Shiratori Kurakichi's initiative to establish ”Oriental historiography” was the first attempt to apply social science methods to China studies in Japan. He believed that Japan was in a better prepared position than its Western counterpart in their common pursuit of universal laws of behavior. This is because Japan understood both the West and China while the West was restricted by its own historical experiences when approaching China. This paper connects Shiratori's scholarship to classic Sinology in late medieval Japan by placing his research agenda within the context of debates among different classic schools of thoughts. Apparently, ”Oriental historiography” cannot just be universal knowledge because it was responsive to the Western views as well as embedded in the Chinese classics. In brief, science as political knowledge is not independent from China scholars' own research agenda or their purpose.