Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 19

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Chinese History.

JAN.

testimonies and witnesses of any kind, capable of being wrought into an edifice so complete that it shall exhibit the successive dynasties, as they rise one after another, in full relief and in their true propor- tions? For completing all that the most curious can desire, doubtless the requisite materials cannot be found; but with our own present very limited knowledge of Chinese antiquities, it is quite impossible to say how much can be obtained, or what can be achieved.

Yet surely a faithful exhibition of whatever does exist, bearing the stamp of authenticity, will not, cannot fail, to interest the reader, and there- by secure in behalf of Sinim a degree of consideration not hitherto or at present enjoyed.

On a work so arduous, it were impossible to enter without being impressed with a deep sense of its greatness-too great ever to be accomplished except by the united strength of many. Brief and mis- cellaneous notes are all that we dare to promise; and for the imperfec- tion of these, we must crave the most candid indulgence of the critic. A complete history of China, from the earliest times, may be easily pictured in fancy; but in reality to draw forth the full outline, collect and arrange the materials, is a work far beyond the grasp of any single hand: our notes, however, though they must be brief and mis- cellaneous, shall usually, if not in all cases, be derived from original

Sources.

With a catalogue of the imperial library, 四庫書目,

Sze Foo Shoo Muh, by our side, for a guide, references can be made to the best authors; aud these it will be our endeavor as far as prac- ticable to consult. Sometimes we shall introduce translations, and sometimes analyses may be substituted, according as the one or the other may seem most likely to meet the wishes of our readers.

The Chinese empire-unsurpassed in its antiquity and almost un- rivalled in its extent and resources-now invites our attention. Na- tive historians,-who have studied with the best advantages for arriving at the truth-denying to the empire that duration which weaker and more credulous minds have conjectured-assign limits for it which do not much differ from the chronology of our own inspir- ed records. What these native historians have written, it shall be our endeavor to ascertain and to state. In our earlier volumes some short papers have been given-sketching an outline of Chinese history; and in our last volume, the reader has in his possession valuable biographical notices, by Rémusat, of some of the most eminent Chi- nese historians of ancient or of modern times. The writings of Szema Tseën, and those of other early historians, we shall have oc- casion frequently to consult; but we have here first to introduce to