三才图会 (1609)

《三才图会》，又名《三才图说》，是由明朝文献学家、藏书家王圻、王思义父子撰写的百科式类书，于万历三十五年（1607年）成书，两年后出版。全书共106卷，图文并茂，反映了明代人的世界观，为后人了解和研究明代社会提供了大量资料。

内容

《三才图会》中的“三才”，即“天”、“地”和“人”。

全书共106卷，分为天文、地理、人物、时令、宫室、器用、身体、衣服、人事、仪制、珍宝、文史、鸟兽和草木共十四门，前三门为王圻撰就，后十一门为王思义写成，又经王思义以十年之功，详细审定。每门之下分卷，条记事物，“图绘以勒之于先，论话以缀之于后”，互为印证。

目录

三才图会序一（周孔教撰）、序二（熊剑化撰）、序三（陈继儒撰）

三才图会引（王圻撰）

《天文》四卷

《地理》十六卷

《人物》十四卷

《时令》四卷

《宫室》四卷

《器用》十二卷

《身体》七卷

《衣服》三卷

《人事》十卷

《仪制》八卷

《珍宝》二卷

《文史》四卷

《鸟兽》六卷

《草木》十二卷

Sancai Tuhui (Chinese: 三才圖會, san-TS'EYE TOO-khwey), compiled by Wang Qi (Chinese: 王圻) and his son Wang Siyi (王思義), is a Chinese leishu encyclopedia, completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the late Ming dynasty, featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heaven, earth, and humanity. The work contains a large number of posthumous and contemporary depictions of Chinese emperors.

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" (三才) refers to the three realms of "heaven, earth, and man", and "Tuhui" (圖會) means "collection of illustrations".

Description

This encyclopedia is organized into 106 chapters in 14 categories (astronomy, geography, biographies, history, biology, and such), 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 (for example, the articles on the horseshoe crab and the crane), it also distinguished itself from the common "everyday encyclopedias" (日用類書, riyong leishu) at that time by being accurate in some other articles (for example, accurate depictions of the Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese people's clothing, and a very accurate world map (the Shanhai Yudi Quantu).