stands for p, etc.). This system has been used in all academic and most popular English works on China until recently. The new transliteration introduced in the People's Republic of China avoids this double usage of hard consonants; but the new version, called pinyin has problems of its own (x stands for an aspirated s, formerly hs; q stands for a tsh sound, formerly ch', zh stands for a dj sound, formerly ch, etc.). The quandary of the differing transliterations has been dealt with here by using the Wade-Giles system for historical names and terms, and pinyin for names of the present leaders, with the Wade-Giles form added in parentheses for clarification. In addition the usage of generally accepted postal terms (i.e., Peking, Canton) is continued.

Condensing the events and interpretation of a history of more than 5,000 years into some three hundred pages raises a problem of documenting each point of the theme. Only direct quotations have therefore been footnoted, although a selective list of works at the end of each chapter gives recognition to the studies from which the author has most profited and that he recommends for further reading.

To Lyman Miller and Ernst Wolff, whose comments have been most helpful in clarifying points and preventing errors and who have shared many ideas, the author is deeply grateful. He is most beholden to Dr. Thomas Lawton, the director of the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, whose relevant comments and intellectual support have provided continued encouragement and who has selected the illustrations that give this study its visual character.

The Earhart Foundation provided an initial grant for the study, and the confidence and support of its former president Dr. Richard Ware, in this as in other studies by the author, have been deeply appreciated.

Franz Michael

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