Western Zhou to 453 BC. Its author is unknown, but it is sometimes attributed to Zuo Qiuming, a contemporary of Confucius...
, Stratagems of the Warring States, Compendium of Materia Medica
Compendium of Materia Medica
Bencao Gangmu , also known as Compendium of Materia Medica, is a Chinese materia medica work written by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty. It is a work epitomizing materia medica in the Ming Dynasty. The Bencao Gangmu is regarded as the most complete and comprehensive medical book ever written in the...
, and other classics.
The Siku quanshu collection includes most major Chinese texts, from the ancient Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
to the Qing Dynasty, covering all domains of academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
.
Additional sources
評述清代編纂《四庫全書》的功過。 清朝實亡于乾隆 四库全书 金山词霸 《四库全书》与《续修四库全书》 顾关元 《四库全书》——文字狱之最！袁岂凡 炮轟《四庫全書》和紀曉嵐有何不可？ 乾隆編"四庫全書"為引蛇出洞燒異說？ 四库禁书部分目录External links
- "Siku Quanshu" scanned texts at Chinese Text ProjectChinese Text ProjectThe Chinese Text Project is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Digitization Project of Chinese Philosophy Books", showing its focus on books related to Chinese philosophy...
(Chinese) - "Siku Quanshu" at World Digital LibraryWorld Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, provide...
- "Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu" (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), National Palace Museum webpage
- All That Is Worth to Know Under Heaven, Studiolum: the Library of the Humanist article
- China to auction grand ancient encyclopedia with real emperor's seals. People's Daily Online. October 26, 2004.
- Destruction Of Chinese Books In The Peking Siege Of 1900 by Donald G. Davis, Jr. of University of Texas at Austin and Cheng Huanwen of Zhongshan University
- The Emperor's Four Treasures by R. Kent Guy
- The Cambridge History of China by Peterson, Fairbank on literary inquisition p.290 历尽艰辛，终成瑰宝——《四库全书》大事年表 Timeline