Chinese Encyclopedia

Chinese encyclopedias are encyclopedias published in the Chinese language or encyclopedias about China and Chinese related topics. The origin of encyclopedias in China can be traced to the late Han dynasty, circa 220 CE. Chinese has two words for encyclopedia or encyclopedic, common "baike" (百科), literally "hundred subjects" and literary "dadian" (大典), literally "great canon". For example, "baike quanshu" (百科全書) "hundred subjects complete book" or "comprehensive encyclopedia" and "Yongle dadian" (永樂大典 - Yongle Emperor's great canon) "Yongle Encyclopedia". Encyclopedic works were published in China for well over one and a half thousand years before China's first modern encyclopedias were published after China's economic liberalization in the 1980s, during the reform period. Several encyclopedias have been published in China since then, including several specialist and children's encyclopedias.

The history of encyclopedias in China is distinctive and covers almost two thousand years. Traditional Chinese encyclopedias differ from the modern encyclopedia in that they are mainly anthologies of significant literature with some aspects of the dictionary. Compiled by eminent scholars, they have been revised rather than replaced over hundreds of years. In the main, they followed a classified form of arrangement; very often their chief use was to aid candidates for the civil service.

Pictures below show the incomplete copy (damaged) of Chinese Encyclopedia from my collection.

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Chinese Porcelain Brush Washer

Brush washer is a tool used to wash the ink remaining on the brush after it is used. It is widely favored for its delicate shape, tremendous variety and exquisite design.

In the bygone times, materials used to make the brush washer varied a lot, including porcelain, jade, agate, enamel, ivory and rhinoceros horn, all of which were quite rare and precious. The most common seen are the porcelain brush washers, of which those made of blue and white porcelain take up the majority. They are usually in a round flat shape, on which various flower patterns are decorated, presenting an appeal of simplicity, elegance and sedateness.

Pictures below show the Chinese porcelain brush washer from my collection. It is decorated with human figures on interior and bats on exterior, also a red base mark "Guan Yao Nei Zao" meaning "Imperial Kiln for Inner Palace". This mark occurs in between circa 1890 to 1903.

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Beaded Pillow Ends

Nyonya bead work is a very complicated process. It involves time and effort to stitch an entire repertoire of beading accessories. The most popular of all bead work is the beading involved to make the beaded shoes. However, the Nyonyas were taught to sew, bead and embroider all of their other accessories that were needed in the household. They had to make bed tapestries, bridal hangings, panels, knee pads, shoes, kebaya laces, articles of decoration such as beaded vases, beaded purses, bags, letter holders, decorative motifs, pillow ends and a whole list of other needed household items of art.

Pictures below show a pair of beaded pillow ends from my collection. Such pillow ends were used for the bridal bed on Peranakan wedding days. They took months to complete and involved much painstaking hard work and artistry which in the other hand explaining to us Peranakan beading is a complicated process and takes a lot of skills and patience.

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Also see the "Silver Pillow Ends / Bantal Plates".