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Encyclopaedias and Handbooks (leishu lei 類書類)

Jul 24, 2010 © Ulrich Theobald

Encyclopaedias and Handbooks (leishu lei 類書類) is a subcategory in traditional Chinese bibliographies and part of the category of Masters and Philosophers (zibu 子部). The Chinese term leishu designates a book explaining selected topics by quoting ancient literature talking about the respective theme. Most "encyclopaedias" are divided into chapters the sequence and content of which soon obtained a fixed character. They commonly begin with Heaven/sky and astronomy, geography, proceed to a wide range of themes on statecraft and human affairs and end with objects of daily life as well as zoology and botany. They quote from all kinds of literature, from the Confucian Classics, historiographical books and the "masters". While some leishu are general overviews, some leishu-type books focus on poetry or other topics. Quite a few authors went over from quotations to writing explanations of particular lemmata in verses and thus contributed to the development of textbooks written in verses to make learning easier. Apart from thematical arrangement, there is the option to arrange lemmata phonetically or according to the shape of characters.

The oldest book identified as a leishu was Cao Pi's 曹丕 (now lost) Huanglan 皇覽. Of the many Tang-period 唐 (618-907) encyclopaedias, the Beitang shuchao 北堂書鈔, Yiwen leiju 藝文類聚, Chuxueji 初學記 and Baishi liutie 白氏六貼 created the fundaments for the standard format of enyclopaedias. For modern scholars, leishu are of great importance because they usually quote from ancient texts. In this way, discrepancies in wording can be detected, and texts can be at least partially reconstructed that are long since lost. Song-period 宋 (960-1279) scholars produced a large amount of leishu of which the "four large encyclopaedias" (Song si da shu 宋四大書) are very famous. Of these, the Taiping guangji 太平廣記 is a thematically arranged collection of stories of the "strange", and the Wenyuan yinghua 文苑英華 a literary anthology. The most important Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia is the Yongle dadian 永樂大典, Chinas largest encyclopaedia ever compiled. Only a few volumes survive unfortunately. The Kangxi Emperor 康熙 (r. 1661-1722) had the book Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 compiled, the greatest collection of knowledge in the early 18th century.

The leishu section of the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 includes 65 books.

Table 1. Encyclopaedias and handbooks (leishu 類書)
Part of Siku quanshu 四庫全書
Part of Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書
The four great books of the Song period (Song si da shu 宋四大書)
太平御覽 Taiping yulan (Song) 李昉 Li Fang (et al.; imp. ord.)
冊府元龜 Cefu yuangui (Song) 王欽若 Wang Qinruo, 楊億 Yang Yi (et al.; imp. ord.)
太平廣記 Taiping guangjiNovellas and stories (Song) 李昉 Li Fang (et al.; imp. ord.)
文苑英華 Wenyuan yinghuaAnthologies and collections (Song) 李昉 Li Fang (et al.; imp. ord.)
Total
皇覽 (殘) * Huanglan (Cao-Wei) 劉劭 Liu Shao (et al.)
古今同姓名錄 二卷 Gujin tongxingming lu (Liang) 梁元帝 Emperor Liang Yuandi; (Tang) 陸善經 Lu Shanjing (cont.), (Yuan) 葉森 Ye Lin (suppl.)
修文殿御覽 (殘) * Xiuwendian yulan (Northern Qi) 祖珽 Zu Ting, et al.
無上祕要 Wushang biyaoDaoist books (Northern Zhou) imp. ord.
編珠 二卷 Bianzhu (Sui) 杜公瞻 Du Gongzhan (?)
藝文類聚 一百卷 Yiwen leiju (Tang) 歐陽詢 Ouyang Xun (et al.; imp. ord.)
群書治要 五十卷 * Qunshu zhiyao (Tang) 魏徵 Wei Zheng
北堂書鈔 一百六十卷 Beitang shuchao (Tang) 虞世南 Yu Shinan
龍筋鳳髓判 四卷 Longjin fengsui pan (Tang) 張鷟 Zhang Zu, (Ming) 劉允鵬 Liu Yunpeng (comm.)
初學記 三十卷 Chuxueji (Tang) 徐堅 Xu Jian (et al.)
元和姓纂 十卷 Yuanhe xingzuan (Tang) 林寶 Lin Bao
白孔六帖 一百卷 Bai-Kong liutie (Tang) 白居易 Bai Juyi, (Song) 孔傳 Kong Chuan
貞觀氏族志 (殘) * Zhenguan shizu zhi (Tang) 孔志約 Kong Zhiyue
姓氏錄 * Xingshilu (Tang) 高士廉 Gao Shilian etc.
琱玉集 (殘二卷) (續修) Diaoyuji (Tang) NN
小名錄 二卷 Xiaominglu (Tang) 陸龜蒙 Lu Guimeng
蒙求集註 二卷 Mengqiu ji zhu (Tang) 李瀚 Li Han, (Song) 徐子光 Xu Ziguang
歲華紀麗 四卷 (存目) Suihua jili (Tang) 韓鄂 Han E (?)
法苑珠林 Fayuan zhulinBuddhist treatises (Tang) 釋道世 Monk Daoshi
通典 TongdianStatecraft and administration (Tang) 杜佑 Du You
事類賦註 三十卷 Shilei fu zhu (Song) 吳淑 Wu Shu
太平御覽 千卷 Taiping yulan (Song) 李昉 Li Fang (et al.; imp. ord.)
冊府元龜 千卷 Cefu yuangui (Song) 王欽若 Wang Qinruo, 楊億 Yang Yi (et al.; imp. ord.)
事物紀原 十卷 Shiwu jiyuan (Song) 高承 Gao Cheng
實賓錄 十四卷 Shibinlu (Song) 馬永易 Ma Yongyi; 文彪 Wen Biao (rev.)
書敍指南 二十卷 Shuxu zhinan (Song) 任廣 Ren Guang
海錄碎事 二十二卷 Hailu suishi (Song) 葉庭珪 Ye Tinggui
唐會要 Tang huiyaoStatecraft and administration (Song) 王溥 Wang Pu
文苑英華 Wenyuan yinghuaAnthologies and collections (Song) 李昉 Li Fang et al.
古今姓氏書辯證 四十卷 Gujin xingshishu bianzheng (Song) 鄧名世 Deng Mingshi, 鄧椿年 Deng Chunnian (comp.)
帝王經世圖譜 十六卷 Diwang jingshi tupu (Song) 唐仲友 Tang Zhongyou
職官分紀 五十卷 Zhiguan fenji (Song) 孫逢吉 Sun Fengji
歷代制度詳說 十二卷 Lidai zhidu xiangshuo (Song) 呂祖謙 Lü Zuqian
八面鋒 十三卷 Bamianfeng (Song) 陳傅良 Chen Fuliang
錦繡萬花谷 一百二十卷 Jinxiu wanhua gu (Song) anon.
(古今)事文類聚 二百三十六卷 (Gujin) Shiwen leiju (Song) 祝穆 Zhu Mu, (Yuan) 富大用 Fu Dayong, 祝淵 Zhu Yuan
記纂淵海 一百卷 Jizuan yuanhai (Song) 潘自牧 Pan Zimu
通志 TongzhiAlternative histories (Song) 鄭樵 Zheng Qiao
全芳備祖集 五十八卷 Quanfang beizu ji (Song) 陳景沂 Cheng Jingyi
群書考索 (山堂考索) 二百十二卷 Qunshu kaosuo (Shantang kaosuo) (Song) 章如愚 Zhang Ruyu
(古今)合璧事類備要 三百六十五卷 (Gujin) Hebi shilei beiyao (Song) 謝維新 Xie Weixin
(古今)源流至論 四十卷 (Gujin) Yuanliu zhilun (Song) 林駧/駉 Lin Tong/Jiong, 黃履翁 Huang Lüweng
分門瑣碎錄 (瑣碎錄) (殘) * Fenmen suosui lu (Suosuilu) → Agriculture and agronomy (Song) 溫革 Wen Ge
文獻通考 Wenxian tongkaoStatecraft and administration (Song) 馬端臨 Ma Duanlin
雲笈七籤 Yunji qiqianDaoist books (Song) 張君房 Zhang Junfang
道樞 DaoshuDaoist books (Song) 曾慥 Zeng Zao
玉海 二百卷 Yuhai (Song) 王應麟 Wang Yinglin
小學紺珠 十卷 Xiaoxue ganzhu (Song) 王應麟 Wang Yinglin
小字錄 一卷 Xiaozilu (Song) 陳思 Chen Si
雞肋 一卷 Jile (Song) 趙崇絢 Zhao Chongxun
事林廣記 十集 * Shilin guangji (Song) 陳元靚 Chen Yuanjing
奩史 一百卷 (續修) Lianshi (Song) 丁升之 Ding Shengzhi
翰苑新書 一百五十六卷 Hanyuan xinshu (Song) anon.
韻府群玉 二十卷 Yunfu qunyu (Yuan) 陰勁弦 Yin Jingxuan, 陰復春 Yin Fuchun
翰墨全書 一百三十四卷 (續修) Hanmo quanshu (Yuan) 劉應李 Liu Yingli
純正蒙求 三卷 Chunzheng mengqiu (Yuan) 胡炳文 Hu Bingwen
永樂大典 (原二萬二千九百三十七卷) (存目) Yongle dadian (Ming) 解縉 Xie Jin, 姚廣孝 Yao Guangxiao (et al., imp. ord.)
荊川稗編 一百二十卷 Jingchuan baibian (Ming) 唐順之 Tang Shunzhi
喻林 一百二十卷 Yulin (Ming) 徐元太 Xu Yuantai
經濟類編 一百卷 Jingji leibian (Ming) 馮琦 Feng Qi, 馮瑗 Feng Yuan
同姓名錄 十二卷 Tongxingming lu (Ming) 余寅 Yu Yin
說略 三十卷 Shuolüe (Ming) 顧起元 Gu Qiyuan
天中記 六十卷 Tianzhongji (Ming) 陳耀文 Chen Yaowen
山堂肆考 二百二十八卷 Shantang sikao (Ming) 彭大翼 Peng Dayi, 張幼學 Zhang Youxue
廣博物志 五十卷 Guang bowuzhi (Ming) 董斯張 Dong Sizhang
三才圖會 一百零六卷 * Sancai tuhui (Ming) 王圻 Wang Qi, 王思義 Wang Siyi
唐類函 二百卷 * Tang leihan (Ming) 俞安期 Yu Anqi
婦女雙名記 * Funü shuangming ji (Ming) 李肇亨 Li Zhaoheng
潛確居類書 一百二十卷 * Qianqueju leishu (Ming) 陳仁錫 Chen Renxi
宮閨小名錄 四卷 * Gonggui xiaoming lu (Qing) 尤侗 You Tong
古今圖書集成 一萬卷 * Gujin tushu jicheng (Qing) 陳夢雷 Chen Menglei et al. (imp. ord.)
(御定)淵鑑類函 四十五卷 (Yuding) Yuanjian leihan (Qing) 張英 Zhang Ying, 王士禎 Wang Shizhen (imp. ord.)
(御定)駢字類編 二百四十卷 (Yuding) Pianzi leibian (Qing) 吳士玉 Wu Shiyu, 沈宗敬 Shen Zongjing (imp. ord.)
(御定)分類字錦 六十四卷 (Yuding) Fenlei zijin (Qing) 何焯 He Zhuo, 陳鵬年 Chen Pengnian (imp. ord.)
(御定)子史精華 一百六十卷 (Yuding) Zishi jinghua (Qing) 吳士玉 Wu Shiyu, 吳襄 Wu Xiang (imp. ord.)
(御定)佩文韻府 四百四十四卷 (Yuding) Peiwen yunfu (Qing) 張玉書 Zhang Yushu, 陳廷敬 Chen Tingjing (imp. ord.)
(御定)韻府拾遺 一百十二卷 (Yuding) Yunfu shiyi (Qing) 張廷玉 Zhang Tingyu (imp. ord.)
格致鏡原 一百卷 Gezhi jingyuan (Qing) 陳元龍 Chen Yuanlong
藝林彙考 Yilin huikaoMiscellaneous treatises (Qing) 沈自南 Shen Zinan
宋稗類鈔 三十六卷 Songbai leichao (Qing) 潘永因 Pan Yongyin
類書纂要 三十三卷 * Leishu zuanyao (Qing) 周魯 Zhou Lu
壹是紀始 二十二卷 * Yishi jishi (Qing) 魏崧 Wei Song
事類賦統編 一百十六卷 * Shileifu tongbian (Qing) 黃葆真 Huang Baozhen
清稗類鈔 四十八冊 * Qingbai leichao (Republic) 徐珂 Xu Ke
* not included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目題要, nor the Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書.