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For a general history of the encyclopedia, see
Encyclopedia.
Chinese encyclopedias are encyclopedias
published in the Chinese language or encyclopedias
about China and Chinese-related topics. In Chinese,
encyclopedias are known as bǎikē (百科) or dàdiǎn (大典), which literally means "book of a hundred
subjects," and "great canon", respectively and can trace their
origins to the late Han dynasty, in the third century CE.
Encyclopedic works were published in China for well over one and a
half thousand years before China's first modern encyclopedias were
published after China's economic liberalization in the 1980s,
during the reform
period. Several encyclopedias have been published in China
since then, including several specialist and children's
encyclopedias. The major title currently available - in both paper
and online versions - is the Encyclopedia of China
(Zhōngguó Dà Bǎikē Quánshū), published by Encyclopedia of
China Publishing House.
Since the 21st century, with internet use proliferating, a
number of online encyclopedias have been started. The three largest
online Chinese encyclopedias are Hudong, Baidu Baike and Chinese
Wikipedia.
History
The history of encyclopedias in China is distinctive and covers almost two
thousand years. Traditional Chinese encyclopedias differ from the
modern encyclopedia in that they are mainly anthologies of
significant literature with some aspects of the
dictionary. Compiled by eminent scholars, they have been revised
rather than replaced over hundreds of years. In the main, they
followed a classified form of arrangement;
very often their chief use was to aid candidates for the civil service.
The first known Chinese encyclopedia, the Huanglan
("Emperor's Mirror"), was prepared by order of the emperor about
220 CE, but no part of this work has survived. Part of the
Bianzhu ("Stringed Pearls of Literature"), prepared about
600, is still in existence. About 620 the Yiwen leiju
("Anthology of Art and Literature") was prepared by Ouyang Xun (557-641) in
100 chapters divided into 47 sections. The Beitang shuchao
("Extracts for Books") of Yu
Shinan (558-638) was more substantial and paid particular
attention to details of the organization of public
administration. An annotated edition, edited by Kong Guangdao,
was published in 1880.
Publications
Encyclopedias written in Chinese.
- Administrative Districts Encyclopedia of China (1999)
[1]
- Baidu Baike
(October 2005), second largest online Chinese encyclopedia
- Beijing Encyclopedia (1991; 2002)[2] World's
largest municipal encyclopedia. Compiled by more than 3,000 people
over a period of 5 years, the reference consists of 20 volumes with
more than 17 million words and over 10,000 items and illustrations.
Has eight volumes covering Beijing's history, geography, districts,
politics and society, economy, science, education, culture, health
and tourist sites.
- Bencao
Gangmu, also known as Compendium of Materia Medica, is
Chinese materia medica work written by Li Shizhen in Ming
Dynasty.
- Book
by category, one kind of reference book in ancient
China.
- Britannica Online, Traditional Chinese Edition (February 2004),
the first full-length online encyclopedia in traditional Chinese, a joint publication of
Britannica and Yuan-Liou Publishing Company of Taiwan[3]
- Chinese Children's Encyclopedia, 4-volume
encyclopedia, published by Zhejiang Education Press (ZEP)
- Chinese Encyclopedia
(1981-83), Taiwan
- Chinese Towns Encyclopedia (2000)[4] Details
20,000 Chinese towns, focusing on their economies.
- Cihai, combines dictionary and encyclopedia
- Concise Encyclopædia Britannica,
11-volume short-entry encyclopaedia in the Chinese language,
published in Beijing in 1985–91, as a joint venture between Encyclopedia of
China Publishing House and Encyclopædia Britannica,
Inc.[5]
- Concise Huaxia Encyclopedia, published by Huaxia Press
in Beijing. See "Huaxia".
- Chinese
Wikipedia (October 2002), online
- Diplomacy Encyclopedia of China (2000)[6]
- Dream Pool Essays, written by
Shen Kuo in the Song Dynasty
- Encyclopedia of China
(1978), the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese
language.
- Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas (1998). Chinese
Heritage Centre, Singapore.
- Encyclopedia of Republic of China (2001)[7] 16,000
entries on the Republican Era (1911-49). Published by Jiangsu
Ancient Books Publishing House.
- Fayuan
Zhulin, a Buddhist encyclopedia compiled AD 668 by Dao
Shi
- Finest Blossoms
in the Garden of Literature, an anthology of poetry, odes,
songs and writings from the Liang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties
era
- Four Great Books of Song,
compiled by Li Fang and others during the Song Dynasty
- Gujin Tushu Jicheng, a vast
encyclopaedic work written in China during the reigns of Qing
emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng, completed in 1725
- Hudong (2005), largest
online Chinese language encyclopedia[8]
- Imperial Readings of
the Taiping Era, a massive encyclopedia in the Song
Dynasty
- Macao Encyclopedia (1999), the first specialist
encyclopedia on Macao, published by the Macao Foundation [9]
- Military Encyclopedia of China (2000)[10]
China's largest military encyclopedia. Comprises over 50,000 short
entries.
- Modern Science and Technology Encyclopedia (2000)[11]
- Mongolian Studies Encyclopedia (1999)[12]
- Prime Tortoise of the
Record Bureau, largest encyclopedia compiled during the
Chinese Song Dynasty
- Sancai
Tuhui, compiled by Wang Qi and Wang Siyi, completed in
1607 and published in 1609
- Shanghai Encyclopedia (1999; 2008), most comprehensive
reference on Shanghai; has
more than 7 million words, published by the Shanghai
Lexicographical Publishing House.[13]
- Shanxi Encyclopedia (2002)[14]
Published by Zhonghua Book Company; contains 8.1 million Chinese
characters and 5,000 images, and is the first large reference which
documents the province's history, culture, society and
economy.
- Siku
Quanshu, largest collection of books in Chinese history
and probably the most ambitious editorial enterprise in the history
of the world
- Resource Sciences Encyclopedia (2000)[15]
- Tàipíng
guǎngjì, a collection of stories compiled under the
editorship of Li Fang, first published in 978
- Traditional Mongolian Medicine Encyclopedia
(2000).[16]
- Yiwen
Leiju, a encyclopedia completed during the Tang Dynasty by
the calligrapher Ouyang Xun
- Yongle Encyclopedia (1403), a
compilation commissioned by the Ming emperor Yongle -- one of the
earliest and largest at the time.
- Zhong Hua Da Dian ("The Great Encyclopedia of China")
(2008), [17]. On
China's cultural history from the Qin Dynasty to the 1911
Revolution.
Other related
encyclopedias
Though not technically Chinese encyclopedias because they are
not written in Chinese, there have been many specialist works in
other languages that have focused on China itself as a subject.
These include:
- English
- Berkshire Encyclopedia of China (2009), Berkshire
Publishing Group. Linsun Cheng, Kerry Brown, Winberg Chai, et al.
(Editors).
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of China, Cambridge University
Press.
- Encyclopedia of China, Dorothy Perkins.
- Encyclopedia Of Contemporary Chinese Civilization
(2005), Greenwood Pub Group. Jing Luo (Editor).
- Science and Civilization in China, Cambridge
University Press.
- Nagel's Encyclopedia Guide: China Nagel Publishers,
Geneva, 1968.
See also
References
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