Since Japan's war of aggression against China , the relationship between China and Japan has always been the focus of domestic historians' research. Japan has gone from "admiring" to learning Chinese culture to "disdain" and even invading Chinese territory. This change in thinking mode is closely related to the transformation of the Japanese's view of China.
The end of the archery period is the first stage of modern Japanese history, inheriting the Yuan Dynasty and the Wuwu period, and then raising the Meiji era. The importance of this period is self-evident. So, what changes have occurred in the Japanese view of China, and what are the causes and effects?
Before the end of the screen, the Japanese view of China
In fact, looking at the transformation of the Japanese view of China, it is actually a process of rising first and then falling.
Edo In the early days, the core of the shogunate rule was mainly based on Confucian Zhu Xi's Zhu Xi's theory. During this period, the Edo Shogunate encouraged scholars and literati in China to study and study Confucian classics, and even regarded Zhu Xi's theory as the criterion in Japanese studies.
Therefore, as the birthplace of Zhu Xi's theory, China's status in the hearts of the Japanese, can be imagined. In the early days of Edo, Japan had strong respect and longing for China from top to bottom.
After Japan's "sea ban" era, this idea with partial blind following has changed to a certain extent. First, it is mentioned to scholars and thinkers, which is to evolve from the beginning to fully accept and admire Zhu Xi's theory to thinking and emphasizing the uniqueness of Japan itself based on learning.
This part of the researchers is mainly led by Shizumi Nishikawa, Shiraishi Akai, Zulai Ogiso, etc. On the basis of learning Zhu Xi's theory, they were able to actively criticize the "Chinese and foreign order" at that time and began to think about the direction of Japan's own ideological development.
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the so-called "Chinese and Barbarians" concept began to be popular in Japan. This was mainly because the Qing Dynasty The Manchus entered the pass and overthrew the last Han dynasty, which made some Japanese believe that they were the best practitioners of Chinese culture.
Therefore, Japanese thinkers during this period pursued the superiority of their own culture more. The prevalence of this concept undoubtedly proved that Japan had long been dissatisfied with its marginal position, and they were eager to get rid of the dilemma they were in at that time.
In the middle and late Edo period, Zhu Zi's theory began to no longer be favored in Japan. On the contrary, Wang Yangming 's 年后心文 began to be sought after by some thinkers and literati.
The reason is mainly due to the positive factors such as encouraging self, fearlessness, ideological liberation, and encouraging ambition in Wang Yangming's theory that greatly promoted Japan's political reform at that time.
From this point of view, at this time, Japanese thinkers' research on Chinese culture has changed from the initial imitation learning and respect, and they pay more attention to selecting part that is beneficial to their own development and applying and promoting it.
To sum up, before the end of the Makuma, the Japanese's attitude towards China was mostly focused on learning and respect, and it was not until the late Edo period that they began to turn their focus to the superiority of their own culture.
The transformation process of the Japanese view of China
The end of the screen, with the prevalence of Wang Yangming's theory in Japan and the changes in the entire international situation, Japan began to have a completely different "attitude" towards China from before.
1853, U.S. Navy General Perry led US fleet to knock on Japan's door.
1854, shogunate once again surrendered under the artillery fire of Western capitalist countries. Not only did they sign the "Treaty of Kanagawa ", but later they also signed the same treaty with Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands. At the same time, Japan's policy of locking up the country that had lasted for more than 200 years was officially disintegrated.
The various changes in the domestic and international situation have to force Japan to start thinking about a new path from top to bottom. However, China, which has been the image of Japan's "mentor", has long been defeated in the Opium War , and even signed a treaty of cede land compensation that was humiliating and humiliating.
This has changed Japan's attitude towards China again. They began to believe that China's traditional thoughts and culture no longer meets the requirements of the current era.
After this, in order to seek the development path of their own country, the Japanese people wanted to know what actions the once powerful China had taken in the face of such a dilemma. Japan decided to send envoys to China for inspection.
In 1862, Japan's Chitose Maru arrived in Shanghai. However, at that time, the people's livelihood and the economy were bleak, which was far from the rumored prosperous ten-mile foreign market.
Not only that, China, which has just experienced the invasion of war, not only has there been no good reform trend, but on the contrary, some feudalism is still deeply rooted and people's lives are in dire straits.
All of this made the Japanese who had just arrived in China dumbfounded. Then someone on the ship recorded his witnesses and sent them back to the country. After this incident, the news that China had been weak for a long time spread in Japan.
Not long after, many Japanese in China began to spread what they heard and heard in China back to China. At this point, Japan's attitude towards China completely changed, from the initial respect to it directly to contempt and disdain.
At this time, another group of thinkers began to emerge in Japan. They no longer followed the way of thinking of their predecessors, completely abandoned the Confucian classics that were once regarded as the norm, and instead learned the development model of the Western powers that was more powerful in their eyes.
For this reason, there are three main changes in Japan, including the decline of Confucianism, the rise of Chinese studies, and the widespread circulation of Western Studies.
After another, Japan's extreme state power ideas and extreme national superiority have expanded unprecedentedly, which has prompted them to have greater attempts, especially after Meiji Restoration , Japan's national strength has been greatly improved, which has led to the rise of domestic foreign aggressionism again, and even later developed, eventually becoming the mainstream national policy.
To sum up, the change in the view of China in the Japanese at the end of the Makuma is generally showing a downward trend. At first, they may have sympathy and reflection on China, which is facing the same dilemma as Japan, but with the rise of extreme nationalism in China, this sympathy gradually turns into contempt and disdain, which ultimately leads to a complete change in their attitude towards China.
All this laid the foundation for the later Japanese invasion of China.
Between 874 and 1945, due to Japan's invasion of China, China's abnormal death toll was at least 280 million, and the number of casualties was more than 35 million; and Japan's economic losses to China were as high as US$62 billion.
Reasons for the change of the view of the Japanese in the end of the silence of the Chinese
So, if we want to explore the deeper reasons for the change of the view of the Japanese in the end of the silence of the Chinese, what aspects should we start from?
First of all, from the perspective of China, closing the country to the end of the Qing Dynasty caused China's national strength to decline and gradually being left behind by the world tide. The Qing government was still immersed in the beautiful imagination of the "Celestial Power" and was self-confidence, which made the original advantage of the great power disappear.
In addition, Confucianism , which is rooted in feudalism, no longer adapts to the social development situation at that time.
Secondly, from the perspective of Japan, the change in Chinese people's attitude towards China and the change in East Asia's international order view under the artillery fire attacks of Western powers have made Japan highly inflated the so-called "Divine Kingdom" concept and national superiority theory.
combined with multiple factors, ultimately leading to a fundamental change in the view of China inherent in the Japanese in the Makumatsu.
The impact of the change in the view of the Japanese in the end of the Chinese
So, what impact did the change in the view of the Japanese in the end of the Chinese sphere have on the pattern of China and even the world?
First of all, the change in the Japanese view of China directly affected Japan's foreign policy towards China. Although the relationship between Japan and China was not very close before the end of the Makuma, Japan has always regarded China as the most powerful country in East Asia. Even because of this kind of admiration for strength, Japan is learning China's thoughts and culture, and even regards it as the foundation of governing the country.
During this period, there were occasional messengers between Japan and China.
By the end of the Makuma period, the change in the view of China in the Japanese not only changed the direction of ideological and cultural development in Japan, but also directly reversed Japan's diplomatic attitude towards China, which was undoubtedly one of the important factors that Japan later decided to invade China.
Secondly, for Japan itself, the change in the view of Chinese people in China has caused the Japanese people to expand their national sovereignty consciousness unprecedentedly, especially after realizing the current situation of China's weakness, it prompted them to have an attempt to become the center of East Asian countries. Since then, extreme national superiority in Japan has occupied a considerable part of the power.
In addition, due to the sharp change in the attitude of the Japanese towards China, they turned their attention directly to the Western powers. In between, a number of thinkers who completely turned to the West emerged in Japan, and Fukuzawa Yukiki is the most famous one.
His " Leaving Asia and entering Europe " proposal was supported by a considerable number of people as soon as it was released in Japan at that time. This shows that the recognition of such claims in Japan at that time was very high.
Finally, from the perspective of the international situation, the change in the view of China in the Makuta Japanese led to their deep thoughts and even dissatisfaction with their own position, which directly affected Japan's subsequent "mainland policy", which led to a reshuffle of the East Asian international order and ultimately affected the entire world situation.
To sum up, as the beginning of modern Japanese history, its special status must determine its importance to the Japanese, and the transformation of the Japanese view of China directly became one of the important factors for Japan to embark on the road of aggression and expansion.
The reasons for the change in the view of China at the end of the Japanese at the end of the Makuma are complicated. They are not only their own ideological reasons, but also inseparable from the feudal ideologicalism of China's self-confidence and not seeking innovation. Of course, the most important thing is the changes in the external environment at that time.
The change in the view of the Japanese at the end of the curtain has directly become one of the important factors for Japan's invasion of China. Therefore, we must also face up to this history and remind ourselves to avoid being blindly arrogant, being self-confidant, and eventually falling behind, causing a situation of being behind and being beaten.
Today, China has risen.
In 2020, China's economy achieved growth, and 's increase in was as high as 2.3%, and in 2021 it even reached an increase of 8.1%.
In contrast, Japan has always been in a downturn after the bubble economy. In 2020, China has become Japan's largest export market, with export proportion exceeding 20%, and by 2021, the export proportion is even 25%.
References:
"A Trial on the Change of the Japanese View of China at the End of the St. Li Jiahui
"A View of China in Modern Times" (Volume 2) [M] Yang Dongliang Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 2012
"Travel to Shanghai by "Chisuisui Masambhava"]. Feng Tianyu Wuhan University Press, 2006
"The thought process of decentralization from "leaving Confucianism" to "leaving Asian" in Japan since modern times" Han Dongyu Taiwan University Press Center, 2009
