Vlll PROCEEDINGS 



have made China the main field of their labours have sought 

 this Society as a common source of inspiration or a place for 

 recording their original investigations into things Chinese. 



Perhaps the most remarkable development of the know- 

 ledge of China during recent years by foreigners is that of its 

 great primordial art. In this the Society has had its due 

 share. Prior to 1908, save for music, the Society seems to 

 have kept aloof from art. In 1908 a very successful loan 

 exhibition of Chinese porcelain was held under the auspices 

 of the Society which seems to have had a vivifying effect; 

 for it was followed by several exhibitions of pictorial art and 

 by a series of illustrated and practical studies of the sculpture 

 and many of the art crafts of China. As the soul of a nation 

 is most truly expressed in its art, it is good to be able to 

 record this recent devotion to the study of the great art of 

 China. 



The Honorary Librarian's Report. 



In the absence from Shanghai of Mrs. F. Ayscough, the 

 Honorary Librarian, her report was read by Mr. Evan Morgan, 

 and was as follows : — 



I have the honour to present my twelfth Annual Report 

 as Honorary Librarian of the North China Branch Royal 

 Asiatic Society. 



The year's work has largely consisted in preparation for 

 the printing of a new catalogue, which it is hoped to under- 

 take as soon as possible. This will of course be practically 

 a "Class" or Subject Catalogue as it is unnecessarily expen- 

 sive to print a full catalogue such as can be found in the 

 library on cards. 



The additions to< the library have not been very numerous, 

 though a fair number of books on China have appeared. 

 Specimen copies of the Journal have been sent to a number 

 of Publishers accompanied by letters requesting that such 

 books as they publish, on Far Eastern matters, may be sent 

 to the Society for review. Favourable answers have been 

 received, stating that our name shall be put upon the 

 exchange lists, but so far no books have arrived. 



What is perhaps the most important work of the year, 

 Laufer's Sino-Iranian Studies has just been received, and 

 will be read with interest by all students of ancient Chinese 

 history. 



The set of beautiful plates taken by order of the Imperial 

 University of Tokio, at Peking, just after the Boxer troubles, 

 has been added to the books in possession of the Society. 

 The plates which show different aspects of the Forbidden 



