1841.
Chinese History.
compiled, that they might be added to the other in case of its publi- cation,-which, after being kept under review for another whole year, began to assume a fiuished shape. Again my two friends desired that the work, introduced by a preface from an able master, should be published, believing that it would obtain a wide circulation. I replied, that it was yet without that surpassing erudition which could give it celebrity and fix with sufficient accuracy the rise and fall of a hundred generations, and that moreover it but faintly portrayed the merits of those it describes, and but poorly exhibited their achieve- ments and their failures. In all the minor points of style-such as the structure of sentences, the form and sounds of the characters, &c., it has only a mediocrity of merit. Though it may obtain a place in the most obscure schools and libraries, celebrity it cannot have, nor be expected to acquire a lasting fame. Being published under the terms "Made Easy," how many are there, except those who are as stupid as myself, who will not be offended by its conciseness, and who will not laugh at its humble style?
}
"Written by Woo Shingkeuen Tsootsae at the hall Chihmuh in Shanyin, on the 15th day of 7th month in the spring of the 50th year of the reign of Kanghe.
(L. S.) "Seal of Woo Shingkeuen Tsootsae."
The History Made Easy comprises a chronological series of events, extending from the earliest times of Chinese history to the close of the Ming dynasty. The copy before us is bound in 36 vols., the whole being divided into 112 sections or keuen, giving a total of nearly 8000-pages. Immediately after the preface, introduced aboye, the compilers have given in detail the rules, ten in number, by which they have been guided in preparing their work for publi- cation.
The 1st has reference to the mode of compiling their work. A general history ought to the studied throughout, from beginning to end; but men of ordinary capacities are not capable of performing such a task; hence the necessity for an abridgment of general his- tory-which ought to be prepared only with the greatest care, so as to preserve unity, and by giving brevity to the narrative render every object and every subject more lucid. This the compilers have en- deavored to effect. Their work is, for the most part, an abridgment of one of the Tung Keën, or "General Mirrors" of history-appar- ently that of Choo, the celebrated commentator of the Four Books, and is called
Tung Keen Kang Mũh.