Sancai Tuhui


Sancai Tuhui, compiled by Wang Qi and his son Wang Siyi, is a Chinese leishu encyclopedia, completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the Ming dynasty, featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heaven, earth, and humanity.

Title

The title of this encyclopedia has been variously translated into English as “Illustrations of the Three Powers”, “Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms”, “Pictorial Compendium of the Three Powers”, and others; in the original title, “Sancai” refers to the three realms of “heaven, earth, and man”, and “Tuhui” literally means “collection of illustrations”.

Description

This encyclopedia is organized into 106 chapters in 14 categories, with text and illustrations for the articles. Reproductions of this encyclopedia are still in print in China.
While it contains some inaccurate or mythological articles, it also distinguished itself from the common “everyday encyclopedias” at that time by being accurate in some other articles.