Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Had China attained, in harmony with this ancient taste, a genuine ballad literature, we might not now be at such a loss in tracing the origin Of the many religious sects. The Folk-lore ballads would then have given us many a clue, or would have illustrated the expansion of the growing religious ideas. We have, it is true, not as yet discovered what treasures may be in store in the many manuscripts which are hidden away by the timid sectaries. These, when found and examined, will add, no doubt, much to our knowledge. Many of these are interspersed with ditties and moral reflections in rhyme, which have been crooned or chanted in private by the devoted followers of the sects.