Ancient encyclopedias all had various strange titles, such as Paradise, Brocade, Flower Collection and Zhu Ji. Serious scholars like to use titles like "Baojian". "Jian" is a mirror, which can be used for reference by people in the world and doing research, but it is also appropriate.
Books with encyclopedic nature in ancient China were called quasi-books. The most orthodox titles are Imperial Reading, Imperial Reading and Grand Ceremony. It was not until the end of 19 that the word "encyclopedia" was introduced from the west, re-exported from Japan, and combined with the traditional title of "encyclopedia" in China.
When people mention encyclopedia, they immediately think of a word "big": encyclopedia. I think it may have been influenced by the old translation of Encyclopedia Britannica at first. The word "big" doesn't really mean the size of the book. The first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica has only three volumes, and it is a small format. The Soviet Encyclopedia is called "Da" to distinguish it from the Soviet Encyclopedia (Volume 1 1). When the Encyclopedia of China was first named, there were also considerations to distinguish between large and small encyclopedias, but its first edition reached 74 volumes, also known as "big".
An encyclopedia with the title of "small" is called "small encyclopedia", which may have three meanings: a pocket version of the small encyclopedia; Open a not-so-small one-volume encyclopedia of this case; A children's encyclopedia for young readers is not necessarily small.
The longest book title
If the British want to find their "father of encyclopedias", it must be Ephraim Chambers. Chambers Encyclopedia has published seven editions in Britain, from 1 edition of 1728 to the seventh edition of 1752. It took 24 years and nine volumes were published in Italy. It was published almost in French in France. 1745, the ambitious French publisher Brayton obtained the copyright to publish the French edition of Encyclopedia Chambers, and published the news in French newspapers, even the title of the French edition. If the title of Chambers Encyclopedia in Britain is surprisingly long, then the title of the French version drawn up by Bretton is too long to read. Long book titles were a fashion in the western publishing industry at that time, perhaps because the advertising industry was underdeveloped at that time. Publishers wanted to give the book title an advertising effect, and they couldn't wait to put the contents and attractions of the book into the book title. If the French edition of Chambers Encyclopedia is realized, the world encyclopedia publishing history will keep the record of the most titles. The title of this book is roughly as follows:
"Encyclopedia, or a comprehensive dictionary containing terms and explanations of theology, natural science, humanities and technology, and describing the categories and characteristics of various utensils and products, as well as the functions, systems, schools and viewpoints of various natural and artificial products, such as theology, philosophy, mathematics, medicine and archaeology, and introducing ancient and modern academic classics, historical records, dictionaries, newspapers and periodicals, memoirs, etc."
French readers have never seen this lengthy encyclopedia, because the publishing agreement between Bretton and Chambers was cancelled, and Diderot, the editor he invited, refused to take it, so Diderot's Encyclopedia of France, the cornerstone of modern encyclopedias, came into being.
Fraud case
Encyclopedia Britannica 14 (1929~ 1977) once encountered an embarrassment of authority. It was brought about by the exposure of an academic fraud scandal in archaeology. 1953, after 40 years of academic debate, anthropologists and prehistoric archaeologists finally got the knowledge that the skull and jawbone fossils of Biltang people were artificially forged. What happened to Bill Tang? It turned out that there was an amateur geologist named Dawson in Sussex, southeast England. 19 12 years, he found the skull and jawbone fragment fossils of ancient homo erectus in a gravel layer in Bulten, the county, which lived about 3 million years ago. This discovery caused a sensation in the scientific community and became a major event in anthropology and archaeology. Bill Tang people were also named "Dawson's Shu people" after the discoverer. Dawson became so famous that he even wanted to join the Royal Society. In the 1950s, anthropologists discovered that these prehistoric human fossils were actually forged after repeated and meticulous research. The Biltang people were just skull fragments of ancestors 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, which were forged by artificial ingenious processing. The fragments were dyed chemically, but the jawbone and teeth were actually orangutans, which were artificially polished to disguise the worn shape of human teeth. Someone deliberately buried these ancient human fakes in the gravel layer underground. Dawson sent his "discovery" to the British Museum and even deceived Woodward, a paleontologist at the British Museum. Later, it was discovered that French paleontologist Xia Erdan was involved in this academic fraud case. He accompanied Dawson to explore the Bill Tang people and served as a witness to this "extraordinary discovery".
This "great scientific discovery" was naturally written into the Encyclopedia of Britain, but after the forgery case was exposed, the editorial department was very passive and in a hurry. In addition to rewriting the term "Biltang people", it is also necessary to check the related terms such as "anthropology", "archaeology" and "humanity" through the index of the whole book and make appropriate revisions. This embarrassment may be related to the fact that the 14 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica stopped the republishing system (about once every 10 year) and started the continuous revision system (annual revision of 10% entries).
Definition of "wool"
Generally, the interpretation of encyclopedia entries begins with the definition, and the definition should be given before others. However, "general" is not "certain". Whether it is necessary or not, each item must have a definition, which confuses writers who can read clearly and as the name suggests. I came across a typical example when compiling the Textile Volume of the Encyclopedia of China: how to define the term "wool"? This manuscript was well written, but it was not passed because there was no definition at the beginning. What should I do? So everyone thought hard and created a "fibrous covering that grows on the surface of sheep." According to the rules defined by logic, this is scientific enough. However, it complicates a simple thing that everyone knows, which is a bit ridiculous.
This example was told by me at an editorial business study meeting. A young editor suggested that since "wool" is a simple thing that everyone knows, the encyclopedia should not include this item. That's wrong! This confuses the nature of encyclopedia and Chinese dictionary. As a word in the language, "wool" does not need to be explained, so Ci Hai, which takes this word as the object, did not accept this word, otherwise it would have to be interpreted as "sheep's hair". However, wool, as a science, is very rich in content, including the history of human domestication and utilization of sheep, the types and varieties of wool, the distribution of wool resources, and the structure of wool fibers (including epidermis and cortex), which is the difference between dictionaries and encyclopedias. The former aims at the text and explains the text; The latter takes knowledge as the theme and introduces the comprehensive knowledge of the theme.
Love and the atomic bomb
An encyclopedia is neither a Chinese dictionary nor a guide to life. Encyclopedia is a knowledge reference book, and entries should be knowledge topics with encyclopedia content. The definition of general words can't be found in encyclopedia, and words can't be found without encyclopedia knowledge.
There is such a foreign example in the history of encyclopedia compilation, which can well explain this nature of encyclopedia. One hundred and twenty years ago, the first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica had an entry of "love", which took 5-6 pages to "explain" love. About love, people naturally have endless sweet words in their hearts, but they generally don't talk endlessly in public. Only in novels, plays, poems and other literary and artistic works, the description of love is spectacular. But what can an encyclopedia say about love? The early entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica is quite emotional, and there is something to say about how people in love are gentle and affectionate. How can lovers be affectionate and talk to each other? How to write a love letter expressing love, and so on. However, the Encyclopedia Britannica after version 14 may think that such content is not like encyclopedic knowledge, so the item "love" has been removed. By the end of World War II, Japan surrendered, and a new item "Atomic Bomb" was added to the book, which occupied a considerable space of the original item "Love".
This deepening of encyclopedic consciousness was not immediately understood by people. A reader was even indignant and protested to the editorial department of the book, accusing the editorial department of despising the best feelings of mankind and being keen on selling killing weapons. Editor-in-chief yost replied humorously: "For love, it is better to read an encyclopedia and experience it yourself;" For the atomic bomb, it is better to read a book. "
Books that influenced celebrities
Encyclopedia Britannica has influenced many celebrities, and there are many anecdotes in this respect.
Bill Gates, the American billionaire and chairman of Microsoft Corporation, began reading the Encyclopedia Britannica before he was 9 years old and regarded it as the best reference book. According to Gates, he doesn't like communication, but prefers reading. His so-called entertainment is to eat the Encyclopedia Britannica and sometimes indulge in it. He likes to chew and think. When he meets something he doesn't understand, he will ask his parents or others and never let it go easily. Before Gates 1973 was admitted to Harvard University, he had read through this encyclopedia many times. Gates mentioned Encyclopedia Britannica many times in The Road to the Future, which revealed the secret of Microsoft's success in 1995. Gates, who didn't finish college, regarded him as a lifelong knowledge companion and a guiding light of wisdom; He even declared that "the Encyclopedia Britannica gave me all the useful knowledge". This shows that this encyclopedia has a great influence on Gates.
Al Jacobs, a famous American editor and writer, has spent more than a year reading the complete encyclopedia Britannica with 33,000 pages since 2002 to overcome his midlife crisis, and has written this experience into a book, knowledgeable person: the humble exploration of becoming the smartest person in the world. The subtitle of this book is very long and looks a bit conceited, but it also shows the position of the Encyclopedia Britannica in the eyes of the world. Otherwise, how can you know everything and become the smartest person in the world? Interestingly, a book review in The New York Times said, "knowledgeable person is great because it is shorter than the Encyclopedia Britannica and easy to understand. More importantly, if it falls off the shelf and hits your head, you won't get hurt. " Jacobs read the Encyclopedia Britannica and participated in many activities similar to millionaire tycoon and Mensa's intelligence test, all of which achieved good results. In recent years, he has also published many bestsellers, such as Living Like the Bible and Diary of a Mouse: My Life is an Experiment. In an interview with the British bookseller magazine, he said, "The Encyclopedia Britannica has given me knowledge and wisdom."
Wang is a famous publisher in modern China. He is the general manager of Shanghai Commercial Press. He was an apprentice and received only five years of formal school education. He doesn't have a diploma, and all his knowledge is obtained through self-study. At the age of 20, Wang bought a set of 10 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica with a loan. He studies for two or three hours every day, tirelessly; When he paid off the book three years later, he had read the whole book; He can be described as "well-read, self-taught". It is this encyclopedia that laid a good foundation for Wang to engage in publishing and education in the future. Hu Shi, a famous scholar, wrote in his diary: "Wang is a completely self-taught person with the most reading and knowledge." Hu also praised him as "an encyclopedia with feet". Because of Wang's profound knowledge, he became the first doctoral supervisor after he arrived in Taiwan Province, and enjoyed the title of "Father of Doctor" in Taiwan Province. At the age of 82, Wang himself won the first square hat in his life, that is, the honorary doctor of law degree awarded by Korea Jianguo University; He said at the award ceremony: "It is the Encyclopedia Britannica that has benefited me for life."
The famous writer Qian Zhongshu began to read the Encyclopedia Britannica when he was young, and regarded it as a treasure house of information and a source of knowledge. Later, the concise Chinese version of this encyclopedia was published in China, which gave him considerable attention and support. Qian Zhongshu has an extraordinary ability and never forgets anything; Huang Yongyu, a famous painter, also had many related experiences. In the 1980s, although Qian Zhongshu was old, he still helped a lot: Huang asked him for the textual basis of "Phoenix Nirvana"; Qian asked him to look up the concise Chinese version of the third volume of Encyclopedia Britannica, and Huang found it immediately and solved the problem. Qian Zhongshu's extensive knowledge and strong knowledge are amazing; Encyclopedia Britannica is informative. Qian Zhongshu is called "a living encyclopedia" because of his profound knowledge.
Zhou Haizhong, a famous scholar, saw a set of Encyclopedia Britannica in the library of Sun Yat-sen University with the number 1983. This made him like a duck to water, forgetting to eat and sleep; After teaching, he browsed this encyclopedia in the library to absorb knowledge and broaden his academic horizons. This book laid a good foundation for his later multidisciplinary research. One morning, Zhou Haizhong was absorbed in consulting the astronomy items in the library, but he didn't hear the prompt of closing the door. He was locked in at noon that day. Later, he said humorously, "I read more than two and a half hours and saved a lunch." It's worth reading an encyclopedia! In Zhou's eyes, Encyclopedia Britannica is "a treasure house of knowledge and a good teacher to solve doubts".
He, a famous media host and current affairs critic, is recognized by China people as an expert on international issues. 1986, when the Chinese version of The Concise Encyclopedia Britannica (complete set of * * 10 volumes) was first published in China, He Liangliang took out his pocket and bought a set. From then on, he couldn't put it down and regarded reading encyclopedias as a great pleasure in life. 1988, how to make a living in Hong Kong. In addition to a customs pass, he also took away the set of encyclopedias that he thought were important to him. It can be said that the Encyclopedia Britannica led to the success.
An insatiable reader
From 65438 to 0978, China decided to compile and publish the Encyclopedia of China. In order to investigate encyclopedias in various countries. I sit in the reference reading room of Beijing Library (National Library) almost all day. In addition to reading encyclopedias from various countries, I also pay special attention to readers who come to consult encyclopedias. As long as someone leafs through the encyclopedia, he walks over and stands behind the reader to see what he is looking for, how to use the encyclopedia, and sometimes does some voluntary consultation work. Although the reading room is spacious, the tables and chairs are comfortable, the windows are bright and clean, and there are good reading conditions, I find that most of the people who look up encyclopedias are unable to sit down and are in a hurry. They stood in front of the bookshelf, with an open encyclopedia on their left arm and something hastily written on their right hand. This is the reading volume of reference book readers. They don't look up the encyclopedia to enjoy the literary description calmly, but to find out the definition of a concept and the truth of a fact, or to look up the information of people, things, places and things and get the needed knowledge and information quickly. Can't the editors of encyclopedias get some enlightenment from this reading method and demand? Be sure to write the encyclopedia entries to the limit, squeeze out all the "moisture", and write the explanations clearly, so that the readers who can't sit down can save the consulting time to the maximum extent. Those empty words, cliches, the well-known principle of wasting other people's time, and even "wearing boots and hats" should not be written by encyclopedia editors.