Shilin Guangji facts for kids
The Shilin Guangji (which means Vast Record from the Forest of Affairs) is a super cool encyclopedia from ancient China. It was written by a person named Chen Yuanjing during the Yuan dynasty (that's when the Mongol Empire ruled China). This amazing book has writing in Chinese, Mongolian script, and a special script called the ʼPhags-pa script.
Chen Yuanjing was from a place called Chong'an in Fujian. He was born when the Southern Song was still around, before the Yuan dynasty took over. This encyclopedia is packed with tons of information about daily life during the Mongol Empire and Yuan dynasty. It even has awesome pictures, maps, and drawings! People loved Chen's book because it was easy to understand. Even after the Yuan dynasty, scholars used it to create their own encyclopedias.
Experts think Chen Yuanjing wrote this book early in the Yuan dynasty, when Kublai Khan was the emperor (around 1260–1264). The very first copy is gone, but we still have printed versions from the Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty, and even Japan. These later versions sometimes had new parts added. The Shilin Guangji was a big inspiration for other Chinese encyclopedias that came later, like the Sancai Tuhui and Gujin Tushu Jicheng.
Contents
What's Inside the Book?
The Shilin Guangji has 42 parts, called "volumes." It's like an everyday encyclopedia, also known as a leishu (which means "classified book"). These volumes are split into 10 main sections.
The book talks about life in both the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. In the Yuan dynasty part, there's a map of the Yuan Empire called "The Great Yuan all in One Map." This map shows important cities like Shangdu and Dadu (which is now Beijing).
The book also tells you about:
- The different cities and areas of the Yuan dynasty.
- The Mongolian script and other fonts.
- The ʼPhags-pa script, which was an official writing system of the Mongol Empire.
- The Hundred Family Surnames (a famous Chinese poem of surnames), including a version written in the Phagspa script.
- The money and economic system of the Yuan dynasty.
- The family tree of the Yuan emperors.
It also shows what daily life was like for people in the Mongol Empire. It was one of the first books to use lots of pictures to show things! These pictures include people riding horses, doing archery, greeting each other, using chariots, carrying flags, going to schools, and learning about important thinkers like Confucius and Laozi. You can also see illustrations of martial arts, big parties, delicious food, amazing buildings, games like chess and soccer, magic tricks, singing, and playing musical instruments like the guqin. Because of all these pictures, Chen Yuanjing's Shilin Guangji is a fantastic way to learn about the history and daily life of the Yuan dynasty and Mongol Empire.
Food and Drinks
The encyclopedia has a special section all about food! It talks about how to make fermenting agents (used for things like bread), different kinds of spirits and wines, and how to keep meat and fish fresh. It also mentions tea and yummy snacks made from wheat and flour.
The 'Phags-pa Script
Inside the book, the "Hundred Family Surnames" poem is written in the 'Phags-pa script. It also has notes in the Mongolian script. The emperor Kublai Khan wanted to create a writing system that could be used for all the different languages spoken by people in his huge Mongol Empire. So, the 'Phags-pa script was made to write languages like Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and Turkic.
After the Yuan dynasty ended, people stopped using the 'Phags-pa script much. But it was very important and even influenced how the Korean Hangul script developed later! Chen's book is one of the few places where we can still see how the 'Phags-pa script was used during the Mongol Empire. This helps language experts study how languages have changed over time.
Different Versions of the Book
The first version of the Shilin Guangji was put together to help students get ready for important government tests called civil service examinations. Over time, as the book was printed again and again in the Yuan dynasty and later, new parts were added to it. This means the Shilin Guangji has a very long and interesting history of being published!
Important Editions
In 1963, a company called the Zhonghua Book Company made copies of a version of the Shilin Guangji that was printed during the time of Emperor Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür (around 1330–1333). This version was very popular with scholars. Before the Second Sino-Japanese War, this copy was shared widely and even photographed by the Palace Museum. A scholar named Hu Daojing also wrote a special introduction for it, telling more about Chen Yuanjing's life and what was in that version of the book.
Many other copies of the book have been printed since the Yuan dynasty. For example, there's a copy from the Yuan dynasty in the Peking University library. The National Palace Museum also has a copy from the same time as the Zhonghua edition. In 1998, the Zhonghua Book Company printed the book again, making it available to even more people.
Images for kids
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Illustration of Chinese chess in the Shilin Guangji
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Map of Bianjing
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Twenty-Eight Mansions
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Cuju, an ancient Chinese football game
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Taijitu, illustrating Yin and yang
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Hundred Family Surnames written in Chinese and ʼPhags-pa script
