內容

《三才圖會》中的「三才」，是指即「天」、「地」和「人」。三才圖會全書共一百零八卷，分十四門，前三門為王圻撰就，後十一門，為王思義寫成，又經王思義以十年之功，詳細審定。十四門分別為天文、地理、人物、時令、宮室、器用、身體、衣服、人事、儀制、珍寶、文史、鳥獸和草木，每門之下分卷，條記事物，「圖繪以勒之于先，論話以綴之于後」，互為印証。

《三才圖會》為後人了解和研究明代社會提供了大量資料，其功用可與百科全書相較，可謂明朝繪圖類書的佼佼者。

目錄

• 三才圖會序（周孔教撰）、三才圖會序（熊劍化撰）、三才圖會序（陳繼儒撰）

• 三才圖會引（王圻撰）

• 《天文》四卷

• 《地理》十六卷

• 《人物》十四卷

• 《時令》四卷

• 《宮室》四卷

• 《器用》十二卷

• 《身體》七卷

• 《衣服》三卷

• 《人事》十卷

• 《儀制》八卷

• 《珍寶》二卷

• 《文史》四卷

• 《鳥獸》六卷

• 《草木》十二卷

Title

The title of this encyclopedia has been variously translated into English as "Illustrations of the Three Powers", "Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms", "Pictorial Compendium of the Three Powers", and others; in the original title, "Sancai" refers to the three realms of "heaven, earth, and man", and "Tuhui" literally means "collection of illustrations".

Description

This encyclopedia is organized into 106 chapters in 14 categories (astronomy, geography, biographies, history, biology, and such), with text and illustrations for the articles. Reproductions of this encyclopedia are still in print in China.

While it contains some inaccurate or mythological articles (for example, the articles on the horseshoe crab and the crane), it also distinguished itself from the common "everyday encyclopedias" (, riyong leishu) at that time by being accurate in some other articles (for example, accurate depictions of the Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese people's clothing, and a very accurate world map (the Shanhai Yudi Quantu).