六0年代以來的新史學思潮下，民間生活與庶民文化成為人們關注之焦點，社會生活史與社會文化史發展為新社會史研究的重要課題；然現有研究成果中，在方法上多採特定時間與空間背景下，各式生活風貌的平面呈現，而取材往往為話本、小說、寶卷、戲曲等文學作品，或善書、經卷、功過格、陰騭文等宗教材料。本論文則意欲自民間日用類書材料，尤其是《萬寶全書》此一綜合性民間日用類書著手。
綜合性民間日用類書就性質而言即今日之家庭生活手冊，或俗稱之家庭生活小百科。其編輯方式承自以往的類書而非曆書；最早的日用類書應起於南宋，然至明代後期才發展成四民便用的民間日用類書，且蓬勃興盛，至清代此種書籍統稱之為《萬寶全書》，今日仍有延續，為一種生命力甚強之民間史料。本論文即以《萬寶全書》為研究對象，冀透過對此類書籍之淵源、發展及各版內容演變之了解，以明明清時期（十六至十九世紀）民間生活之內涵及意義。
本論文提出的結論有二：首先，自橫切面而言，明清時期民間日用類書所反映出的民間生活主要有四大內涵，即文化基礎的傳承、實用智能的學習、社交活動的歷鍊及休閒興趣的培養；亦即民間日用類書的內容，實含蓋人們日常生活的四個層面─生活環境、物質生活、社會生活及精神生活。同時，配合民間日用類書的內容及出版等其它相關事項，亦可顯現明清時期民間生活具有下列數項特色，一是儒學的普遍及世俗化；二是陰陽五行思想的盛行，且雜有佛道思想；三是士庶文化的交流；四是民間文化的一致性。其次，就縱剖面而言，明清時期民間日用類書的發展有逐漸簡化及制式化的趨勢；逐漸簡化的原因在於，民間日用類書自明代之強調內容全備，除實用外亦含教育目的，已轉型成清代之重視書籍的普及性質及純實用目的。而日趨制式化的意義則似乎顯示，民間社會自晚明至清末有逐漸沈寂，乃至僵化的情況，直至外力入侵後，民間社會受到刺激又有新的發展，再持續到民國以後；此種演變情形大致可區分為明代後期、清代前期、清代後期及清末四個不同的階段檢視之。

Since 60’s, owing to the inspiration of the New History, the daily life and culture of the common people has become the focus of attention. The history of social life and culture along with their development has become an important issue in the research of New Social History. However, as for the present results, such methodology is adopted that almost all works of life are plainly presented under the background of specific time and space, in which the sources either come from such literary works as hua-ben, novels, pao-chuan, operas, etc., or religious material like shan-shu, ching-chuan, kung-kuo ko, ying-zhi wen, and so on. This thesis is meant to use the popular encyclopedia for daily use, especially Wanpao Ch''uanshu , the information of which is definitely all-inclusive,as the primary source of research.
Such a popular encyclopedia is like a modern almanac for daily use, something like a miniature encyclopedia for eference in all areas of family life. The way it is edited makes it more close to the traditional encyclopedia than calendar. The earliest encyclopedia for daily use arose in South-Sung, and it was not until the later period in the Ming dynasty that it was developed into the popular encyclopedia for daily use, and
since then flourished. In the Ch''ing dynasty, such a kind of book is called Wanpao Ch''uanshu , the tradition of which is a popular historical material full of vitality. The subject of this thesis is Wanpao Ch''uanshu. Hopefully, through the understanding of the origin, development and evolution of various versions, a clear picture of the social life in the Ming and the Ch''ing dynasties（the 16th through 19th centuries）will be attained.
The conclusion of this thesis is as follows: To begin with, the popular encyclopedia for daily use in the Ming and the Ch''ing dynasties reflects four aspects, that is, the basic
way of acculturation, the learning of practical knowledge and skills, the experience of social activities and the cultivation of amusements. We can thus say that the content of Wanpao Ch''uanshu covers the four levels of people''s ordinary life─the living environment, material life, social life and spiritual life. At the same time, in accordance with the content and publication of Wanpao Ch''uanshu and some other related aspects, we can see some features of daily life in that period of time: first, the popularity and secularization of Confucianism; second, the flourish of ying-yang wu-hsing thought, in mixture with Buddhism and Taoism; third, the cross-circulation of the culture between the intellect and the common people; fourth, the correspondence of popular culture. What is more, the development of the popular encyclopedia for daily use tended to become more and more simplified and uniform. The reason for its being simplified is that the focus has changed from the all- inclusiveness of the content, being educational as well as practical, in the Ming dynasty, to the popular and purely practical purpose of books in the Ch''ing dynasty. And the
gradual process of being uniform seems to show that the society of the common people during the period between the late Ming dynasty and the late Ch''ing dynasty is gradually being silenced and even getting rigid. It was not until the invasion of some power from outside that the society of the common people was stirred and thus developed in a new dimension, and this
situation was carried on until after the establishment of the Republic of China. The development of this situation can be roughly divided into four different stages: the late Ming period, the early Ch''ing period, the late Ch''ing period, the end of the Ch''ing dynasty, and can be accordingly inspected.