still persists, as may be seen by any critical pair of eyes that will take the trouble to examine contemporary official documents, and more especially the text-books published for use in the schools. Quite interesting is the naivete of the effort so to trim and pare the records of the past as to make it appear that the spirit now ruling the nation has been, to use a consecrated phrase, "unbroken for ages eternal."
A little reflection will show that such manipulations of history are likely to be the rule rather than the exception in Oriental countries. The love of truth for truth's sake is not a general human characteristic, but one of the exceptional traits of the Modern European mind, developed slowly by many causes, chiefly by those habits of accuracy which physical science does so much to foster. The concern of ancient peoples and of Oriental peoples has always been, not so much truth as edification. Outside Europe and her colonies it is easy to manipulate records, because such manipulation shocks no one deeply, because the people are told nothing about the matter, and because, even if they were told, they have neither the means nor the inclination to be critical.
Meanwhile, in her attitude towards historical studies, as in all else, Japan is undergoing a metamorphosis. Her literati have been fired with the desire to emulate Europe the critical and accurate, and government has laudably, if somewhat spasmodically, encouraged their efforts, by occasionally devoting a small yearly sum to the defrayal of expenses. An enormous amount of historical material has been unearthed from the archives of the ex-Daimyōs, from temple records, and other miscellaneous sources, dealing not with state occurrences only, but with trade, industry, literature, manners and customs, everything in short that goes to make up the life of a nation. This text, arranged chronologically with widely varied illustrations, is slowly passing through the press, and is expected to fill 300 volumes of 1,000 pages each, while reproductions (some of them in facsimile) of over 100,000 documents will fill 200 volumes more of 600 pages each. 1915
