86 Oriental Literature. 



wards M. De Guignes published the result of 

 his inquiries respecting this language, and gave 

 some specimens of its characters and words." He 

 was followed by M. Pauw, a learned Prussian, 

 who presented to the world what he called Philoso- 

 phical Besearches concerning the Chinese, which, 

 though they indicate the strongest prejudices, yet 

 contain some useful information. 



In 1761 a very singular and curious performance 

 made its appearance in Great-Britain. This was 

 a translation of a Chinese novel, under the title of 

 Hau Kiou Chooan, or the Pleasing History, in 

 four volumes. The translation had been made a 

 number of years before by Mr. James Wilkin- 

 son, a British merchant, who had resided for some 

 time at Canton, where he studied the Chinese lan- 

 guage. The editor was Dr. Thomas Percy, who 

 accompanied the publication with extensive and 

 learned notes, which have a tendency not only to 

 illustrate the composition immediately connected 

 with them, but also to throw new light on the 

 character of Chinese literature in general. 11 ' 



In 1776 was published the first volume of an 

 extensive work on the literature, sciences, and his- 

 tory of China, compiled from papers communicated 

 bv French missionaries in that countrv. Two Chi- 

 nese young men, after residing several years in 

 France, and receiving a liberal education, returned 

 to their own country in 1765. They carried with 

 them a number of questions, from some learned 

 societies of France, particularly relating to the li- 

 terary and philosophical condition of China, and 



u See Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, es- 

 pecially vols. xxx. xxxvi. and xxxviii. 



iv It is said that the Reverend Dr. Blair, the celebrated teacher of 

 Rhetoric in Edinburgh, once remarked in conversation, that the Pleasing 

 History contained a more authentic and interesting account of the internal 

 state of China, than all the other publications on that subject that he had 

 ever seen. 



