Page "Encyclopedia" Paragraph 24

The enormous encyclopedic work in China of the Four Great Books of Song, compiled by the 11th century AD during the early Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ), was a massive literary undertaking for the time.

The last encyclopedia of the four, the Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau, amounted to 9. 4 million Chinese characters in 1, 000 written volumes.

There were many great encyclopedists throughout Chinese history, including the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo ( 1031 – 1095 ) with his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, the statesman, inventor, and agronomist Wang Zhen ( active 1290 – 1333 ) with his Nong Shu of 1313, and the written Tiangong Kaiwu of Song Yingxing ( 1587 – 1666 ), the latter of whom was termed the " Diderot of China " by British historian Joseph Needham.