Great Wall Encyclopedia: Drama

Author: Editorial Department of the Great Encyclopedia of China Press / Editorial Committee of the Great Encyclopedia of China / Editorial Committee of the Drama Section
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-10-01
Features: The Great Encyclopedia of China is a large-scale comprehensive encyclopedia in our country. China has a long tradition of compiling encyclopedias. Over the past two thousand years, more than four hundred types of encyclopedias have been published. These encyclopedias are treasures of our national cultural heritage, collecting, organizing, and preserving important materials from the scientific and cultural classics of our country's dynasties. Some of the earlier encyclopedias have been lost, but many have been passed down or partially preserved to this day, and these books are cherished by scholars in China and the world. Various types of encyclopedias differ in structure, with some approaching the type of encyclopedia but not the modern sense of the term. In the mid-18th century, as China was compiling the vast Siku Quanshu, modern-style encyclopedias were published successively in France, Germany, England, Italy, and other Western European countries. Later, countries like the United States, Russia, and Japan also followed suit. Modern-style encyclopedias briefly summarize the knowledge and history of humanity and focus on reflecting the latest achievements in contemporary science and culture. Over the past two hundred years, the experience of compiling encyclopedias has been accumulated, and in terms of knowledge classification, editing methods, illustration, and indexing systems, they have become increasingly complete and scientific. Today, encyclopedias play a very important role in human cultural activities, and various types of encyclopedias have almost become necessities in daily life, similar to dictionaries. The Chinese academic community, which has a long tradition of compiling encyclopedias, has long regarded the compilation of modern-style encyclopedias as its goal. In the early 20th century, several small-scale practical encyclopedias were attempted, including the encyclopedia-style dictionary Cishu. However, none of these books met the requirements of modern encyclopedias. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, the then-Publishing Bureau considered publishing a Chinese encyclopedia, and the later scientific and cultural development plan for the twelve years also included the compilation and publication of encyclopedias. In 1958, a plan to carry out this work was proposed, but it was not realized. It was not until 1978 that the State Council decided to compile and publish the Great Encyclopedia of China and established the Great Encyclopedia of China Press to oversee the work. As the first encyclopedia in China, the editing work was inevitably challenging. However, due to the urgent demand of the academic community, it was not possible to wait for the collection of materials from various disciplines to be relatively complete before compiling and publishing; nor was it possible to wait for all entries to be written before mixing them into a complete book according to the order of Pinyin. Instead, experts and scholars from across the country were invited to write separately by discipline, with each discipline published as a separate volume, meaning that as soon as one discipline (one or several volumes) was compiled, it would be published, allowing the entire work to be released progressively. This inevitably led to many shortcomings, but under the current circumstances, it was the only option. We plan to adopt the general practice of encyclopedias compiled by countries around the world for the second edition, arranging all entries in alphabetical order rather than by discipline, making it easier for readers to find and check. The first edition of the Great Encyclopedia of China is published by discipline, with entries still arranged in alphabetical order, supplemented by a stroke index and other indexes for easy reference. The content of the Great Encyclopedia of China includes philosophy, social sciences, literature and art, culture and education, natural sciences, and engineering technology, among other disciplines and fields. It is tentatively planned to have a total of 80 volumes, with each volume containing approximately 1.2 to 1.5 million words (including illustrations and indexes), with the plan to complete it in about ten years. The first edition will have more volumes and characters than most general encyclopedias abroad, but it will be comparable in length to some foreign encyclopedias in their initial editions. We plan to adjust and compress the content in the second edition. The Great Encyclopedia of China is published by discipline, without volume numbering, each volume simply indicating the discipline name, such as "Philosophy," "Law," "Mechanics," "Mathematics," "Physics," "Chemistry," "Astronomy," and so on. The content of each discipline in the entire work is written in the form of entries, following the system and hierarchy of the discipline, with a plan to include approximately 100,000 entries. The entries in each discipline provide a detailed account and introduction to the basic knowledge of that discipline, suitable for readers with high school education or above, equivalent to university-level knowledge. This type of encyclopedic reference book can serve as a bridge and stepping stone for readers to enter each discipline and explore its depth and breadth.
I. Organization
1. This book is published by discipline and volume.
2. Entries are arranged in the order of Pinyin of the entry titles, supplemented by stroke and starting stroke order.
3. Each discipline volume generally includes an introductory article summarizing the content of the discipline before the entry classification directory.
4. Each discipline volume lists a classification directory of all entries in that discipline to help readers understand the overall picture of the discipline.
5. Interdisciplinary topics are covered in relevant discipline volumes, such as "Tian Han" and "Cao Yu," which are both included in the Drama volume and the Chinese Literature volume, with the explanatory text tailored to the requirements of each discipline.
II. Entry Titles
6. Most entry titles are single words; some are phrases.
7. Pinyin is added above the entry titles, and most entry titles are accompanied by corresponding foreign names. Entries with purely Chinese content generally do not include foreign names.
III. Explanatory Text
8. The explanatory text of entries in this book strives to use standardized modern Chinese.
9. Longer entries have internal titles.
10. If the content of an entry involves other entries and needs to be supplemented by their explanatory text, it will be noted.
11. Foreign names and place names mentioned in the explanatory text of entries do not include the original text.
IV. Illustrations
12. This book includes necessary illustrations in the explanatory text of entries.
13. Color illustrations are compiled into plates, and the relevant entries' explanatory text notes "(See Plate Page )."
V. Bibliography
14. Reference bibliographies are appended to important entries for readers to consult.
VI. Indexes
15. Each discipline volume includes a stroke index, foreign language index, and content index of all entries.
VII. Others
16. The technical and scientific terms used in this book are based on those approved by relevant departments of each discipline. Those not yet approved or unified are based on common usage. Place names are based on those approved by the Chinese Geographical Names Committee, with commonly used alternative names added in parentheses when necessary.
17. The font used in this book uses traditional characters except where necessary, and simplified characters as listed in the "Total List of Simplified Characters" are used otherwise.
18. Numbers used in this book generally use Arabic numerals, except for those traditionally expressed in Chinese characters.