在清末西学输入以前 ,人们主要依靠的学习工具书是历代编纂的大量类书。以后 ,随着西学输入 ,人们要学习新知识 ,类书就无法满足人们对西学的渴求 ,于是西方的百科全书 ,应时引进 ,成为启发新知、推动中西文化交流的重要工具。本文试就清末百科全书兴起的时代背景、成就、特点 Before the end of Western learning in the late Qing Dynasty, people mainly relied on study books, which are a large number of books compiled in ancient dynasties. Later, with the input of western learning, people want to learn new knowledge, and the books can not satisfy people’s desire for western learning. Therefore, the western encyclopedia should be imported at any time and become an important tool to inspire new knowledge and promote the cultural exchanges between China and the West. This paper tries to analyze the background, achievements and characteristics of the rise of the encyclopedia in the late Qing Dynasty