| This dissertation intends to probe Japanese acceptance of Sinology and Japan' s modem writers' view of China. The dissertation is based on the theoretical foundation of Edward Said's "Orientalism" and the study of image.When Japan was a group of small nations, or before it was united into one nation, Japanese had already begun to communicate with Chinese dynasties, introducing Chinese culture into Japan and using this to claim legitimism. The consequences were as follows. First, this aroused the ancient intellectuals' respect or even worship Chinese culture, of Sinology, the Chinese people and the Han Dynasty. This same trend continued during the Aristocratic Regime and Warrior Regime. Japanese research on Sinology reached its prime during the Edo Era Han poetry, as an artistic theme occupied an extremely high status. Secondly, because of the ban on maritime trade, Japanese couldn't actually go to China and so could not see China with their own eyes, but rather they got an impression of it through books. The impression was ideal and had an effect on the Japanese intellectuals' understanding about China after the Meiji Era. However, during the Edo Era the ship "Senzaimaru" was sent to Shanghai and it brought back some actual information about China..This information allowed some Japanese intellectuals to learn about the actual situation of China.In the Meiji Era, Japan adopted an "open policy" and with this Western learning was introduced into Japaa This made the status of Sinology fall dramatically. But in the realm of higher education, Sinology was studied by means of Western style methods. Thus Sinology got its renaissance. In 1890, the Japanese government issued the" Education Imperial Order". It acknowledged the value of Sinology in modern Japanese ideology. Additionally, in the study of Sinology, a new outlook called the "Oriental(Toyo) History" was adopted as a result of the introduction of Western learning. It denied the previous traditional Confucianism research and viewed China from the so-called "rational" and "objective" Western perspective. In this way, they all regarded China as backward. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japanese Sinologists and intellectuals, except the Oriental(Toyo) historians, developed a double understanding of China. One was that Japan should respect China as described in the ancient books and records. The other was that Japan, which combined Chinese culture and Western civilization, should guide and ameliorate China. Contemporary Sinologists such as Naito Konan, Hattori Unokichi, Yoshikawa Kojiro all had this opinion. In conclusion, the dualism ideologies that regard Japan as "advanced" and "rational" while China as "backward" and "irrational" are called Japanese "Orientalism".The writers who have made great achievements on Sinology also have this tendency. Among them, only Natsume Soseki, due to his Sinology attainment and his critical point of view towards Western culture which was cultivated during his study in UK, could transcend that dualism ideology. But after him, both Akutagawa Ryunosuke or Sato Haruo representing a "China preference" couldn't get rid of the desire to view China through ancient books and records. This made them look for "an imaginary China" in actual China. On the other hand, they severely criticized actual China, which was far from the imaginary one. Akutagawa Ryunosuke later had a great interest in socialism. But Sato Haruo on the contrary, preferred the idea of superiority of Japanese culture and even preached people to invade ChinaIn conclusion, Japanese have accepted Sinology in two stages. In the First stage, they accepted ancient books and records, out of respect and they did this unconditionally. This stage ended in late Edo Era.The second stage, Sinology became the basis of the intellectual study that is the ideology assisting Mikado ideology and imaginary China These perspectives gave birth to the discourse of Orientalism, which helped Japan colonize China... |
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