in despair; while even specialists, who may wish to shorten their
labours by availing themselves of others' work, can only get a
firm grip of translations by comparing them with the originals: it
is thus really impossible to acquire anything at all approaching
an accurate understanding of Chinese antiquity without possessing
in some degree the controlling power of a knowledge of the
pictographs.

It is in view of all these difficulties that an attempt has been
made in this book to extract principles from isolated facts; to
avoid, so far as is possible, the use of Chinese proper names; to
introduce these as sparingly and gradually as is practicable when
they must be used at all; to describe the general trend of events
and life of the people rather than the personal acts of rulers and
great officers; and, generally, to put it into the power of any
one who can only read English, to gain an intelligible notion of
what Chinese antiquity really was; and what principles and
motives, declared or tacit, underlay it. It is with this object
before me that I have ventured to call my humble work "Ancient
China Simplified," and I can only express a hope that it will
really be found intelligible.

EDWARD HARPER PARKER.

18, GAMBIER TERRACE, LIVERPOOL, May 18, 1908.




AIDS TO MEMORY