ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature
Beitang shuchao 北堂書鈔 "Book excerpts from the Northern Hall" is an encyclopaedia compiled during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Yu Shinan 虞世南 (558-638). A commentary and supplement (buzhu 補注) were compiled during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Chen Yumo 陳禹謨 (1548-1621). The book's name is derived from the building behind the Palace Library (mishusheng 秘書省).
There were some unauthorised copies on the book market bearing the title Gu-Tang leiyuan 古唐類苑 or Da-Tang leiyao 大唐類要. Under the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618), Yu had served in the Palace Library and thus had access to a vast treasury of books. During this time, he compiled the encyclopaedia on private initiative. It was finished around 610 and had an original length of 174 juan, of which 13 are lost. The modern print edition from the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Kong Guangtao 孔廣陶 (1832-1890) is arranged in 160 juan and 19 chapters with 852 topics quoting more than 21,000 phrases from among all literary genres.
| 刑者法五行。（白虎通云：刑所以五何？法五行也。又曰科條三千者應天地人情也。補。） | Punishment is based on the Five Agents. (The Baihutong says, "Why are there five types of punishment? Because they follows the principle of the Five Agents." It also says, "The three thousand regulations correspond to Heaven, Earth, and human emotions." Addition.) |
| 法者象四時。（管子。） | Law is modeled after the four seasons. (from the Guanzi.) |
| 象天道而行刑。(刑法志云：書所謂象刑也。) | Punishment is executed as a model of the Heavenly Way. (The Treatise on Penal Law says, "This is what the Book of Documents calls 'representation of punishment'.") |
| 因天討而作刑。(漢書刑法志云：刑罰威獄，以類天之震曜，殺戮也。故聖人因天討而作五刑。大刑用甲兵，其次用斧鉞，中刑用刀鋸，其次用鑽鑿，薄刑用鞭撲。大者，陳諸原野。小者，致之市朝。其所繇來者，上矣。補。) | The punishments were made as a retribution by Heaven. (The Treatise on Penal Law from the Hanshu says, "Punishments and penalties are imposed with authority and rigor, resembling the thunder and brightness of Heaven, bringing death and destruction. Therefore, the sage follows Heaven's judgment in establishing the five types of punishments. The most severe punishment uses armor and swords(?); the next level uses axes and halberds; the middle punishment uses knives and saws; the next uses drills and chisels; and the lightest punishment uses whips and clubs. Severe punishments are carried out in open fields, and the lighter ones in the marketplace. Their origins lie above [i.e., they come from Heaven]." Addition.) |
| 五刑者五常之鞭䇿。(白虎通云。) | The five punishments are the whips and lashes of the five constants. (from the Baihutong) |
| 刑罰威獄，類天震曜。(見上。) | Punishments and penalties are imposing and severe, resembling the thunder and brightness of Heaven. (idem) |
| 刑罰威獄，使民畏忌。(左傳，太叔對趙簡子。) | Punishments and penalties are imposing and severe, causing the people to fear and be cautious. (from the Zuozhuan, Tai Shu's speech to Zhao Jianzi) |
| 刑者，成也。一成不變。刑者，教也。質罪示成終。(孝經鉤命訣云。) | Punishment means, to establish. Once established, it does not change. Punishment is a form of teaching. It demonstrates the completion of a crime. (from the [apocryphal writing] Xiaojing gouming jue) |
The Beitang shuchao was rarely used until Chen Yumo published a first print. Unfortunately, Chen also added quotations from later sources that could not have been included in the original Beitang shuchao. Although he sometimes indicates when a paragraph has been added later, it is not certain that the other parts are in the original shape. The wildly circulating editions have not survived, except one manuscript called Tang leihan 唐類函, which was discovered by Yu Anqi 俞安期 (fl. 1596) and a manuscript transmitted by the Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) publisher Tao Zongyi 陶宗儀 (1322-1403).
The Beitang shuchao is one of the earliest general encyclopaedias of China, covering a vast array of topics. Its value lies in the quotation from a large number of literary sources, of which almost 90 percent are long since lost. The Beitang shuchao is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. A critically revised edition was printed in 1888 by Kong Guangtao, as a reprint of a Song-period manuscript (Ying Song Beitang shuchao 影宋北堂書鈔). It was reprinted in 1971 by the Xinguang Press 新光書局, in 1974 by the Hongye Press 宏業書局 and in 1977 by the Yiwen Yinshuju Press 藝文印書局, all in Taiwan. In 1989, the Zhongguo Shudian Press 中國書店 published a reprint.
| 1. | 帝王 | Rulers |
| 2. | 后妃 | Consorts |
| 3. | 政術 | The art of rulership |
| 4. | 刑法 | Penal law |
| 5. | 封爵 | Titles of nobility |
| 6. | 設官 | Establishing offices |
| 7. | 禮儀 | Rituals and etiquette |
| 8. | 藝文 | Literature |
| 9. | 樂 | Music |
| 10. | 武功 | The military |
| 11. | 衣冠 | Robes and caps |
| 12. | 儀飾 | Ritual utensils |
| 13. | 服飾 | Clothing and adornment |
| 14. | 舟 | Boats |
| 15. | 車 | Carts |
| 16. | 酒食 | Liquor and food |
| 17. | 天 | Heaven and astronomy |
| 18. | 歲時 | Seasons and time |
| 19. | 地 | The earth |