few names which should have appeared in the body of the work.
Some of the phraseology employed is conventional. It is usual to speak in narrative (e. g.) of the Emperor Wên Ti, although Ti means Emperor and Wên cannot properly be used of the monarch until after death. The term "Board" may be found applied to a department of State which existed long before the familiar Boards of more modern times, and so on.
As regards matter, certain difficulties have occurred in the course of compilation. Varying versions of the same story are not uncommon, in Chinese authors; sometimes the same story is told of two different persons.
In conclusion, I have to thank Mr. E. H. Fraser of H. B. M. Consular Service for many valuable contributions; also Mr. C. H. Brewitt-Taylor of the Chinese Customs' Service for several notes on the warriors of the Three Kingdoms.
In Mr. F. de Stoppelaar (late E. J. Brill) of Leiden, I found a printer who was able to carry out the task of producing a lengthy Anglo-Chinese work with expedition and skill.
The toil of proof-reading was performed chiefly by the same practised "reader" (on my domestic establishment) to whom the typographical accuracy of my Chinese-English Dictionary was so largely due.
Cambridge: 27th January, 1898.
