With the completion of the T`ang dynasty, it was my design
to bring this work to conclusion. I have, however, decided to include
Ou-Yang Hsiu of the Sung dynasty, if only for the sake of his "Autumn",
which many competent critics hold to be one of the finest things
in Chinese literature. His career was as varied as his talents.
In collaboration with the historian Sung C`hi he prepared a history of
the recent T`ang dynasty. He also held the important post of Grand Examiner,
and was at one time appointed a Governor in the provinces.
It is difficult to praise the "Autumn" too highly. With its daring imagery,
grave magnificence of language and solemn thought, it is nothing less
than Elizabethan, and only the masters of that age could have done it justice
in the rendering.