内容

《三才图会》中的「三才」，即「天」、「地」和「人」。

全书共106卷，分为天文、地理、人物、时令、宫室、器用、身体、衣服、人事、仪制、珍宝、文史、鸟兽和草木共十四门，前三门为王圻撰就，后十一门为王思义写成，又经王思义以十年之功，详细审定。每门之下分卷，条记事物，「图绘以勒之于先，论话以缀之于后」，互为印证。

目录

• 三才图会序一（周孔教撰）、序二（熊剑化撰）、序三（陈继儒撰）

• 三才图会引（王圻撰）

• 《天文》四卷

• 《地理》十六卷

• 《人物》十四卷

• 《时令》四卷

• 《宫室》四卷

• 《器用》十二卷

• 《身体》七卷

• 《衣服》三卷

• 《人事》十卷

• 《仪制》八卷

• 《珍宝》二卷

• 《文史》四卷

• 《鸟兽》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" 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).