《四庫全書》賡續諸編所收女性著述

Siku quanshu was compiled during the reign of Qianlong (1773-1782). It was praised as the largest-scale congshu (collectanea) in Chinese history. However, many omissions are believed to have been unintentionally produced through the process of compilation and editing. Moreover, an abundance of books published after the collection of Siku quanshu did not find their way into it. Therefore, the necessary work of supplementation and subsequent expansion of Siku quanshu was to begin in the 20th century.
During the past two decades, over ten sets of large-scale congshu have been published. They include Xuxiu Siku quanshu, Siku quanshu cunmu congshu, Siku jinwei congkan, Siku weixiushu jikan, Gugong zhenben congkan and a number of others. These varieties of congshu were sorted out under the four traditional classifications scheme, which were proposed to preserve rare books as well as to supplement Siku quanshu with additional materials. Research into Chinese women history among these congshu is inviting; there are a good number of publications by women, for example, zhuanji (biographies), nüjiaoshu (books for women education), wenji (collected works) can also be found in these congshu. These are of immense reference value for the study of Chinese women history. This article will give a brief account of publications by women within these congshu, and an elaboration on their writing principles and the significance of these individual works.