Siku Quanshu (Wenyuange Edition)


Siku Quanshu Chinese Encyclopedia

Wen yuan ge Si ku quan shu dian zi ban

文淵閣四庫全書電子版

Siku Quanshu has been licensed for all KU students, faculty, and staff connecting to the internet. Please follow the instructions provided for accessing this resource via off campus/mobile device or on-campus library/office workstation.

Access Instructions

For off-campus and mobile device access to Siku Quanshu, please visit the KU Virtual Lab and follow directions on the Access tab to install the Virtual Lab application on your computer or mobile device.



Contact acqrs@ku.edu for login details if you are off campus but already have Siku Quanshu installed on your computer.



IMPORTANT: The login details are reserved for University of Kansas faculty, staff and students only. Do not share these credentials with unauthorized users.

From any library public workstation:

(Refer to Installation Guide and User Manual for details.)

  1. Click on the start menu
  2. Click on the Software Center
  3. Click on Siku Quanshu
  4. Click Install (Restart required)
  5. Double-click the shortcut on the desktop to open the application
  6. Skip the program check (or click Yes, Next to proceed with the check)
  7. Click IP Login
  8. Click Agree to Terms of Use

         (Note: Records of punctuation, notes, or bookmarks added during the session will be removed after the user logs out.)

  1. Log out (top right)

On-campus Office Workstations

If you want to download the viewer on your office computer on campus, follow the instructions below.

To update your SKQS Client Program



Users with version 1.0.3.279 and above:

  1. Start (in the bottom left corner of your desktop)
  2. Program (P)
  3. The Electronic Version of SKQS
  4. Program update

Then click "Update" to update the existing SKQS Client Program.

After the update, the version number should be 1.0.3.292. To determine which version you have on your computer, look at the bottom right-hand corner of the Siku Quanshu login page.

Users with versions below 1.0.3.279

  1. Uninstall your current version of the Siku Quanshu client program by doing the following on your pc:

    – Under Start, select Control Panel. Then go in to Add or Remove Programs and select Remove under the Siku Quanshu (Wenyuange edition) Online Subscription Services
  2. Install new setup.exe available from the following URL

    Download from web:  download setup.exe and the Installation Guide and User Manual, if you so desire. Please note that you must use Internet Explorer when viewing this site.
  3. The version number should read as 1.0.3.292.
  4. From Windows menu "Start", "Program", select “The Electronic Version of SKQS”, log in via authorized IP address and start using online.

Tips for using Siku Quanshu

Title, author, main content (本文), commentaries (譯注), and heading (標題), can be searched under the Full-text Search 全文檢索 tab by selecting one or more search categories under 檢索範圍. Searches can be limited to parts of the collection under 四庫類目. Search keyword(s) can be further refined to correlate with simplified with traditional characters, variations of a character, ancient and modern formats, and Chinese and Japanese forms at the same time (use the 關聯字設定). The results display includes the Siku hierarchy classification, as well as titles and specific volume and session where the search term was found. The entire content can be browsed by clicking on the 類目瀏覽 tab and choosing a specific title to view. Various Siku reference dictionaries provide additional information on authors and titles. Actual text may be opened in a new page by double clicking on the highlight title or session. The text can be viewed in text format (arranged according to original layout), as a scanned image, or both side by side. All PDF functions are available to manipulate the text, highlight, copy and paste, bookmark, and notes.