康熙皇帝与《古今图书集成》

Emperor Kangxi and the Compendium of Works of the Past and the Present

《古今图书集成》是中国历史上完整保存至今的最大类书。创意并真正主持这项工作的,是清康熙皇帝之三子诚亲王胤祉的老师陈梦雷。全书在康熙晏驾前已经完成。雍正帝胤祯即位后,因对与其争权的前太子胤、三哥胤祉极为不满,所以对为胤祉主编该书的陈梦雷痛恨至极,将其流放。该书原稿及相关的原始资料可能在陈梦雷家被查抄时销毁,这是该书成书过程至今不详的原因。

The Compendium of Works of Past and Present is the largest compendium of its kind preserved intact in Chinese History. It was Chen Menglei, tutorto the third son of Emperor Kangxi, who initiated and presided over the project. The work was completed before the demise of Emperor Kangxi. When Yingzhen assumed the throne as Emperor Yongzheng, he exiled Chen out of hatred for the latter's service for his third brother and the eldest brother, the ex-crown princeas well. The original manuscripts and the related materials were very much likely to have been destroyed at the time when Chen's mansion was ransacked by imperial order, which probably accounts for the obscurity of the process of compilation of this huge work.