Chinese encyclopedia discovered in US library

The manuscript of a 16th century Chinese encyclopedia has been uncovered at the Huntington Library in southern California.[Photo/CRI]

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The manuscript of a 16th century Chinese encyclopedia has been uncovered at the Huntington Library in southern California.

Dating from around 1562, the Yongle Encyclopedia was meant to preserve the knowledge of ancient and imperial China. The original was lost during the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644.

The entire manuscript was transcribed by 109 scribes between 1562 and 1567. It is estimated that there are only 400 left in the world.

According to Yang Liwei, the Chinese archivist who discovered what the book contained, the encyclopedia was taken out of China around the turn of last century by Joseph Whiting, a missionary based in Beijing.

The book was eventually donated to the library by Whiting's daughter in 1968.

The library has digitized the volume and is expected soon put it online.