Discussion On The Tositora Sone's Espionage In China And His Thought Of Aggression Against China

After the Meiji restoration,Japan has gradually embarked on a path to an expansion of foreign aggression.The theory of Asian Revitalism,represented by Tositora Sone,is the theoretical support for its overseas expansion,and it has great influence on the generation and development of the modern Japanese militarism.Therefore,this paper selects the character to carry on the research.Previous studies have revealed the life of Tositora Sone.Tositora Sone(1847-1910)is the man who advocated the rejuvenation of Asia in the early modern Japan,born in Benizawa Domain.He entered the Department of the Navy in 1872(age 25).During his tenure,he came to China as a military spy.Through the association with local literati and government officials,investigated into the specific situation of China.In the 1870s,Tositora Sone's the idea of revitalizing Asia was born.In 1877,it was proposed to create the Sinnasya.In 1880,Sinnasya changed its name to Kouakai.As the chief officer,Tositora Sone drafted the introduction of Kouakai.He also published his comments that was about revitalizing Asia on the Kouakai report or Ajiakyoukai report,which was the organ press of Kouakai.In his later years,he devoted himself to the cause of revitalizing Asia,in order to promote the foreign invasion of the Japanese.The previous studies also revealed the thoughts and activities of Tositora Sone that was about revitalizing Asia.A few scholars have conducted his specific espionage activities in China and his words and deeds about revitalizing Asia.These findings suggest the following pointsThe first,Tositora Sone was a marine when he was in China.His activities in were based on the orders from the Japanese government.During he was in China,he investigated the military,geography and customs of different regions of China,which most of them are military reconnaissance.Therefore,although Tositora Sone repeatedly stressed in his book that he was "a scholar",the true identity as a military spy cannot be concealed.The second,As the initiator of Sinnasya and Kouakai,his words and deeds represented the development of the early stage of modern Japan.The third,A few Chinese scholars pointed out that the Asian Revitalism theory of Tositora Sone was an aggressive thought in nature.His Asian Revitalism did not run counter to Japan's expansion.It provides theoretical support for Japan's modern expansion.The author finds that the following two points are not mentioned in previous studies.The first,the evolution of the aggressiveness of of Tositora Sone's Asian Revitalism The second is about the location of Tositora Sone.Most of the research focused on him as a "Asian Revitalism supporter","Chinese revisionist supporter".It was not mention that Tositora Sone's position in the evolution of Japanese Asian Revitalism.Therefore,By reading Tositora Sone's books and relevant historical materials comprehensively,this paper which is base on the previous studies,analyzes his espionage in China and the formation and evolution of his Asian revitalization idea,and explores that Tositora Sone played the role of bridge in the evolution of Japanese Asian Revitalism.For the above reasons,this paper intends to discuss in three chapters.The first chapter focuses on the espionage activities during his tenure in the Department of the Navy.In this chapter,information is on the basis of his book North China Travel Notes and the historical materials downloaded from Japan Center for Asian Historical Records.By analyzing his espionage in detail,it reveals that his Asian Revitalism has obvious aggressiveness at the beginning of its emergenceThe second chapter focuses on the theory of his Asian Revitalism.In this chapter,information is on the basis of his books,the Kouakai report or Ajiakyoukai report,which was the organ press of Kouakai and the petition that was submitted to Hirobumi Itou.Among them,his books included China Roaming Record,Pre-modern Chinese confusion,the war record of France and Vietnam,and so on.Through the investigation on the behavior of Tositora Sone about the Asian Revitalism,the author points out that the aggressiveness of the his Asian Revitalism was strengthened.The third chapter mainly discusses that the theory of his Asian Revitalism has become into the thought of full aggression after the departure from the Department of the Navy.In this chapter,information is on the basis of his two books.The future of Russia and China and the Barbarity record of Russia.This chapter will investigate the essence of the theory of his Asian Revitalism.Through the discussion,this paper has the following new points.The first,after the Meiji restoration,Japan has gradually embarked on a path to an expansion of foreign aggression.The theory of his Asian Revitalism' s aggressiveness was strengthened with the expansion of Japan's overseas aggression.The establishment of Sinnasya in 1877 marked his Asian Revitalism consciousness was transformed into concrete action.And his Asian Revitalism consciousness was aggressive from the beginning.After the establishment of Kouakai,Tositora Sone took advantage of his position to promote his theory of Asian Revitalism.In 1886,he submitted a petition to Hirobumi Itou,which marked the transformation of the aggressiveness of his theory.In this petition,He proposed that the aim of revitalizing Asia is to overthrow the established order of China and establish a new east Asian order which centered on Japan.In his book The future of Russia and China(1986),which published after the Sino-Japanese War,Tositora Sone proposed that the western powers' aggression against China in modern times was caused by the "no way" of Ch'ing Dynasty government.And pointed out that Japan should take advantage of China's civil strife and gain more benefits in China.This undoubtedly marks the theory of his Asian Revitalism transformed into a total aggressive theory.The second,the new material discovered by the author,the Records of Yue Army(1904).This book was the Chinese version of his book Pre-modern Chinese confusion,which published in 1879.The two books are the same.lt is a chronicle of the Taiping rebellion.But why did the the Records of Yue Army choose to be published in China in 1904?In combination with the activities of Tositora Sone at that time,the reason is that he intended to propagandize the Asian Revitalism,and to promote Japan's external expansion.