The Song dynasty, which prided itself on civil administration, poured large amounts of financial and human resources into its cultural undertakings, and the production of woodblocks for use in printing was at its height. Several encyclopedic sets of books were compiled in the early years of the dynasty, and nearly 20 years went into the production of a new set of the Five Classics.
標榜文治主義的宋朝，對文化事業投注大量的金錢與人力，加上木刻雕版的興盛，建國之初就已經編纂了《太平廣記》、《太平御覽》等大百科全書，還花近二十年時間重新編印五經。