[21] The names of authors of Prefaces, as well as of works themselves, which are not authorized by government, are often fictitious. Who would dare to publish or recommend any thing under his own name, which could displease any of the officers of the Chinese government? The author of the following Preface has a high-sounding title: "He, whose heart is directed towards the people." [22] _Keun_, or _Tsze_, are only titles, like those of _Master_ and _Doctor_ in the European languages. _Keun_ is, in the Canton dialect, pronounced _Kwa_, which, placed behind the family names of the _Hong_, or _Hing_ (3969) merchants, gives _How qwa_, or _How kwa_, _Mow kwa_, &c., which literally means "Mr. How, Mr. Mow." [23] I presume that the author of the Preface alludes to the _twenty-three_ large historical collections, containing the official publications regarding history and general literature. I have brought with me from Canton this vast collection of works, which are now concluded by the _History of the Ming_. It must be acknowledged that no other nation has, or had, such immense libraries devoted to history and geography. The histories of ancient Greece and Rome are pamphlets in comparison with the _Url shih san she_ of the Chinese. [24] See the first Note to this preface. [25] In the original Chinese now follows a sort of Introduction, or Contents (_Fan le_), which I thought not worth translating. It is written by the author of the _History of the Pacification of the Pirates_, who signs by his title _Jang sëen_. [26] This prince was declared Emperor on the 8th February 1796, by his father the Emperor Këen lung, who then retired from the management of public affairs.--Voyage of the Dutch Embassy to China, in 1794-5; London edition, I. 223. Këa king died on the 2d of September 1820, being sixty-one years of age. His second son ascended the Imperial throne six days after the death of his father; the years of his reign were first called _Yuen hwuy_, but soon changed to _Taou kwang_--_Illustrious Reason_. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, vol. iii. 41. [27] Annam (Chinese, Annan) comprehends the country of Cochin-China and Tung king. There have been many disturbances in these countries within the last fifty years. The English reader may compare the interesting historical sketch of modern Cochin-China in Barrow's _Voyage to Cochin-China_, p. 250. [28] The origin of this family may be seen in a notice of Cochin-China and Tung king by father Gaubil, in the "Lettres Edifiantes," and in the last volume of the French translation of the Kang m[)u]h. Annam had been conquered by Chinese colonies, and its civilization is therefore Chinese. This was already stated in Tavernier's masterly description of Tunking, "Recueil de plusieurs Relations," Paris, 1679, p. 168. Leyden, not knowing Chinese, has made some strange mistakes in his famous dissertation regarding the languages and literature of Indo-Chinese nations. Asiatic Researches, vol. x. 271, London edition, 1811.