The encyclopedia Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era, another of the Four Great Books of Song, is completed in one thousand volumes of 4.7 million written Chinese characters.

A massive encyclopedia compiled by a number of officers commissioned by the imperial court of the Song Dynasty with the lead editor being Li Fang from 977 to 983 during the era of Taiping Xingguon, it includes citations from about two thousand five hundred and seventy-nine different kinds of documents spanning from books, poetry, ode, proverbs, steles to miscellaneous works.

After the compilation, the Emperor Taizong of Song is said to have finished reading the book within a year with three volumes per day.

The Song Dynasty Chinese engineer Qiao Wei develops, in 984, the first known use of the double-gated canal pound lock for adjusting different water levels in segments of the Grand Canal of China.

This dramatically helps the passage of ships in segments with rougher waters leading slightly downhill.

Qiao also has roof hangers built over the segments where double gates are installed, increasing the amount of safety for passing ships.

Adud al-Dawla had appointed his eldest son, Shirdil Abu'l-Fawaris, as viceroy to Kerman when he conquered that province in 968.

Abu'l-Fawaris resided in Baghdad for some time after 977, but was then sent back to Kerman.

As the eldest son, Shirdil regards himself as the successor to his father; 'Adud al-Dawla's apparent preference for his second son Marzuban had therefore made him hostile toward his brother.

'Adud al-Dawla never definitively named a successor by the time of his death in 983.

Marzuban (now Samsam al-Dawla) takes power in Baghdad as senior amir, but Shirdil also lays his claims to the succession, and from Kerman, …

…Shirdil invades and captures Fars Province, taking the title "Sharaf al-Dawla".

Sharaf al-Dawla's invasion of Fars provides two more of Samsam al-Dawla's brothers, Taj al-Dawla and Diya' al-Dawla, the opportunity to set up their own rule in Basra and …

…Khuzestan.

A Kurd named Badh ibn Hasanwaih takes power in Diyar Bakr, the Arabic name of the northernmost of the three provinces of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), and forces Samsam al-Dawla to confirm him as its ruler.

Samuel's armies attack the European possessions of the Empire, as the main effort of Basil II is concentrated against the rebel Skleros.

Samuel invades not only Thrace and the area of Thessaloniki, but also Thessaly, Hellas and Peloponnese.

Many imperial fortresses have fallen under Bulgarian rule.

Samuel wants to seize the important fortress of Larissa, which controls the key routes in Thessaly, and from 977 to 983, the town is blockaded.

After starvation forces the imperial garrison to surrender, the population is deported to the interior of Bulgaria and the males are forced to enlist in the Bulgarian army.

Although Basil II sends forces to the region, they are defeated, and the conquest of Larissa marks the loss of an important imperial stronghold in this part of the peninsula.

With this victory, Bulgaria has gained influence over most of the southwestern Balkans, although it does not occupy these territories.

From Larissa, Samuel takes the relics of Saint Achilleios, which are laid in a specially built church of the same name on an island in Lake Prespa.

The Zirid state under Buluggin expands its boundaries westward as far as …

…Sabtah (now Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in Morocco) on the Strait of Gibraltar.

Buluggin advances towards the Atlantic Ocean during a campaign in Morocco, where he also fight against the Bargawata.

The Caliphate of Córdoba is however able to retain the fortresses of Ceuta and …

…Tangier.

Buluggin dies in 984 while returning from this expedition, and is succeeded by his son al-Mansur.