Sibu beiyao 四部備要

Sibu beiyao 四部備要 "Hand library of important writings of the Four Categories" is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) compiled by the Zhonghua Publishing House 中華書局 in 1936. It includes 351 books with a total length of 11,305 juan.

The Sibu beiyao is a collection of the most important writings and commentaries from the traditional four categories of literature. All classic writings are included, and it is so a basic personal library published for a broad public. It is therefore as often to be found in libraries as the series Sibu congkan 四部叢刊 or Congshu jicheng 叢書集成初編. Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) authors and commentators play a prominent role among the books in the Sibu beiyao, for instance, the Qing-period commentaries on the Thirteen Confucian Classics or on the twenty-four official dynastic histories. The literary category of belles-lettres plays a less important role, although it includes the most important writings of this type of literature.

The texts are based on Song-period 宋 (960-1279) prints of a high textual quality. The Sibu beiyao has been published in a normal edition (paiyinben 排印本) and in a downsized one (suoyinben 縮印本). There is also an additional volume with bibliographic descriptions to each book, the Sibu beiyao shumu tiyao 四部備要書目提要. There are many reprints of the Sibu beiyao, mainly facsimile editions like that of 1955 and the reprint from 1989 in 70 volumes.