Taiping Yulian (Full 4 volumes) (Exquisite): New Edition

Author: Li Fang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1960-02-01
Features: After Emperor Taizong of Song (Zhao Guangyi) unified the nation, he was determined to promote traditional culture. He ordered the compilation of ancient texts and the collection of materials, resulting in three major reference works: Taiping Guangji (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), Taiping Yulian (Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era), and Wenyuan Yinghua (Glorious Collection of Literary Masters). Among these, Taiping Yulian cites ancient texts, the vast majority of which are now lost. It can be said to be a comprehensive summary of cultural knowledge before the Northern Song Dynasty. Originally named Taiping Bianlan (Taiping Compendium), after its completion, Emperor Taizong highly valued it and decreed that he would read three volumes daily, finishing it within a year. Thus, it was renamed Taiping Yulian, meaning the books personally read by the emperor during the Taiping Xingguo period (976–983 AD).
During the Taiping Xingguo period of the Song Dynasty, having obtained the libraries of various states and territories, as well as the works of the surrendered rulers and ministers—all of whom were renowned scholars in the land—the emperor either suppressed their grievances or incorporated their works entirely. These were placed in the imperial academies, where they were well-supported, tasked with compiling numerous books. From 1,690+ genres of literature, including Wenwen Yulian (Imperial Readings of Literary Works), Yiwen Laju (Classification of Literary Works), Wenshi Bo Yao (Extensive Essentials of Literature), and Jingshi Ziji (Classics, Histories, Philosophies, and Masters), they were compiled into 1,000 volumes, named Taiping Yulian.
There are over ten versions of Taiping Yulian. After the Commercial Press published a facsimile of the Song edition in 1935, it became the most popular version for over two decades. To meet the needs of researchers, the Zhonghua Book Company decided to reduce the size of the Commercial Press’s facsimile edition of Taiping Yulian. They combined two pages of the facsimile into one, creating two columns per page. Originally, it was planned to be published in 136 volumes, but now it is condensed into four large volumes, with the font size not reduced too much. This has greatly increased convenience in both purchasing and collecting, as well as in research and reference.