The Ingalls Library is pleased to announce the purchase
of a significant online resource for research on Chinese art. The
Siku
Quanshu (Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature) was compiled
during the years 1773-1782 by edict of Emperor Qianlong. The
Siku Quanshu
includes 3,460 works with a total of more than 36,000 volumes. Having
approximately 800 million characters, it is unarguably the single largest
collection of literary works in the world.
The works included in the
Siku Quanshu pertain to the five thousand
years of Chinese civilization, including history, geography, politics,
economics, science and technology, and philosophy, etc. In the course
of its compilation, large numbers of rare books and manuscripts were collected
and preserved.
The
Siku Quanshu can be accessed through
E-Research (MetaLib).
