Certain types of descriptions are peculiar to the chronicling of modernChinese history. When the Chinese write history, they fill pages withrhetoric called baguwen (literally, eight-part essays, after the stylecandidates taking imperial examinations during the Ming and Qingdynasties were required to use). The facts are not important.The dissection of Chinese historiography reveals, inevitably andunsurprisingly, a collection of compositions filled with complex, abstruseideographs. As one would expect, this is creative writing — no effort ismade to recount or substantiate the events of modern history. The most convincing proof of the inaccuracy of Chinese historicalaccounts is to be found in accounts of the Mukden Incident (1931-32) andthe Sino-Japanese Incident (or Sino-Japanese War, 1937-45). For example, the Chinese describe Japanese policy in Manzhouguo asthe “three –all policy.” A military term, “three-all” refers to directives tokill all, plunder all and burn all. In an economic context, it means “searchall, exploit all and steal all.” However, the expression “three-all” does not exist in the Japaneselanguage. Furthermore, the concept it denotes is alien to Japaneseculture. “Three-all” can be traced back to Guomindang and CommunistParty propaganda, used by each to vilify the other for its brutality. But “progressive” historians in Japan enthusiastically embraced the“three-all” characterization. Moreover, to discredit militarism from apacifist standpoint, they adopted what can only be termed a morbidstance, asserting that the Japanese Army perpetrated three-all tactics,without even taking the trouble to verify the events in question. In the annals of modern Chinese history, terms like “Japanesemilitarism” and “Japanese imperialism” appear countless times. WithoutJapan, the archvillain, it seems impossible to describe those periods ofhistory. Accusations against the Japanese seem endless: Chinese parents,brothers and sisters were brutally murdered by the Japanese Army. 2Wives, daughters and sisters were raped. Women were abducted andforced to serve as sex slaves, houses were burned and land was laid waste.Every single day, Chinese were burned to death or buried alive, died inprison, froze or starved to death. And of course, Japanese militarypersonnel committed all these horrific deeds. Even today, freedom of speech is strictly limited in China. There arecertain perceptions of modern history that have been mandated by theChinese Communist Party. One of them, which emphasizes Japan’sinvasion of China, is conveyed as though it were historical fact. When we read too many of these accounts written by Chinesehistorians, with their perverted and twisted versions of historical events,we lose sight of the actual facts. It is my impression that some educatedand cultured Japanese read Chinese history books and, completelyunaware of the background, believe their distorted contents. Therefore, Iwill restate my point: Chinese history books, especially those dealing withManzhouguo, should be construed as baguwen — exercises in rhetoricthat are rife with lies.