(Index to Recorded Paintings of Various Dynasties), prepared by J. C. Ferguson and published (in Chinese) in 1934.
The letters W. M. S. C. K. refer to the 晚明史籍考 Wan-Ming shih-chi k'ao (A Study of Works Dealing with the Close of the Ming Period), prepared by Hsieh Kuo-chen and printed in 1933.
B. E. F. E. O. are the initials of the French Journal, Bulletin de l'École Francaise d'Extrême Orient.
For the English equivalents of Chinese offices and titles we have followed, for the most part, H. S. Brunnert and V. V. Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization of China (1912), or W. F. Mayers, The Chinese Government (1877).
Mention should be made of the help rendered to the editor by his chief assistant, Mr. Fang Chao-ying, who labored on the project for the entire eight-year period in which the biographies were being compiled, and who produced for these volumes more sketches than any other single contributor. Mrs. Fang, who signs her contributions with her maiden name, Tu Lien-chê, rendered a like service by her loyalty to the enterprise and her conscientious attention to many vexing details. For assistance in reading many of the manuscripts, and for valuable suggestions, the editor is indebted to Ruth Bookwalter Hummel, Miss Marybelle Bouchard, and Mr. Edwin G. Beal. For help in reading proof, and for assistance to the printer in placing the characters, acknowledgments are due to Mr. B. Armstrong Clayton.
Archibald MacLeish,
The Librarian of Congress
Washington,
March 19, 1943.
