Ming dynasty work shows how Chinese understood the world in the 1600s
Long before the digital age, a Ming dynasty scholar made it his mission to map human knowledge from a Chinese perspective. The result was an encyclopaedia spanning 127 volumes known as the Tushu Bian, or Compendium of Illustrations and Texts. The work – published in 1613 – was compiled by Neo-Confucian scholar Zhang Huang and drew on more than 200 printed sources across several decades to…
A Ming dynasty scholar dedicated his efforts to mapping human knowledge from a Chinese perspective, resulting in an encyclopaedia known as the Tushu Bian or Compendium of Illustrations and Texts. Published in 1613, the work was compiled by Neo-Confucian scholar Zhang Huang and drew from over 200 printed sources across several decades to document concepts of heaven, earth, and humanity.
The scholar's goal was to gather all necessary illustrations and texts for an educated person to understand the world, though the encyclopaedia was too costly to print during his lifetime and was ultimately carved on woodblocks and printed after his death.
Comparing the Tushu Bian with similar works from Euro-Mediterranean culture, information designer Paul Kahn highlighted the Chinese work's unique depiction of the Grand Canal and major rivers. Unlike European books that represented rivers as networks and lines connecting places, the Tushu Bian depicted rivers as continuous, detailed descriptions of every location along the river, flowing horizontally from right to left regardless of cardinal directions.
This approach was based on personal conventions, as people often have an expectation of north being at the top when viewing images.
The Tushu Bian also presented the human body as a channel for primordial qi, energy inherited from one's parents, connecting heaven and earth. Unlike other books, which depicted the human body as a microcosm with external body parts showing internal organs, the Tushu Bian featured a pear-shaped outline with the spine portrayed as a sequence of connected circles linked to the head. This representation may have been done to show the spine and spinal column, correlating different parts of the spine with different organs.
While the Tushu Bian was a valuable resource for Zhang's students and exam preparation, it did not include the seven naval expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He between 1405 and 1433. Instead, the encyclopaedia focused on maps centered on the Chinese Empire, with limited representation of surrounding "tribute" countries. The greatest detail was devoted to places where the Chinese were defending against invasions, ignoring the significant maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He just before the Tushu Bian was compiled.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
