Yongle Encyclopedia

Overview

The Yongle Encyclopedia (simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; pinyin: Yǒnglè Dàdiǎn), also known as the Great Canon of Yongle (文献大成), was a Chinese leishu (encyclopedia) commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Completed in 1408, it was one of the largest encyclopedias in pre-modern history, comprising 22,937 volumes in 11,095 scrolls, with approximately 37 million Chinese characters. The encyclopedia covered a vast range of subjects, including agriculture, art, astronomy, drama, geology, history, literature, medicine, philosophy, and technology, drawing from over 8,000 texts dating from ancient times to the early Ming Dynasty.

History

Hongwu Preparations

The compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia had its origins in the Hongwu era (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty. In 1388 (the 21st year of Hongwu), the scholar Xie Jin (解缙) proposed to the Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) that a new, high-quality leishu be compiled. The emperor appreciated Xie's suggestion, but Xie soon left the court, and the matter was temporarily abandoned.

In 1398 (the 31st year of Hongwu), the emperor revived the idea, assembling a team to collect "the words of the classics, histories, and the hundred schools of thought" to compile a "Record of Essentials" (纪要). However, the emperor died in June of that year, and the project was once again shelved.

Yonglu Revision

After the Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) ascended the throne, he ordered Xie Jin and others to compile a comprehensive book to organize knowledge. The emperor provided clear instructions for the compilation: "The things of ancient and modern times are scattered in various books, in vast quantities, making them difficult to consult. I wish to collect all the things recorded in various books, organize them by rhyme, and thus facilitate research, making it as easy as reaching into a bag to get something. I have examined the Yunfu (《韵府》) and Huixi (《回溪》) books, which have some organization but their selection is not extensive enough, and their records are too brief. You shall follow my intention: from the beginning of writing, all books of the classics, histories, masters, and collections of the hundred schools of thought, as well as words on astronomy, geography, yin-yang, medicine, divination, Buddhism, Taoism, and arts and crafts, compile them into one book, without being daunted by its vastness."

In 1404 (the second year of Yongle), a team of 147 people completed the first draft, initially named Wenxian Dacheng (文献大成, "Great Canon of Literature"). After reviewing it, the Yongle Emperor found it "incomplete and inadequate." In 1405 (the third year of Yongle), the emperor ordered Yao Guangxiao (姚广孝), Xie Jin, Zheng Ci (郑赐), and others to oversee the revision, involving 2,169 people from the court and society. The organizational structure included positions such as Supervisor-in-Chief, Chief Editor, Associate Chief Editor, and Chief Coordinator, with Jiang Yongwen and Zhao Tongyou serving as chief editors, and Chen Ji as the Chief Coordinator. The compilation utilized all the books from the Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing.

In 1407 (the fifth year of Yongle), the final draft was submitted to the emperor, who was highly satisfied. He personally wrote a preface and named it the Yongle Dadian (《永乐大典》, "Yongle Great Canon"). By the eleventh month of that year, the work was completed in its final form. According to the "Memorial on Submitting the Yongle Encyclopedia," the entire work consisted of 22,877 volumes, plus 60 volumes of index, in 11,095 scrolls, containing approximately 37 million Chinese characters and drawing from nearly 8,000 ancient and modern books. Its scale and content surpassed all previous leishu.

After its completion, the Ming court dispatched numerous copyists to add decorative borders, make clean copies, create illustrations, and add punctuation marks. Due to the large number of people involved, their exact number could not be counted.

Only one copy, known as the "Yongle Original," was made initially. During the Jiajing era (1522-1566), fearing damage to the original, a second copy was made, called the "Jiajing Transcript." Because both copies were stored deep within the imperial palace and never printed, they circulated rarely. During dynastic changes, internal strife, and foreign invasions, they were stolen, plundered, and burned. The "Original" disappeared, and only about 400 scrolls of the "Transcript" remained.

Qing Dynasty Compilation of Lost Works

During the Qing Dynasty, scholars began compiling lost works from the remaining Yongle Encyclopedia. In the Yongzheng era (1723-1735), scholars Quan Zuwang (全祖望) and Li Fu (李绂) were able to access the encyclopedia while working at the Hanlin Academy. They discovered many previously unseen books and exclaimed that it was "a treasure of the universe." The two decided to compile books they had wanted to see but could not find. Quan wrote "Record of Copying from the Yongle Encyclopedia," identifying five categories of books that needed compilation: classics, histories, gazetteers, genealogies, and literary collections. They examined 20 volumes daily, marking books for compilation, which were then copied by four other people. Through this painstaking work, they compiled over ten books, including Wang Anshi's "New Interpretation of the Rites of Zhou" and Gao's "Essence of the Spring and Autumn Annals." However, due to the vastness of the encyclopedia, they could not complete their work. The following year, Quan was dismissed from office and returned home, ending their compilation efforts. Nevertheless, their work attracted widespread attention and laid the foundation for later systematic compilation efforts.

During the Qianlong era (1736-1796), Emperor Qianlong ordered the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (四库全书, "Complete Library of the Four Treasuries"). In 1772 (the 37th year of Qianlong), it was discovered that 2,422 volumes (about 1,000 scrolls) of the Yongle Encyclopedia were missing. The editors of the Siku project compiled 385 books from the remaining Yongle Encyclopedia, which were included in the Siku Quanshu. Prominent scholars such as Dai Zhen (戴震), Shao Jinhuan (邵晋涵), and Zhou Yongnian (周永年) participated in this effort. By 1781 (the 46th year of Qianlong), they had compiled 385 books in 4,946 volumes across the four categories of classics, histories, masters, and collections. Notable works included the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" (later included in the Twenty-Four Histories), "Essential Records of the Jianyan Era," "Surname Register of the Yuanhe Era," and "Bibliographic Notes of Zhizhai." They compiled 175 collections of poetry and prose from the Song and Yuan dynasties, restoring many important lost texts.

However, Emperor Qianlong insisted on Confucian orthodoxy, believing that "the essence has been exhausted, and the dregs can be discarded." Works related to Buddhism, Taoism, drama, and novels were not compiled, and any content deemed subversive was deleted. Some technical works, such as Deng Yufu's 200-volume "Agricultural Calendar" (which was more detailed than "Essential Techniques for the Peasantry"), and military inventions, were excluded for fear that foreigners might learn them. Even some already compiled fragments were discarded.

Modern Circulation and Collection

During the Second Opium War in 1860, British and French forces occupied Beijing and plundered the Hanlin Academy, losing numerous volumes of the Yongle Encyclopedia. In 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), during renovations of the Hanlin Academy, it was found that fewer than 5,000 scrolls remained. The rapid loss was mainly due to theft by staff; it was said that one individual, Wen Ting shi, alone stole over 100 scrolls. By 1894 (the 20th year of Guangxu), only 800 scrolls remained. Today, about 400 scrolls (810 volumes) survive, less than 4% of the original.

In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion led to the burning of the Hanlin Academy, damaging over 300 scrolls of the encyclopedia. In 1901, the British legation returned 330 scrolls, but these were soon divided among the staff. In 1912, when the remaining Yongle Encyclopedia scrolls were transferred to the Beijing Library, only 64 scrolls remained.

After the founding of the Republic of China, the National Library of China took on the responsibility of preserving and collecting the Yongle Encyclopedia. In 1912, at the suggestion of Zhou Shuren (鲁迅), the Ministry of Education requested the transfer of the remaining 64 scrolls from the Hanlin Academy to the Beijing Library. Renamed the National Beiping Library, it made great efforts to collect more scrolls. By 1934, the library's collection had grown to 93 scrolls. Scholars such as Zhao Wuli (赵万里) worked on compiling lost works from the Yongle Encyclopedia, making significant contributions to recovering historical texts.

In 1931, after the Mukden Incident, the situation in North China became unstable. The National Government ordered the evacuation of cultural relics to the south. In May 1933, the Ministry of Education instructed the Beiping Library to transport rare books, including the Yongle Encyclopedia, to Shanghai for safekeeping. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the situation in Shanghai deteriorated. Through the American embassy, 60 scrolls of the Yongle Encyclopedia were selected from the 3,000 books and transported to the United States for safekeeping by the Library of Congress. These were later transferred to the Taipei Palace Museum in Taiwan in 1965. Another 25 scrolls that remained in Shanghai were later returned to Beiping (now Beijing).

After the Founding of New China

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, efforts were made to collect remaining Yongle Encyclopedia scrolls from around the world. In 1951, the Soviet Union returned 11 scrolls from the Leningrad University's Oriental Department to the Chinese government. These had been taken from the South Manchuria Railway Library in Dalian. This was followed by returns from other socialist countries: 3 scrolls from the German Democratic Republic, 52 scrolls from the Lenin State Library in the Soviet Union, and 1 scroll through the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1955, the Prime Minister of East Germany, Otto Grotewohl, returned 3 scrolls that had been taken by German soldiers during the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China in 1900.

A remarkable story occurred in 1983, when a farmer from Shandong Province, Sun Honglin, discovered a book in his home that resembled the Yongle Encyclopedia. He had been using it to shoe patterns and paper cuttings, preserving only the parts with text. After reporting this to the local cultural center, experts confirmed it was a scroll of the Yongle Encyclopedia under the "men" rhyme. The Sun family donated the scroll to the National Library, which restored it.

Today, the National Library of China holds 224 scrolls (62 of which are temporarily stored in the Taipei Palace Museum). Other institutions hold the remaining scrolls: the Library of Congress (40 scrolls), various British institutions (51 scrolls), German institutions (5 scrolls), and Japanese and Korean institutions. In February 2023, the National Library launched a high-definition image database of the Yongle Encyclopedia, allowing digital access to this precious cultural heritage.

Key Information

Cultural Significance

The Yongle Encyclopedia represents the pinnacle of Chinese leishu compilation and a remarkable achievement in world encyclopedic literature. Its comprehensive coverage of Chinese knowledge across diverse fields makes it an invaluable resource for understanding pre-modern Chinese civilization. The encyclopedia's organizational method, "using rhyme to unify characters and using characters to connect subjects," was an innovative approach to knowledge organization that preceded modern alphabetical systems.

The encyclopedia's tragic history of near-destruction and partial survival has made it a symbol of cultural heritage preservation. Its scattered remnants continue to be studied by scholars worldwide, providing insights into texts that would otherwise have been lost forever. The efforts to compile lost works from the encyclopedia during the Qing Dynasty and modern times have contributed significantly to the recovery of Chinese literary and historical heritage.

Modern Status

Today, efforts continue to preserve and study the remaining Yongle Encyclopedia scrolls. The National Library of China has been working on a high-definition imaging project to digitally preserve all surviving scrolls. As of 2023, the "Yongle Encyclopedia High-Definition Image Database" has been made publicly accessible, allowing researchers and the public to study this cultural treasure remotely.

The ongoing publication of facsimile editions continues, with over 357 scrolls published by 2026, representing approximately 81% of known surviving volumes. These publications ensure that the content of the Yongle Encyclopedia remains accessible to future generations despite the physical fragility of the remaining scrolls.

References

1. Tsien, Tsuen-Hsuin. Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions. University of Chicago Press, 1962.

2. Goodrich, L. Carrington, and Fang Chaoying. Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644. Columbia University Press, 1976.

3. Elman, Benjamin A. A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China. University of California Press, 2000.

4. Geiss, James. "The Ch'ien-lu Library and the Organization of Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century China." The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 47, no. 1, 1988, pp. 25-42.

5. Mungello, David E. The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.