NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF DE MAILLA, HISTOIRE GENERALE DE LA CHINE
RICHARD Gregg Irwin
Introduction
Many years ago a student of mine, then in Peking, named Richard Gregg Irwin, sent me a draft of a paper he had written on the sources of the well-known Histoire générale de la Chine by Père de Mailla. I thought it worthy of publication and promised to help him in the revision. In the meantime he was caught in the war with Japan and imprisoned in Weihsien; by the time he returned to the United States he was wholly absorbed in completing his dissertation, which eventually was published in the Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies as The Evolution of a Chinese Novel: Shui-hu-chuan. Duties of an exacting sort at the East Asiatic Library of the University of California followed in Berkeley, and he died prematurely in 1968 without finding the leisure to turn again to his initial study of de Mailla's magnum opus, still the longest history of China in a western language.
Now that the undersigned has completed his work on Ming biographies it has occurred to him to make the necessary revisions, so that Mr. Irwin's essay may see the light of day. This seems all the more timely as de Mailla's history has recently (1967) been reprinted by the Ch'eng-wen Publishing Company, Taipei.
Columbia University,
21st May, 1974.
THE NOTES
L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH
A false impression is given by the full title of de Mailla's Histoire générale de la Chine, ou annales de cet empire; traduites du Tong-Kien-Kang-Mou, par le feu Père Joseph-Anne-Marie de Mailla, Jésuite français, missionaire à Pekin; publiées par M. l'Abbé Grosier
Paris, 1777-1783. - 12v., which describes it as translated from the T'ung-chien kang-mu.
This work, in 104 chüan, comprising the main body of the history, written about 1190 under the supervision of the celebrated Chu Hsi (1130-1200), together with its commentaries, an introductory section based on the writings
NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF DE MAILLA, HISTOIRE GENERALE DE LA CHINE
RICHARD Gregg Irwin
Introduction
Many years ago a student of mine, then in Peking, named Richard Gregg Irwin, sent me a draft of a paper he had written on the sources of the well-known Histoire générale de la Chine by Père de Mailla. I thought it worthy of publication and promised to help him in the revision. In the meantime he was caught in the war with Japan and imprisoned in Weihsien; by the time he returned to the United States he was wholly absorbed in completing his dissertation, which eventually was published in the Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies as The Evolution of a Chinese Novel: Shui-hu-chuan. Duties of an exacting sort at the East Asiatic Library of the University of California followed in Berkeley, and he died prematurely in 1968 without finding the leisure to turn again to his initial study of de Mailla's magnum opus, still the longest history of China in a western language.
Now that the undersigned has completed his work on Ming bio- graphies it has occurred to him to make the necessary revisions, so that Mr. Irwin's essay may see the light of day. This seems all the more timely as de Mailla's history has recently (1967) been reprint. ed by the Ch'eng-wen Publishing Company, Taipei.
Columbia University,
21st May, 1974.
THE NOTES
L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH
A false impression is given by the full title of de Mailla's Histoire générale de la Chine, ou annales de cet empire; traduites du Tong- Kien-Kang-Mou, par le few Père Joseph-Anne-Marie de Mailla, Jésuite français, missionaire à Pekin; publiées par M. l'Abbé Grosier
Paris, 1777-1783.-12v., which describes it as translated from the T'ung-chien kang-muih☎. This work, in 104 chüan, com- prising the main body of the history, written about 1190 under the supervision of the celebrated Chu Hsi (1130-1200), together with its commentaries, an introductory section based on the writings
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