Introduction
From 1869 to 1902, Joseph Longford served in the Japan Consular Service, and retired after six years as Consul in Nagasaki to become the first Professor of Japanese at King’s College in London. During that time he witnessed the transformation of Japan from feudal backwater to bustling industrial society, but as the Great War moved into its second year he was glad that the nation’s fighting spirit was as strong as ever.
WHEN I arrived there it was the land of romance. Feudalism was still alive, still unconscious of its coming doom. Silk-clad and sword-girt samurai still paced the streets with solemn dignity, and the great feudal lords, still vested with their fiefs,* still haughty in the consciousness of their dignity and power as the lords of domains in which their will was almost the sole law, passed through the same streets in gorgeous palanquins of lacquer inlaid with gold, shrouded from the vulgar gaze, and surrounded by long retinues of armed retainers, while passing commoners bowed their heads to the ground in humble reverence. No wheeled traffic disturbed the silent decorum of the great city. Everything was solemn, stately, dignified.
* That is, still in possession of their estates.
Précis
When Joseph Longford first went to Japan, in 1869, he found a land of romance, a feudal society unchanged for centuries. Unhurried dignity ruled in Tokyo’s streets, through which the aristocracy (who still held their lands, and ruled them as they pleased) were carried upon litters while their serfs made way, bowing low before them. (55 / 60 words)
When Joseph Longford first went to Japan, in 1869, he found a land of romance, a feudal society unchanged for centuries. Unhurried dignity ruled in Tokyo’s streets, through which the aristocracy (who still held their lands, and ruled them as they pleased) were carried upon litters while their serfs made way, bowing low before them.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, despite, just, may, or, otherwise, until, whether.
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