S. W. Bushell in two papers (_Inscriptions in the Juchen and Allied Scripts, Actes du XI. Congrès des Orientalistes_, Paris, 1897, 2nd. sect., pp. 11, 35, and the _Hsi Hsia Dynasty of Tangut, their Money and their peculiar Script, J. China Br. R. A. S._, xxx. N.S. No. 2, pp. 142, 160) has also made a special study of the same subject. The Si Hia writing was adopted by Yuan Ho in 1036, on which occasion he changed the title of his reign to Ta Ch’ing, _i.e._ “Great Good Fortune.” Unfortunately, both the late M. Devéria and Dr. S. W. Bushell have deciphered but few of the Si Hia characters.—H. C.] [Illustration: Hexaglot Inscription on the East side of the Kiu-Yong Kwan.] [Illustration: Hexaglot Inscription on the West side of the Kiu-Yong Kwan.] The orders of the Great Kaan are stated to have been published habitually in six languages, viz., Mongol, Uíghúr, Arabic, Persian, Tangutan (Si-Hia), and Chinese.—H. Y. and H. C. Gházán Khan of Persia is said to have understood Mongol, Arabic, Persian, something of Kashmiri, of Tibetan, of Chinese, and a little of the _Frank_ tongue (probably French). The annals of the Ming Dynasty, which succeeded the Mongols in China, mention the establishment in the 11th moon of the 5th year Yong-lo (1407) of the _Sse yi kwan_, a linguistic office for diplomatic purposes. The languages to be studied were Niuché, Mongol, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Bokharan (Persian?), Uíghúr, Burmese, and Siamese. To these were added by the Manchu Dynasty two languages called _Papeh_ and _Pehyih_, both dialects of the S.W. frontier. (See _infra_, Bk. II. ch. lvi.–lvii., and notes.) Since 1382, however, official interpreters had to translate Mongol texts; they were selected among the Academicians, and their service (which was independent of the _Sse yi kwan_ when this was created) was under the control of the _Han-lin-yuen_. There may have been similar institutions under the Yuen, but we have no proof of it. At all events, such an office could not then be called _Sse yi kwan_ (_Sse yi_, Barbarians from four sides); Niuché (Niuchen) was taught in Yong-lo’s office, but not Manchu. The _Sse yi kwan_ must not be confounded with the _Hui t’ong kwan_, the office for the reception of tributary envoys, to which it was annexed in 1748. (_Gaubil_, p. 148; _Gold. Horde_, 184; _Ilchan._ II. 147; _Lockhart_ in _J. R. G. S._ XXXVI. 152; _Koeppen_, II. 99; G. Devéria, _Hist. du Collège des Interprètes de Peking_ in _Mélanges_ Charles de Harlez, pp. 94–102; MS. Note of Prof. A. Vissière; _The Tangut Script in the Nan-K’ou Pass_, by Dr. S. W. Bushell, _China Review_, xxiv. II. pp. 65–68.)—H. Y. and H. C.