A History Of Chinese Literature — Herbert A Giles

This is the first attempt made in any language including Chinese to produce a history ofChinese literature Native scholars with their endless critiques and appreciations of individual works do notseem ever to have contemplated anything of the kind realising nodoubt the utterhopelessness from a Chinese point of view of achieving even comparative success in ageneral historical survey of the subject The voluminous character of a literature whichwas already in existence some six centuries before the Christian era and has run onuninterruptedly until the present date may well have given pause to writers aiming atcompleteness The foreign student however is on a totally different footing It may besaid without offence that a work which would be inadequate to the requirements of anative public may properly be submitted to English readers as an introduction into thegreat field which lies beyond Tanıtım Bülteninden