culture in this nation had sunk into oblivion and so there was no means of investigating the matter I have in mind.
My last resort was to request one of my hometown acquaintances to go in person and delve into the legal documents dealing with Ah Q's case. Eight months later, I received a letter in reply stating that the documents contained no mention of any person whose name was anywhere near the sound of quei. Although I do not know whether there actually was no such name mentioned or whether he did not investigate the matter, still, there is no other course of investigation open to me. Fearing that the system of Mandarin phonetics may not be in vogue just now, I prefer to use a European letter after the fashion of the English spelling, making the name read "Ah Quei," which we shall abbreviate to "Ah Q." This is akin to following blindly the New Youth Magazine, and I feel thoroughly ashamed of myself; but if the Hsiu-t'sai did not know any better, what could you expect of poor me?
Fourth is the matter of Ah Q's native district. If he were actually a Chao, we might, after the old and popular custom, which now prevails in telling of one's native district, look among the footnotes in the general list of surnames and find something of this sort, "Lung-hsi, Tien-shiu, Person"; but it is regrettable that Ah Q's surname is,
