050 REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 



Chinese authors, translated, and it is a delight to have the Chinese 

 (rN( of t he poems printed in the appendix. The translator chose the 

 poema from a small Chinese anthology of the T'ang dynasty, which 

 contains about three hundred. Most of the poets are well known, 

 especially Li IV Tu Fu and Han Yii. 



The result is not "Chinese poetry in English verse," but early 

 \ Lctorian verse, with Chinese subjects. The author puts the Chinese 

 into an ultra-English form; albeit, most of his verse is musical and 

 very well done. We forbear to enter the discussion on what form 

 is the most suitable for translating Chinese poetry. But the excellent 

 and careful introductions and notes to each poem supply much that 

 the verse cannot supply, and leave us wondering whether this somewhat 

 cumbersome result is not the best that we clumsy westerners can hope 

 to make out of the spiritual, spirited and sententious poetry of the 

 China of more than a millenium ago. H. K. W. 



Colloquial Sentences With New Terms. Chinese and English texts. 



By Evan Morgan. Shanghai : Kelly & Walsh, Ltd. : 1922. 



pp. 170. 

 In his introduction the author states that "the work is not meant 

 for beginners, but for more advanced students." This should be 

 emphasized, for the beginner will find himself sadly at sea, if he 

 attempts to master this work. But for the advanced student it will 

 prove an excellent help, especially as a preparation for reading the 

 productions of the returned student in any of the numerous periodicals 

 that are put forth by Chinese schools at the present time. Indeed the 

 Chinese is often so difficult and the English so clear that it plainly 

 appears that the original sentence was literally and clumsily translated 

 from English. A little practice under Mr. Morgan's guidance, and 

 the student will begin to see light through the turgid periods of "The 

 Renaissance," "La Jeunesse," "The Eastern Miscellany," and the 

 editorial columns of some of our daily papers. How one who knows 

 only Chinese can make head or tail of them remains a mystery. 



The book is in no sense a dictionary. It is true that the sentences 

 are arranged under eleven heads (Economics, Education, Labour, 

 Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science, etc.) but the division is not 

 strictly observed, since the topics overlap; and there is no special order 

 within the division itself. The student should take a topic and read 

 it through carefully ; even where he differs from the translator as to the 

 exact meaning of a phrase, he will 'find the variant reading stimulating 

 to thought. But in most cases he will not differ, but admire a very 



