The Impression And Understanding Of Northeast China In The Japanese Travel Notes In The Early Republic Of China

In 1663,the order to lock the country of Tokugawa Shogunate almost cut off the communication between China and Japan.It was not until to the “black boat incident” in1854 that Japan was forced to open the gate had been closed more than 200 years.In1862,the “Sennsai Maru” mission visited Shanghai,which opened up a new situation for Japanese to visit China in modern times.Since then,people from all walks of life in Japan began to visit China one after another,until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,forming an unprecedented “China Tourism”boom.Among the Japanese who visited China were not only writers,journalists,scholars and other intellectuals,but also monks,businessmen and students.Although they came to China for different purposes,they walked almost everywhere in China and accomplished a considerable number of travel notes.These travel notes wore relatively objective records of the author’s travel routes,experiences along the way,as well as the natural scenery,resources and cultural features of China.Thats are the rare precious documents for understanding Chinese society in the early years of the Republic of China and have high historical value.The travel notes also record the feelings of the visitors to various social phenomena in China,as well as their thoughts and opinions on various issues between China and Japan at that time.Theirs view of China revealed and expressed in the travel notes not only reflects the policies in Manchuria,Mongolia and Asia of Japan at that time,but also has a profound impact on the view of China and the policy towards China of Japan,as well as has a far-reaching influence on the development of Sino Japanese relations.Meanwhile,the travel notes were widely disseminated after published in Japan,and opened a new window for the Japanese to know more of China at that time,and also promoted the ideological communication between Chinese and Japanese folk figures,promoted the study of "Oriental History" and "Sinology" in Japan.However,Northeast China was the "entrance" of modern Japanese colonize China.By understanding the image and the understanding of Northeast China in Japanese travel notes at that time,we can have a more intuitive and clear understanding of the policy attitude of the Japanese government towards Northeast China at that time,understand the view on China and the ideological origin of Japanese previous and future China policy.This paper starts with the Japanese travel notes of China in the early years of the Republic of China,selects the contents related to Northeast China to summarize and explore,for analysing the image and understanding of Northeast China in Japanese mind at that time,and the impacts of the travel notes that contain those images and understandings on China and Japan and Sino-Japanese Relation.The first chapter of this paper introduces the formation of the upsurge of Japanese coming to China in the early years of the Republic of China,it also summarizes the identities and the purposes of the Japanese who came to China in different fields,and introduces some contents of the main travel notes.Japan was long-term locked up before the “black boat attack”,that made the enthusiasm to go abroad for sightseeing and investigation of national unprecedented upsurging.The signing of the SinoJapanese Provisions of Cordial Relations also provides convenient conditions for Japanese back and forth between China and Japan.The gradual formation of the mainland policy of Japan after Meiji Restoration,the victory of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War also improve the international status and comprehensive national strength of Japan.Those have promoted the government to propagate and push on its mainland policy,to provide official support for those visitors who came to China.Meanwhile,the grow up of “Taisyo Democracy” also made people’s thoughts more active and open during this period,influenced by the traditional Chinese complex literaties and writers began to resume their visits to China.All the above reasons promoted the formation of the upsurge of Japanese coming to China in the early years of the Republic of China.The second chapter mainly combs and summarizes all aspects of the situation and image in Northeast China in some of the Japanese travel notes,and analyze the understanding of Northeast China and China view embodied in that.The travel notes that selected by this paper record the situations of Northeast China mostly focus on the natural scenery and resources,the people and environment,and the politics and society of Northeast China.The author’s understanding of Northeast China and his view of China in it also consistent with the policies of the Japanese government at the same time—“Manchu and Mongolia are not Chinese territory”,“continue to cultivate China in order to complete the established mainland policy”.The third chapter analyzes the contents of Northeast China involved in the Japanese travel notes of China,briefly summarizes the influence of the Japanese visit to China in the early years of the Republic of China and the travel notes of China on all aspects of Sino Japanese countries and modern Sino Japanese relations.