Chapters 803 to 806 of the Great encyclopaedia of the Yongle Reign (Yongle dadian)

Title:: Chapters 803 to 806 of the Great encyclopaedia of the Yongle Reign (Yongle dadian)

Description:: Manuscript of Chapters 803 to 806 of the 'Great encyclopaedia of the Yongle Reign' (Yongle dadian), copied out in ink on paper, bound with silk covers; made in China between 1562 and 1567. The original manuscript of the 'Great encyclopaedia of the Yongle Reign' was created at the order of China’s Yongle Emperor (r. 1403–1424) to draw together knowledge from existing writings on religion, history, literature, philosophy, science and the arts. When this monumental work (spanning 11,095 handwrittten volumes) was almost destroyed in a fire, the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1522–1566) ordered that a second copy be produced. The Yongle manuscript was lost in the centuries that followed and today only an estimated 400 volumes of the Jiajing Emperor’s copy survive, each offering a unique insight into knowledge and its role in China’s Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

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