New Discovery of Seventeen Volumes of the Yongle Dadian Abroad

Author: Xu Zhongyi, Yu Lan
Editor-in-Chief:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The Yongle Encyclopedia was compiled in Nanjing during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Yongle personally formulated a grand editorial purpose, which stated, "All books since the invention of writing, including historical records, treatises, collections of classics, and works from various schools, as well as discussions on astronomy, geography, yin-yang, medicine, divination, Buddhism and Taoism, and the arts, should be compiled into one book without being deterred by its vastness." He ordered 147 scholars, including Jie Zhen, the Vice President of the Right Spring Studio, to compile the Great Compendium of the Minguo in just one year. Emperor Yongle believed that "what was compiled was still incomplete" and did not align with the original editorial intention of "completing the compilation without being deterred by its vastness." Therefore, in the third year of the Yongle era, he decided to revise it. The court officials, including Yao Guangxiao, the Vice President of the Imperial Court, Zheng Xi, the Minister of Rites, and Jie Zhen, were appointed as chief editors. They gathered approximately 3,000 scholars from all walks of life, including literary figures, elderly scholars, and high-ranking monks and Taoist priests, to undertake tasks such as editing, reviewing, proofreading, copying, drawing, and annotating. The entire imperial library, including the Wenyuan Pavilion, was utilized, and people were sent to various regions to collect books. Throughout the compilation process, both human and material resources were fully guaranteed.