Cefu Yuangui facts for kids

The Cefu Yuangui (冊府元龜) is a massive encyclopedia from ancient China. It was put together during the Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279). This book is the largest leishu, which is a special kind of Chinese encyclopedia. It was the last of the Four Great Books of Song, a collection of huge books made around that time.

How the Cefu Yuangui Was Created

Starting the Project

The idea for this giant book came from Emperor Zhenzong. He ordered it to be made in October 1005. At first, it was called Records of Relations Between Rulers and Officials in Past Dynasties.

Finishing the Big Book

The Emperor later changed its name to Models from the Archives. The finished book was given to him on September 20, 1013. Many people worked on it, including Wang Qinruo and Yang Yi. They even asked the emperor to hire more helpers!

What Was Inside

The Cefu Yuangui was split into 1,000 juan. A juan is like a scroll or a chapter in a very long book. It had 31 main topics and 1014 smaller sections. All of these sections were about how the empire was run, how the government worked, and the imperial family. It did not include information about nature or animals.

Its Size and Importance

This encyclopedia was almost twice as big as another famous book called the Imperial Reader of the Taiping Era. It was also ranked second in the huge Siku Quanshu collection, which was a library of important Chinese books.

What Does the Name Mean?

The Cefu Yuangui has several English names. Here are some of them:

• Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau
• The Magic Mirror in the Palace of Books
• Archival Palace as the Great Oracle
• General Preface on Outer Ministers
• Outstanding Models from the Storehouse of Literature
• Models from the Archives

See also

• Chinese literature
• Chinese classic texts
• Culture of the Song Dynasty