Yongle Encyclopedia facts for kids
The Yongle Encyclopedia was a huge collection of information from China. It was ordered by the Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in 1403. It was finished by 1408. This encyclopedia was the biggest in the world at that time. It held this record for 600 years!
In Chinese, its name is simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; pinyin: Yǒnglè DàDiǎn. This means The Great Canon or Vast Documents of the Yongle Era.
Contents
What Was the Yongle Encyclopedia?
The Yongle Encyclopedia was a massive book series. It was like a giant library of all the knowledge from China. It covered many topics, including history, art, science, and more.
Who Ordered This Huge Book?
The encyclopedia was created because of the Yongle Emperor. He was a powerful ruler of the Ming Dynasty in China. He wanted to gather all important Chinese writings into one place.
How Big Was This Encyclopedia?
This encyclopedia was incredibly large! It had over 11,000 volumes, which are like separate books. It contained about 370 million Chinese characters. For many centuries, it was the biggest encyclopedia ever made.
Images for kids
-
The Yongle Encyclopedia, in 2014, on display at The National Library of China.
See also
In Spanish: Enciclopedia Yǒnglè para niños
