The book "Newly Compiled Four Words on the Prime Minister" has a total of eight pages (16 single pages), 388 words, and 308 pictures. It is now in the library of Columbia University in the United States. It was roughly engraved in 1436.
Starting from "sky, cloud, thunder, rain" and ending with "dung bucket, bamboo basket", there are 388 characters, including 224 monosyllabic words and 82 bisyllabic words. It contains famous objects from nature and daily life, and is illustrated with 306 pictures. It is a "miscellaneous character" literacy textbook in the early Ming Dynasty.
"Newly Compiled Four Words on Opposition" Volume 1
Collected by Zhu Shi Miao Yuan. Postscript of the Year of Zhu Chun. Ming Dynasty Engraved Edition
According to expert research, the "Wenyuan Pavilion Bibliography" edited by Yang Shiqi in the Ming Dynasty recorded the book "Newly Compiled Four Words on Prime Ministers", which was published in the first year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty (1436). This book is also included in the "Jianzhutang Bibliography" compiled by Ye Sheng during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, it is believed that the "New Compilation of Four Words on the Prime Minister" hidden in Columbia University was engraved in 1436.
