Chinese scholar Li Fang, born in what is now Hengshui, Hebei, had once served the Later Han and Later Zhou.
A prime minister of the Song Dynasty, he is known for leading the compilation of three of the Four Great Books of Song.
The term will be coined after Cefu Yuangui completes the compilation of the final volume during the eleventh century.
The four encyclopedias, each published and intended to collect the whole knowledge of the new state, include:
Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era, a general encyclopedia.
Extensive Records of the Taiping Era, a collection of gods, deities, fairies, ghosts stories and theology.
Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature, an anthology of poetry, odes, songs and writings.
Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau is an encyclopedia of political essays, autobiographies, memoirs and decrees.
