Odo: Son Issen no Ajiashugi to higashiAjia no minzokushugi e no oyo (The Kingly Way: Sun Yat-sen's Asianism and its Application to East Asian Nationalism)

Abstract

Asianism persisted in Sun's vocabulary and his thinking from the 1890s until his death in 1925. Like many intellectuals, and most Asianists, Sun Yat-sen often feared that a race war was inevitable. Furthermore, he accepted the dichotomizing of West and East into different civilizations, but rather than concentrate upon material and spiritual differences, Sun saw the dichotomy upon lines of traditional moral governance. He believed that traditional Chinese thought, given the chance and supported by Japanese economic and military might, could redeem the world of its ills. In his great enthusiasm for the revival of China towards these ends, Sun's actions were often opportunistic and related to his own ambitions for control over China's course. He sometimes validated Japanese expansionism and often encouraged imperialism. His Asianism was therefore easily appropriated for use by both Japanese expansionist propagandists and anti-imperialist activists alike. This article examines the reception of Sun's Asianism in Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia, showing how Sun's understanding of Asian unity was received very differently due to different conceptions of nationalism in 1920s Asia. Show more