584 Oriental Literature* [Chap. XIV. 



munlcations^ and especially in those which relate 

 to the Chinese language, fathers Amiot and Cibot 

 make the most respectable figure, and have given 

 the most valuable information * Beside these, 

 IM. le Gen til, M. Sonnerat, and M. Langles, of 

 France ; and sir William Jones, sir George Staun- 

 ton, and others, of Great Britain, have given the 

 public some instructive accounts relating to the 

 letters, arts, and philosophy, of the Chinese em- 

 pire. 



A curious specimen of Chinese literature was 

 given to the world, during the eighteenth century, 

 hy Joseph Moyriac de Mailla, a learned French 

 Jesuit. Having made himself acquainted with the 

 Chinese language, this ecclesiastic was sent as a 

 missionary to China in 1703. He was greatly 

 esteemed by the emperor Kang-Hi, who employed 

 him in making a map of China, and of Chinese 

 Tartary. Mailla translated the great Annals of 

 China into French, part of which translation has 

 been published by the abbe Grosier, under the 

 following title : Histoire Generate de la Chine, 13 

 vols, 4to, Paris, 1777. — Mailla died at Pekin, iu 

 the year 1748. 



The last conspicuous labourer in this field of in- 

 quiry is the reverend Dr. Hagar, a learned Ger- 

 man, who resided a number of years in the east, 

 and gained an uncommon acquaintance with the 

 Chinese language. His knowledge enabled him 

 to present the public with a work on this lan- 



* See Mi/noircs Conccrnant niistoirc, Ics Sdcnccs, ks Arts^ hi.c, 

 extending to a number of volumes in 4to. 



