Abstract: In his Limited Views:Essays on Ideas and Letters,Qian Zhongshu provides an interpretation of the concept of “Five Modes” in Du Yu's “Preface to The Commentary of Zuo”.The “Five Modes” as summarized by Du Yu refer to five modes of narration:namely,(1)subtle yet emphatic,(2)indicative yet implicit,(3)euphemistic and properly written,(4)exhaustive and not distorted,and (5)chastising evil and encouraging goodness.Qian Zhongshu's explanation of “jin er bu wu” sets out to correct Du Yu's annotation,but he misinterprets the character “wu” as “exaggeration” based on partial evidence.His understanding of logical connections among the Five Modes of historical writing is insufficient.More significantly,Qian assumes that “jin er bu wu” is the Chinese equivalent of English expression “the whole truth,and nothing but the truth”,claiming that the “Five Models (wu li)” actually set the standards for later historiography instead of taking The Spring and Autumn Annals as its model.This assumption indicates a failure to understand the differences between traditional Chinese Confucian and certain modern Western European and Anglophone traditions of history—as the former tends to merge history with moral doctrines,and the latter is founded on empirical fact—illustrating a tendency to overlook the genealogies of thought undergirding specific ideas.We may learn from Qian Zhongshu's explanations on the “wu qing” the three following lessons:1)Overstating a small issue to showcase one's erudition may generate false “problems”;2)Reading extensively but not intensively easily leads to ungrounded arguments as well as inaccurate quotations;3)Drawing connections between Chinese and Western European ideas should be based on meticulous research rather than primarily expressing one's own free-ranging imagination.

Key words: Exhaustive and not distorted (Jin er bu wu), Five Modes, Five Models, The Spring and Autumn Annals, The Commentary of Zuo, Du Yu's “Preface to The Commentary of Zuo”, Qian Zhongshu, Limited Views:Essays on Ideas and Letters