TheTongdian (Chinese:通典;Wade–Giles:T'ung-tien;lit. 'Comprehensive Institutions') is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on theTang dynasty. The book was written byDu You from 766 to 801. It contains 200 volumes and about 1.7 million words, and is at times regarded as the most representative contemporary texts of the Tang dynasty. Du You also incorporated many materials from other sources, including a book written by his nephew,Du Huan, who was taken captive in the famous battle at theTalas River between Tang and the Arabs in 751 and did not return toChina until ten years later. It became a model for works by scholarZheng Qiao (Tongzhi) andMa Duanlin (Wenxian Tongkao or shortened asTongkao) centuries later.[1]
Robert G. Hoyland relates that theTongdian's first draft was a "history of human institutions from earliest times down to the reign ofEmperor Xuanzong of Tang", and was subsequently revised as matters continued to evolve.[2] It incorporates parts of theZhengdian ofLiu Zhi and theGreat Tang Ritual Regulations of the Kaiyuan Era compiled by Xiao Song, and others in 732.[3] TheTongdian was never included in the canon of theTwenty-Four Histories. It was however quoted extensively in several books which were, starting with theOld Book of Tang.
TheTongdian was a towering literary undertaking for its time, and it is noted for its colossal size. The recent 2016 re-printed edition ofTongdian by the Zhonghua Book Company consist of over 5,600 pages.
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