Contemporary society is sometimes portrayed as dominated by the experience of change. The break-neck speed of technological innovation, the erosion of traditional values and loyalties, the fickleness of consumers, and the instability of international relations are all from time to time cited as evidence that we live in a world radically different from the past, in which a sense of history and the lessons which can be drawn from it are dispensable. This is a superficial assessment to say the least.

    History is closely related not only to us as individuals in our daily lives but also to us as members of society. In all spheres of life, from personal relationships to political judgments, we constantly interpret our experience in time perspective, whether we are conscious of it or not. The mere fact of living alongside people older man ourselves makes us conscious of the past. Our sense of personal identity demands roots in the past that are sought in the first instance in genealogy and family history. Our sense of what is practicable in the future is formed by an awareness of what has happened—or not happened—in the past. We learn, in short, by experience. Furthermore, history is collective memory, the storehouse of experience through which people develop a sense of their social identity and their future prospects. People who profess to ignore history are nevertheless compelled to make historical assumptions at every turn. Our political judgments are permeated by a sense of the past, whether we are deciding between the competing claims of political parties or assessing the feasibility of particular policies. We are all naturally curious about how our society came to be the way it is, and we all entertain some explanation on the subject, however half-baked and ill-founded it may be. The pace of contemporary change does not render the past irrelevant; it merely shifts the perspective from which we weigh its influence and interpret its lessons.

    To be more specific, the study of history has three important practical implications. In the first place, the effort to recapture the essence of every epoch in the past alerts us to the sheer variety of human mentality and achievement—and thus to something of the range of possibilities at our disposal now. Partly this is a matter of imaginative range. History, after all, offers insights into a very wide range of human mentalities. Few people could have foreseen the rise to power of an Adolf Hitler; but to someone with a historical education their personalities were at least credible, as being within the range of recorded human deviance, and an effort of imaginative comprehension was possible—not, it should be added, to excuse their crimes but to provide a basis for dealing realistically and effectively with them. From this point of view, the broader the scope of historical study the better, hi the second place, history can serve, in a sense, as a source of precedent and prediction. That is why history is often compared to a "mirror" in Chinese culture. Although history seldom repeats itself, it conveys the awareness of what is enduring and what is ephemeral in our present circumstances: this is what is meant essentially by "historical perspective." Finally, the study of history can help us understand better other societies as well as our own society. On the one hand, the compiling and propagating of national history has always been used by national governments to enhance national cohesion and civil patriotism. On the other hand, the study of world history has contributed greatly to the mutual understanding and cooperation of world nations.

    In conclusion, we are part of history just as history is part of us. The study of history benefits us not only in our daily life, but also in our effort to understand the present world and to construct the future.