A Study on the Origin of the Thought of Invading Asian Countries in Modern Japan : Fukuzawa Yukichi and His Idea of″Departure from Asia and Attachment to Europe″
The idea of″Departure from Asia and attachment to Europe″appeared in Japan in the late 19th Century,and Fukuzawa Yukichi was its main advocator .As the most famous enlightenment thinker and educator in Modern Japan,Fukuzawa Yukichi's propaganda of enlightenment around the Meiji Restoration,particularly his introduction of modern Western culture and education and criticism of Confucianism,had a significant impact on the modernization process of Japan .However,like many other historical figures,Fukuzawa Yukichi also had noticeable historical limitations .He fully accepted the modern Western historical perspective on″Civilization″and the idea of″Europe-centeredness″and developed the thinking patterns of″Civilization equals Europe and America,″″Barbarism equals Asia,″ and″Removing Confucianism equals departure from Asia,″which laid a theoretical foundation for his idea of″Departure from Asia and attachment to Europe .″ In his early works like On Encouraging Learning and A Summary of Comments on Civilization,Fukuzawa Yukichi initiated his theory of international relations on the principles of″Generally acknowledged truth″and″Righteousness,″believing that″Reason″was more important than″Power .″ Whereas,due to the profound influence of the Western historical perspective on″Civilization″and idea of ″Europe-centeredness,″he regarded Western civilization as the only standard and criterion of evaluating ″civilization,″and then acknowledged and embraced the perspective on″Dual structure″in the theory of international relations .Thereupon his ideology changed from advocating″Reason″to upholding″Power .″ He began to preach mighty politics and power diplomacy,totally losing the right understanding and grasp of the truth . In fact,″Departure from Asia and attachment to Europe″is beyond a simple geographic concept,because″Asia″and″Europe″here represent two opposite standpoints .The reason why Fukuzawa Yukichi devoted himself to the propaganda of enlightenment and educational activities in his early years was to call on Japanese to improve their spiritual quality and protect″Independence of state″through ″Independence of individual .″However,along with the above change of ideology,Fukuzawa Yukichi began to advocate that Japan should join the camp of European and American powers and carve up China together,showing that his remarks and actions had changed from the standpoint of″the victim of the invasion″to that of″the invader .″In 1885,he published his article On Departure from Asia,which not only marked the appearance of Modern Japan's idea of″Departure from Asia and attachment to Europe,″but also pushed it to the direction of aggression .By propagating this idea,Fukuzawa Yukichi led Japan to stand among Western powers and join their colonial wars of carving up Asia and China,and objectively guided Japanese public opinion for the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war of 1894 1895 .
肖朗. 近代日本侵略亚洲国家思想探源———以福泽谕吉及其“脱亚入欧”思想为中心[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2014, 44(3): 5-19.
Xiao Lang. A Study on the Origin of the Thought of Invading Asian Countries in Modern Japan : Fukuzawa Yukichi and His Idea of″Departure from Asia and Attachment to Europe″. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2014, 44(3): 5-19.