The Chancellor of the Hanlin submits a proposal which he received from one of the members of the College, respecting the
known as the Ssit Mitan-shu, which was necessity of re-edit ing the Encyclopedia, composed in the reign of K'ienlung and of which only four copies in manuscript are now supposed to exist. This work, the index to which alone consists of 14 large volumes, contains a complete compendium of the Classics, the history and the general
8,000 years, and includes also a collection literature of China for a posed of over of everything either written or revised by the Emperors themselves or published under Imperial authority since the beginning of the Chow dynasty. Tt embraces all knowledge under heaven and reflects as in a mirror the past and present. Over a hundred years have been passed since it was compiled, and consider-Ing that the subsequent period has been one of great literary activity and that many books formerly lost to China have been brought back by trading vessels from beyond the seas, it is thought that the time has arrived for compiling a new edition of the work, now that the Emperor has ascended the Throne and is about to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestors. The Hanlin College consists of over 200 picked scholars who enjoy comparative leisure and should be prepared to undertake the work. During the last thirty years learning has been deviating into new and perilous paths and the earnest and single-minded devotion to study of former years is gradually being supplanted ty modern learning and strange doctrines which are springing up on all sides. It is, therefore, all the more important that a work like this which embraces the knowledge of countless ages should be published in one whole so as to check the flood of pernicious literature that is spreading over the country and to preserve intact the principles enunciated by Confucius and lencius.—Decree already published.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.