Assembled Illustrations of the Three Powers

The original title is Sancai Tuhui (三才圖會). In Chinese philosophy, the "Three Powers" (Sancai) refers to the triad of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. This title signals the author's intent to document every aspect of the known universe within a single collection of images and text.

This work is a comprehensive EncyclopediaKnown in Chinese as a leishu (category book), these works functioned as massive reference sets for scholars, organizing vast amounts of information from older texts into specific subjects. compiled during the Ming DynastyAn era of Chinese history (1368–1644) marked by a great flourishing of literature, art, and the printing of illustrated books. by the scholar Wang QiWang Qi (王圻, 1529–1612) was a prominent official and bibliophile who, along with his son Wang Siyi, spent decades organizing this archive of maps, portraits, and scientific diagrams..