(574) 



MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



The Chinese : A General Description of the Empire of China and 

 its inhabitants. By John Fkancis Davis, Esq., F.R.S., &c. In 

 Two Volumes. Charles Knight. 



Till of late years, it may be said of us as a nation that we derived all 

 our knowledge respecting China from the works of Du Halde, Abbe Grosier, 

 De Guignes, and sundry papers dispersed through various publications, which, 

 if valuable, were seldom at hand. This being admitted, one is not a little 

 ashamed, on taking a retrospective view of our intercourse with China, that 

 among so many English residents, and trading for so long a period as they 

 did at Canton, there was not one who sought a thorough acquaintance with 

 the language and literature of that nation, respecting which our information 

 was insignificant and contemptible prior to the days of Staunton, Morrison, 

 and Milne ; but, since the compilation of Grammars, Dictionaries, and ele- 

 mentary works, we have not only surpassed our fathers, as to the acquire- 

 ment of the Chinese language, but have produced works of fiction, both in 

 prose and poetry, from her literature, dressed in native costume, as well as 

 works of history and general literature ; and, if we thus continue to advance, 

 the treasures of knowledge and wisdom which have been sealed up within her 

 own territories will, at no distant peiiod, be familiar to the European reader 

 generally. We are happy to announce to our numerous readers a work just 

 published by Mr. Davis, entitled "The Chinese," a kind of historic descrip- 

 tion of the empire and its inhabitants. It is chiefly a compilation of what 

 has appeared in print, in this and in other countries, woven together with 

 the information Mr. Davis acquired during a long residence in China. Such 

 a work has long been wanted. A similar work was suggested to M. Remusat, 

 by us, about a year before his death ; and we doubt not, had he lived, he 

 would have undertaken it. The present work is highly creditable to Mr. 

 Davis's industry and research. It is got up in a popular style; and the 

 frequent allusions which it contains to corresponding customs, maxims, &c., 

 among other people and nations, render it an entertaining work. We cannot, 

 however, think with Mr. Davis that the existence of similar. usages and 

 maxims in other countries furnishes any proof that the Chinese must, of 

 necessity, have derived them from either their neighbours or visitors. In 

 many cases, we should rather consider them as remarkable coincidences. 



Mr. Davis has devoted the first three chapters of his work to an epitome 

 of European intercourse with China, and other matters highly interesting to 

 the historian and philanthropist. The fifth chapter contains a summary 

 of Chinese History ; but thirty-two pages are allotted to the events of this 

 ancient and extensive empire, which, according to Mr. Davis's reckoning, 

 has existed from 2100 years before Christ to the reigning emperor Taou kwang, 

 comprising a period of 3930 years. As to its general information, we deem, 

 it inferior to Gutzlaff's " History of the Reigns of the Emperors," and even that 

 work is very far from being correct. We beg to differ from Mr. Davis re- 

 specting the heroes of the history of the San-kwo ; and at the same time we 

 think that the person who first awakened Mr. Davis's attention to Chinese 

 poetry is capable of forming an opinion of that work as well as himself, 

 though he be but a plebeian. 



