There is much repetition in the book, the same facts being
presented, for instance, under the heads of Army, Religion,
Confucius, and Marriages. This is intentional, and the object is
to keep in the mind impressions which in a strange, ancient, and
obscure subject are apt to disappear after perusal of only one or
two casual statements.

The Index has been carefully prepared so that any allusion or
statement vaguely retained in the mind may at once be confirmed.
The chapter headings, or contents list, which itself contains
nearly five per cent of the whole letterpress, is so arranged that
it omits no feature treated of in the main text.

In the earlier chapters uncouth proper names are reduced to a
minimum, but the Index refers by name to specific places and
persons only generally mentioned in the earlier pages. For
instance, the states of Lu and CHENG on pages 22 and 29: it is
hard enough to differentiate Ts'i, Tsin, Ts'in, and Ts'u at the
outstart, without crowding the memory with fresh names until the
necessity for it absolutely arises.

The nine maps are inserted where they are most likely to be
useful: it is a good plan to refer to a map each time a place is
mentioned, unless the memory suffices to suggest exactly where
that place is. After two or three patient references, situations
of places will take better root in the mind.

The chapters are split up into short discussions and descriptions,
because longer divisions are apt to be tedious where ancient