Of all the nations in the East, the Chinese have had and still have the keenest awareness of the function of history, influencing, to a lesser extent, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.

The best evidence of this is the fact that events which occurred in China have been continuously recorded by the Chinese, chronologically and with accuracy as to dates, with greater and greater precision as time went on, up to today. We know that the First Emperor of the Ch'in Empire, the founder of United China, died on the 7th day of the 7th month of the 37th year of his reign, i.e., 210 B.C., just as we know that Sun Yat-sen died on March 12, 1925. We also know that the date of the T'ang Emperor Hsüantsung's retreat from his capital to avoid rebellious troops was the 13th day of the 6th month of the 15th year of T'ien-pao (if transferred to the Julian Calendar, July 14, 756 A.D.), just as we know that the date of the Empress Dowager's retreat from Peking to avoid the Boxers was August 15, 1900. Furthermore, we know that on that unfortunate morning in 756 it was raining.