A Study On Naito Konan’s Views Of China

As a well-known expert in both fields of Japanese history and Chinese Studies,Naitō Konan has done a remarkable research on China from the perspective of aJapanese scholar, which proved to be an important way to understand Japan itself aswell as its outlook on China. Naitō Konan’s research paradigm, academic works andtheoretical approaches has exerted a great influence to the academic circles in Japan.This paper can be divided into three parts:Chapter one focuses on the life story of Naitō Konan and the identification of hisperspective on China. His working and teaching experiences is reviewed in athorough way to disclose the very nature of his perspective on China into two aspects:the way he divided Chinese history and his view on the trend of the development ofChinese culture.Chapter two plays as an examination of the formation of Naitō Konan’s perspectiveon China and its alternation afterwards, which is done in three parts: the first part is areview of his experience as a journalist, which has given him the passion of thejoining in social politics and a deep of concern of the social development in bothChina and Japan, enabling him to be scholar in Chinese affairs, plus this part alsolooks into his earlier publications; the second part is a analysis on his matureacademic model of the perspective on China-the modernized-like structure of SongDynasty and the theory of the movement of cultural center; the third part looks intothe adjustment of his perspective on China, showing the significance of theestablishment of Kyoto School of Chinese Studies in1907, in which Naitō Konan hasplayed an indispensable role.Chapter three functioned as an analysis and review of Naitō Konan’s perspective onChina. The formation of his perspective on China has its main origins in two levels:empirical level and ideology level. Empirical level mainly focuses on his personalexperience, while ideology level lay on the background of Japan’s transformation andsocial change. In the meanwhile this paper also examines Naitō Konan’s academicfigure through reviews by scholars at home and aborad. The last part analyze the transformation and orientation of Naitō Konan’sperspective on China, through which the modernized-like structure of Song Dynastyand the theory of the movement of cultural center is emphasized to highlighted tounderline the author’s understanding of Naitō Konan’s Sinology Studies.