Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China

[1] It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters,[2] making it the largest leishu ever printed.

To illustrate the huge size of the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China, it is estimated to have contained 3 to 4 times the amount of material in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.

[4] Another one of the three extant copies of the encyclopedia outside of China is located at the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University.

From 1700 to 1705, Chen Menglei worked day and night, writing most of the book, including 10,000 volumes and around 160 million words.

When the Yongzheng emperor ascended the throne, he ordered Jiang Tingxi to help Chen Menglei finish the encyclopedia for publication by around 1725.

The Columbia University copy of the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China , rebound in a Western style by Professor Frederick Hirth for ease of handling
Illustration of mountains and rivers in Volume 52 of the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China (3rd year of Yongzheng, Qing dynasty, 1725, Chen Menglei)