BOOK REVIEWS
235
The volume as a whole marks the beginning of an effort started some four years ago to bring the local university into greater contact with key problems of life in Hongkong. Academic commitment to Hongkong inevitably fluctuates. This volume is proof that the effort to get "town and gown" working together is worthwhile.
Hong Kong, 1972.
LEO GOODSTADT
This review first appeared in the Far East Economic Review for 18 March 1972, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author and the F.E.E.R. Ed.
PREMODERN CHINA, A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION, Chu-shu Chang, Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, No. 11, 1971, pp. iii, 183.
Dr. Chang provides an introductory bibliography of Western-language works on premodern China from prehistoric times to the early nineteenth century,
In the preface he describes his purposes as follows:
It is designed primarily to introduce graduate students of premodern Chinese studies to all basic research tools and the current state of research in their field. It is hoped that the use of this bibliography will familiarize students with the major achievements and the most significant issues raised in Western-language sources (primarily English) before they undertake their research into Chinese and Japanese materials. A few standard references to and bibliographies of Chinese and Japanese sources, mostly with excellent comments in English, have also been included as a guide for advanced students who have acquired some reading knowledge of Chinese and/or Japanese and who desire to read works in these languages.
Various limiting considerations are listed in the rest of the preface. However, Dr. Chang need not have too many misgivings about his work which is a most useful basic guide and, within the limits of a relatively short book, provides much valuable bibliographical assistance over a wide field. The book is well-produced and carefully edited, is convenient to carry about and handle, and reasonably priced. This makes it thoroughly practical: not every