Research On "Things Of Things"

Shi Wu Kao is a small encyclopedia in tracing the source,which has eight rolls and is divided into twenty-nine categories.The book covers almost everything from astronomy and geography to humans,matters and objects,etc.Besides,all the things in this book are tracing the source of the wide search.It is close to the public's lives in the aspect of clothes,food,implements,drama,music etc.So Shi Wu Kao is on the basis of tracing the source,which also has characteristic of encyclopedia in daily use.In addition,Shi Wu Kao totally has 1184 items,including 260 unique items in laws and social realities of Ming Dynasty which takes up nearly a quarter of the total number.It's not only a uniqueness of the book,but also reflects the distinctive features of the era.Academic circles focus on research of large comprehensive encyclopedias which compiled by government,not private person.Besides,Wang Sanping's compilation of Shi Wu Kao has never been studied,either.Encyclopedia in tracing the source is one component of the encyclopedia;however,the academic circles did not have a clear conclusion on it.So this article will do a comb to the development of encyclopedia in tracing the source.In the reason that Shi Wu Kao has compiled data of Ming Dynasty,it will be an important studying part of this article.This article is going to be divided into the following six parts:The first part is an introduction,including the reason why I choose Shi Wu Kao as a study object,study situation of Shi Wu Kao,and study methods of this book.Body parts:The first chapter introduces the author and his books.It will have a correction of the author's controversy.The second chapter contains the versions and contents of Shi Wu Kao.It will have a comparison between different versions.The third chapter discusses the development and compiling features of encyclopedia in tracing the source.Some contents of Shi Wu Kao are connected with Shi Wu Ji Yuan,and the influence of the same kind encyclopedia in tracing the source.The forth chapter is mainly about the politics and etiquette of Ming Dynasty,including national institution,etiquette,sacrificial rites,government post etc.The last chapter covers the value and insufficient of Shi Wu Kao.