……Every work copyied into the SKQS was preceded by a long descriptive note which was written under the direction of the editor of the particular section in which the work was classified.Later,by order of the Emporor , these descriptive notes were gathered together and re-edited by Chi Yun ,and published, together with similiar notices concerning the works listed but not copied into the collection, in the this annotated bibliography ,as in the SKQS itself,the classics branch is divided into ten sections, the history branch into fifteen, the philosophers branch into fourteen,and the belles-lettres branch into five. At the beginning of each section of bibliography ther is a brief introduction , after which the works are listed chronologically, the titles of the works actually copied into the SKQS preceding those merely listed, each title followed by a descriptive note.
The notes give information concerning the number of chuan, the source of the copy made use of by the Ssu Ku editors, and the nature and style of the work;the wholeof,or a summary of the table of contents is included,examples of the work's strong and weak points are given, and finally there is a critical evaluation. A brief biographical sketch of the author is included in the first time a work written by him appears in the catalogue.These descriptive notes, although containing a few mistakes and occasionally showing prejudice,particularly against Ming writings,are very well written ,and on the whole ,show excellent judgement.Each was written by a specialist in the field in which it is classified, and all were finally edited and their style made uniform by one of the greatest scholars of the Chien Lung period. Even though the Ssu Ku Chuan Shu Tsung Mu has one serious defect in that it gives no information on different editions, no other annotated bibliography can be compared with it either in the number of works included or in the clarity and thoroughness of its descriptive notes. 10254 works, with a total of 171796 chuan(414 works not divided into chuan), are included in the catalogue……