During the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi enjoyed reading historical and literary works. However, the palace had so many books that they were impossible to finish; when he wanted to consult similar materials, he found it particularly inconvenient. So the emperor kept thinking: if only there were a single book that could encompass all these works.
In 977 AD, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty summoned the renowned scholar Li Fang and ordered him to compile an encyclopedia.
After nearly seven years of painstaking effort, Li Fang and his team completed a massive encyclopedia spanning 1,000 volumes across 55 categories, a work of immense scholarly value. Since it was compiled during the peaceful Taiping era, they named it the *Taiping General Records*.
When Emperor Taizong of Song learned that the book was complete, he was overjoyed and read it daily, setting a rule for himself to finish three volumes each day, and he even renamed the work *Taiping Yulan* (The Imperial Reader of the Taiping Era).
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was relentless in his reading of the *Taiping Yulan* encyclopedia. When state affairs left him no time, he would catch up on his reading during free days. Concerned that overwork might harm his health, his imperial advisors urged him to rest. Taizong replied, "Opening a book always brings benefit—I never feel tired when I read!"
Later, people used the idiom "Opening a Book Is Always Beneficial" to encourage reading.
Source: *Mianshui Yantan Lu*, Chapter "Wenru"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "开卷有益" came to describe Opening a Book Is Always Beneficial.