226 REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 



as we con over this list of notables ; why is the proportion of mis- 

 sionaries so small? We have not made a comparison in detail, but 

 we are under the strong impression that it was not so 30 and 40 

 years ago. Has the missionary begun to cease studying the Chinese 

 humanities, to devote himself to the admittedly weightier matters of 

 the law? All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. We are 

 inclined to believe that the very end of mission work will be achieved 

 with less facility if the worker is too busy with preaching a Gospel 

 from the Western point of view to equip himself, by study and by 

 writing (which maketh an exact man), to enter into the Chinese 

 view of the world. 



For interesting reading, the palm must be awarded to Mr. 

 Johnston's "Romance of an Emperor," and the same piece would 

 come near taking the prize for Chinese scholarship. Let it be 

 granted that much of the writing for the year is of the heavier 

 :sort ; yet it must in justice be added that the magazine never 

 professed to attempt to furnish delights for the tired business man, 

 and moreover, one such article as Mr. Johnston's, with its captivating 

 -style, more than repays for many pages of heavy wading. 



We trust that each year will see this excellent periodical making 

 forward strides. The editor should receive the heartiest of support, 

 and we hope that the end of the present year will not find him 

 obliged to make the kind of appeal which he appends to the 

 December number of 1920. H. K. W. 



"Les Grottes de Touen-Houang. (Mission Pelliot en Asie Centrale, 



serie in-4) Peintures et Sculptures bouddhiques des epoques de 



Wei, des T'ang et des Song. Par Paul Pelliot. Tomes I, II, 



III. Grottes 1 a 111. Paris, Librairie Paul Geuthner, 1914, 



1920. 



Some fifteen years ago, M. Pelliot led his expedition of discovery 



into Central Asia. For three years they were engaged in the collection 



of material which, when suitably arranged and described, was sure 



to be of the greatest importance to students of religions, and of all 



matters antiquarian pertaining to eastern and central Asia. The first 



volume which embodied the results of their labors was ready for 



publication when the war put a stop to such matters, and we have 



had to wait six more years. But the delay serves to emphasize the 



importance of the work of these French savants, and while regretting 



delays, we may be thankful that it is possible to have these wonders 



revealed to us at all. 



