Shilin Guangji During the reign of
Kublai Khan of the
Yuan dynasty, Chen Yuanjing wrote and published the
Shilin Guangji, an encyclopedia which detailed the life during the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as containing maps of the large Yuan empire and examples of the
ʼPhags-pa script and
Mongolian script. Chen's book was popular and easy to understand at the time and would be expanded and used by later scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties as well as in Korea and Japan to learn more about Chinese history, the Yuan dynasty, and Mongol Empire. Chen's Shilin Guangji and the illustrations therein were used as a basis for later encyclopedias such as the
Sancai Tuhui and
Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China. The Suishi Guangji (岁时广记) or "Expansion of the Random Notes to Events of the Annual Seasons" is an annuary or book detailing customs and yearly
festivals. It was an expansion of the Suishi Zaji (岁时杂记) or "Random Notes to Events of the Annual Seasons" written by Lü Xizhe (吕希哲 ca. 1080-1125). Chen's Suishi Guangji has a preface written by Zhu Jian (朱鑑/朱鉴 1190-1258), the grandson of
Zhu Xi. Based on Zhu Jian's year of death, it can be deduced that Chen published the Suishi Guangji earlier and had lived during the 12th and 13th centuries. == References ==