Siku Quanshu, literally translated as “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries”, is the complete collection of the Qing Dynasty imperial library. The collection includes 3,461 books in 36,381 volumes. It is compiled by 361 scholars from 1773-1782 under the Qing Emperor Qianlong’s imperial edict. The Four Treasuries refer to the four conventional branches or classes of literature – 經 Jing, the Classics, 史 Shi, the Histories, 子 Zi, the Philosophers, and 集 Ji, the Literary Collections. It covers every field of knowledge, from literature through philosophy to science and technology to medicine and more, all complete with the authoritative commentaries and explanations. This is a searchable and browse-able database with many useful functions, e.g. copy & paste, bookmark, online dictionary, etc. Texts and original images are both included for textual studies.
To access, select "Ancient Classics" and then click the log in button (no username or password). The library subscribes to the products with red text. Click the red image above “四庫系列數據庫” to enter this database.
