Located to the east of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and directly opposite the Hall of Martial Valor, The Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhua Hall) was initially the residence for the crown prince, featuring a roof adorned with green tiles. In the Qing Dynasty, the roof was replaced with yellow glazed tiles, and the hall was repurposed as a venue where the emperor and scholars convened to discuss state affairs. During Emperor Qianlong's reign, it became the imperial library, housing 36,000 volumes and serving as the compilation site for the Siku Quanshu, the most extensive encyclopedia in Chinese history. The Hall of Literary Brilliance became part of the "Three Halls and Three Pavilions" system, where grand secretaries assisted the emperor in managing state affairs.

 

The Siku Quanshu (四庫全書) - "Complete books of the Four Storehouses", commissioned by Emperor Qianlong, was an ambitious literary project involving 361 scholars. This monumental work encompassed over 10,000 manuscripts across various fields, including natural sciences, social sciences, history, philosophy, and arts and took 19 years to complete. The Siku Quanshu was divided into the four parts into which literature was traditionally divided since the Former Han period (206 BCE-8 CE). The four categories are: 1: Confucian classics and commentaries to these, 2: historiography , 3: masters, philosophers, and other specialized treatises and 4: belles-lettres, anthologies and collections. There are a total of 79,897 sections within 36,381 volumes, spanning approximately 2.3 million pages and containing about 800 million Chinese characters. There are 7 copies of the Siku Quanshu and distributed in specially built library halls in all important palaces so that the emperor would have access to the series wherever he dwelt.

 

However, during wartime, three copies were destroyed, and only four copies are currently preserved at:

The National Library of China (Beijing)

The National Palace Museum (Taipei)

The Gansu Library (Lanzhou)

The Zhejiang Library (Hangzhou)

 

 During the compilation of the collection, Emperor Qianlong gathered and ordered to burn lots of  books that supported the Ming dynasty and opposed the Qing, as well as those containing anti-Qing ideologies, which threatened the rule of the Qing dynasty.

 

What’s the aim of this project? the Qianlong Emperor Offsite Link commissioned the Siku Quanshu, to demonstrate that the Qing could surpass the Ming Dynasty's 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia, which was the world's largest encyclopedia at the time. Besides that, Emperor Qianlong was a ruler who highly valued culture, had a deep appreciation for literature and poetry, and aspired to elevate Qing dynasty culture to its peak of brilliance and grandeur.

 

At The Hall of Literary Brilliance, the Imperial Lecture Ceremony was regularly held. The emperor was required to prepare reports on his studies of the Four Books and Five Classics, which he would then recite in both Chinese and Manchu before kneeling ministers. If necessary, the emperor could authorize debates on the subjects. Upon conclusion of the ceremony, the emperor would lead the ministers to the Wenyuan Pavilion behind the hall to read books as a special reward.