animals are given at the end of this book, the
most interesting of all being an accurate picture of the zebra, here
called the _Fu-lu_, which means "Deer of Happiness," but which is
undoubtedly a rough attempt at _fara_, an old Arabic term for the wild
ass. Now, the zebra being quite unknown in Asia, the puzzle is, how the
Chinese came to be so well acquainted with it at that early date.

The condition of the book is as good as could be expected, after six
hundred years of wear and tear. Each leaf, here and there defective, is
carefully mounted on sheets of stiff paper, and all together very few
characters are really illegible, though sometimes the paper has slipped
upon the printing-block, and has thus given, in several cases, a double
outline.

Alongside of this stands the modern work of the kind, published in 1761,
with an introductory poem from the pen of the Emperor Ch'ien Lung. It
contains a much longer list of nations, including the British, French,
Spanish, Dutch, Russians, Swedes, and others, and the illustrations--a
man and woman of each country--are perfect triumphs of the block-cutter's
art, the lines being inconceivably fine.

* * * * *

Division D contains Poetry, Novels, and Plays. Under Poetry, in addition
to collections of the works of this or that writer, there are numerous
anthologies, to which the Chinese are very partial. The mass of Chinese
poetry is so vast, that it is hopeless for the general reader to do much
more than familiarise himself with the best specimens of the greatest
poets. It is interesting to note that all the more extensive anthologies
include a considerable number of poems by women, some of quite a high
order.

Two years ago, an eminent scientist at Cambridge said to me, "Have the
Chinese anything in the nature of poetry in their language?" In reply to
this, I told him of a question once put to me by a friendly Mandarin in
China: "Have you foreigners got books in your honourable country?" We
are apt to smile at Chinese ignorance of Western institutions; but if we
were Chinamen, the smile perhaps would sometimes be the other way about.

Such novels as we have in our library belong entirely to what may be
called the classical school, and may from many points of view be
regarded as genuine works of art. Besides these, there is in the market
a huge quantity of fiction which appeals to the less highly educated
classes, and even to those who are abso