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Yongle Encyclopedia

Type Object Region China Time 1403

The Yongle Encyclopedia was a vast leishu compiled by imperial order under the Yongle Emperor, begun in 1403 and completed around 1408, gathering ove…

Timeline

  1. 1403–1408Nanjing · NanjingThe Yongle Emperor ordered Jie Jin, Yao Guangxiao, and others to lead the project, recruiting over 2,000 scholars to arrange texts by rhyme categories, producing the first edition of the Yongle Encyclopedia in over 22,000 juan.
  2. 1421–1440Beijing · BeijingAfter the capital moved to Beijing, the main copy entered the palace collection as an inner-court secret treasure. Between 1431 and 1440, Ming scholars and officials could still consult and transcribe it by imperial order, serving government affairs and scholarly research.
  3. 1441Various places in China and overseas collecting institutions · ChinaThe main copy's fate became unknown amid the warfare of the late Ming and early Qing, with only copies and fragments surviving. Since modern times scholars have continued to reconstruct it, and the encyclopedia remains a cornerstone of textual recovery and philological research on ancient Chinese texts.

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