 Alas, how ignorant the Confucian scholars were of the past, not knowing a single thing about the imperial Japanese learning…. False doctrines are rampant, taking advantage of our weakness…. If the old words are not understood, the old meanings will not be clear. If the old meanings are not clear, the old learning will not revive. The Way of the former kings is disappearing; the ideas of the wise men of antiquity have almost been abandoned. The loss will not be a slight one if we fail now to teach philology. (SJTa: 401–402)