Page:An alphabetical index to the Chinese encyclopaedia.pdf/22

xviii collection is enclosed in 523 函 han or cloth cases, between 8 and 10 pên to each. Finally, to quote Mr. Mayers: 'A limited number of sets, printed on fine white paper, were distributed as gifts among the Imperial princes and the highest functionaries of government, in accordance with the munificent system followed in all similar cases; and a further number were struck off on a more ordinary quality of paper'. The introductory matter in the first volume comprises:—

(1) A preface, reproduced in semi-cursive script, from the pen of the Emperor 世宗憲 Shih Tsung Hsien, dated the 27th day of the 9th moon of the fourth year of 雍正 Yung Chêng (October, 1726). [8 folios.]

(2) The report (表文) presented by Chiang T'ing-hsi and his colleagues on the completion of their task. This is dated the 27th day of the 12th moon of the third year of Yung Chêng (January, 1726), and contains a description, couched in ornate and difficult language, of the general scheme of the work. [15 folios.]

(3) A less florid and more business-like account of the various divisions (凡例), such as is commonly prefixed to any Chinese work of importance. First, the 6 main categories, next the subdivisions of the 部, and finally the 32 sections are discussed one by one. [17 folios.]

(4) A 總目 or general synopsis, setting forth the 32 sections and the number of chüan in each. [3 folios.]

Then follows the 目錄 or detailed table of contents, which not only enumerates all the 10,000 chüan with the subheads falling under each, but also indicates the various classes (Hui k'ao, etc.) contained in each subhead.

So far as I am aware, the only complete and homogeneous copy of the original edition to be found outside China is that possessed by the British Museum. This is on yellow paper, and has been bound up, in European style, into 745 thick volumes, now standing in glass-protected cases on the floor of the King's Library. The Königliche Bibliothek at Berlin possesses about four-fifths of the whole, in the same edition. The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has lately acquired a white-paper copy of the same, very nearly complete, a few gaps being filled up by corresponding volumes of the second edition. The existence of this second edition was unknown to Mayers, and it seems to have been first mentioned in print by M. Paul Pelliot in 1902. Complete copies of it, presented by the Chinese Government, are in the possession of (1) the China Society in London; (2) Columbia University, New York; (3) the Institut für Kultur- und Universalgeschichte, attached to the University of Leipsic. It was printed, probably from wooden blocks, in the province of Shantung, and published by the Tsung-li Yamên in an edition of 250 copies. It is almost an exact facsimile of the original, but the dimensions of the leaf are larger by a few millimètres, just enough to distinguish it by. This may explain how it so long escaped the notice of foreign bibliographers, who doubtless confused it with the first