Yongle Encyclopedia

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The Yongle Encyclopedia (English: /jɒŋlə/) or Yongle Dadian (traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; pinyin: Yǒnglè dàdiǎn; Wade–Giles: Yung-lo Ta-tien; lit. 'Great Canon of Yongle') is a Chinese leishu encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. It comprised 22,937 manuscript rolls in 11,095 volumes.^[1] Fewer than 400 volumes survive today,^[2] comprising about 800 rolls, or 3.5% of the original work.^[3]

Most of the text was lost during the latter half of the 19th century, in the midst of events including the Second Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion. Its sheer scope and size made it the world's largest general encyclopedia until it was surpassed by Wikipedia in late 2007, nearly six centuries later.^[4][5]