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Pan-Asianism

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Satellite photograph of Asia inorthographic projection.

Pan-Asianism(also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity amongAsianpeoples. Various theories and movements ofPan-Asianismhave been proposed, particularly from East, South and Southeast Asia. The motive for the movement was in opposition to the values ofWestern imperialismandcolonialism,and thatAsian valueswere superior toEuropean values.[1]

Japanese Pan-Asianism[edit]

Greater East Asia Conferencein November 1943, the participants were (L–R):Ba Maw,representative ofBurma,Zhang Jinghui,representative ofManchukuo,Wang Jingwei,representative ofChina,Hideki Tōjō,representative ofJapan,Wan Waithayakon,representative ofThailand,José P. Laurel,representative ofPhilippines,Subhas Chandra Bose,representative ofIndia

Originally, Japanese Pan-Asianism believed that Asians shared a common heritage and must therefore collaborate in defeating their Western colonial masters. However, Japanese Asianism mostly focused on East Asian territories, with occasional references to South East Asia and West Asia.[2]

Their ideologues were Tokichi Tarui (1850–1922) who argued for equalJapan-Koreaunionization for cooperative defence against the European powers,[3]andKentaro Oi(1843–1922) who attempted to push social reforms in Korea and establish a constitutional government in Japan.[citation needed]Pan-Asian thought in Japan was further popularized following the defeat ofRussiain theRusso-Japanese War(1904–1905). This sparked interest from Indian poetsRabindranath TagoreandSri Aurobindoand Chinese politicianSun Yat-sen.[citation needed]

Japanese Pan-Asian writerShūmei Ōkawa

The growing official interest in broader Asian concerns was shown in the establishment of facilities for Indian Studies. In 1899,Tokyo Imperial Universityset up a chair inSanskritandKawi,with a further chair incomparative religionbeing set up in 1903. In this environment, a number of Indianstudentscame to Japan in the early twentieth century, founding theOriental Youngmen's Associationin 1900. Their anti-Britishpolitical activity caused consternation to the Indian Government, following a report in theLondonSpectator.

Okakura Kakuzō,a scholar and art critic, also praised the superiority of Asian values upon Japanese victory of theRusso-Japanese War:[4]

ASIA is one. TheHimalayasdivide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, theChinesewith itscommunismofConfucius,and theIndianwith itsindividualismof theVedas.But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for theUltimateandUniversal,which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the greatreligionsof the world, and distinguishing them from thosemaritimepeoples of theMediterraneanand theBaltic,who love to dwell on theParticular,and to search out the means, not the end, of life.[5]

In this, Kakuzō was utilising the Japanese concept ofsangoku,which existed inJapanese culturebefore the concept ofAsiabecame popularised.Sangokuliterally means the "three countries":Honshu(the largest island of Japan),Kara(China) andTenjiku(India).[6]

However, Japanese Pan-Asianism evolved into a more nationalist ideology that prioritized Japan's interests. This was evident by the growth of secret societies such asBlack Ocean Societyand theBlack Dragon Society,which committed criminal activities to ensure the success of Japanese expansionism. Exceptionally,Ryōhei Uchida(1874–1937), who was a member of the Black Dragon Society, was a Japan-Korea unionist and supportedFilipinoandChinese revolutions.In addition, Asian territories were seen as reservoirs of economic resources[7][8]and outlets for the Emperor's "glory" to be displayed. These were evident in government policies such as theHakko ichiuandGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphereagendas.[9]Even Kakuzō was critical of Japan's expansionism after the Russo-Japanese War, viewing it as no different than Western expansionism. He expected other Asians to call them "embodiments of the White Disaster".[10][11]

Historian Torsten Weber compares these contradictions to theMonroe Doctrine,which opposed European imperialism to foster the unimpeded growth of American imperialism.[2]

Chinese Pan-Asianism[edit]

From a Chinese perspective, Japanese Pan-Asianism was interpreted as a competing ideology toSinocentrismas well as rationalization of Japanese imperialism (cf.Twenty-One Demands).[2]Sun Yat-sen,despite his consistent praise of Japan as a cultural partner,[12]questioned whether they would follow the path of exploitation like Western powers in the future in his final years.[13]Sun was a proponent of Pan-Asianism. He said that Asia was the "cradle of the world's oldest civilisation" and that "even the ancient civilisations of the West, of Greece and Rome, had their origins on Asiatic soil." He thought that it was only in recent times that Asians "gradually degenerated and become weak."[14]For Sun, "Pan-Asianism is based on the principle of the Rule of Right, and justifies the avenging of wrongs done to others." He advocated overthrowing the Western "Rule of Might" and "seeking a civilisation of peace and equality and the emancipation of all races."[15]Nonetheless, Chinese Pan-Asianism emerged and was equally as imperialist as its Japanese counterpart. Its success was limited by China's political instability and weak international status.[2]

Since the 2000s, Chinese scholars have a more nuanced view of Pan-Asianism, especially those of the Japanese variety. Historian Wang Ping proposed an evaluation system based on chronology: co-operative Classical Asianism (until 1898), expansive Greater Asianism (until 1928), and the invasive Japanese ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ (until 1945).[2]

Chinese Pan-Asian thinkerWang Hui

Slovenian philosopherSlavoj Žižekstated that China has been following pan-Asianism for over a century. He regarded Chinese thinkerWang Huias the main promoter of acommunistpan-Asianism. Wang Hui advocated that ifsocial democracyis grounded in Asian civilizational traditions, it renders it possible to avoid the Western type ofmulti-party democracyand enact a social order with much stronger people's participation.[16]

Turkish Pan-Asianism[edit]

Pan-Asianism inTurkeyhas not yet been fully explored,[17]it is not known how many people hold this ideology and how widespread it is. However,Turkswho supportedJapanin theSecond World Warand have the Pan-Asianism ideology use a redesigned Turkish flag based on Japan's flag in the Second World War.[18][19]

Pan-Asianism and Asian values[edit]

The idea of "Asian values"is somewhat of a resurgence of Pan-Asianism.[citation needed]One foremost enthusiast of the idea was the former Prime Minister ofSingapore,Lee Kuan Yew.InIndia,Ram Manohar Lohiadreamed of a united socialist Asia.[20]A number of other Asian political leaders fromSun Yat-senin the 1910s and 20s toMahathir Mohamadin the 1990s similarly argue that the political models and ideologies ofEuropelack values and concepts found in Asian societies and philosophies. European values such as individual rights and freedoms would not be suited for Asian societies in this extreme formulation of Pan-Asianism.[citation needed]

The founding of theAsian Games,now the second-largest sporting event behind theOlympic Games,[21]was partially inspired by India's vision for Asian solidarity and the emergence of the post-colonial world order.[22][23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Szpilman, Christopher W. A.; Saaler, Sven (25 April 2011)."Pan-Asianism as an Ideal of Asian Identity and Solidarity, 1850–Present".The Asia-Pacific Journal.9(17).
  2. ^abcdeWeber, Torsten (2020)."Pan-Asianism".The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism.pp. 1–11.doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_259-1.ISBN978-3-319-91206-6.S2CID240929911– via Springer Link.
  3. ^Tarui, Tokichi (1893)Daito Gappo-ron[page needed]
  4. ^Harper, Tim (2021-01-12).Underground Asia: Global Revolutionaries and the Assault on Empire.Harvard University Press. p. 40.ISBN978-0-674-72461-7.
  5. ^Okakura, Tenshin (1904)Ideal of the East
  6. ^Bialock, David (2007).Eccentric Spaces, Hidden Histories: Narrative, Ritual, and Royal Authority from The Chronicles of Japan to The Tale of the Heike.Stanford University Press. p. 186.ISBN978-0-8047-6764-4.
  7. ^Brian Dollery; Zane Spindler; Craig Parsons (2003)."Nanshin: Budget- Maximising Behavior, The Imperial Japanese Navy And The Origins Of The Pacific War"(PDF).Working Paper Series in Economics.University of New England School of Economics: 4 & 12.Retrieved27 July2015.
  8. ^Flank, Lenny (25 Nov 2014)."Khalkhin Gol: The Forgotten War Between Japan and the USSR".Daily Kos.Retrieved28 July2015.
  9. ^Herbert P. Bix,Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japanp 11ISBN0-06-019314-X
  10. ^Okakura, Kakuzō (1904).The Awakening of Japan.New York: The Century Co. p. 107.
  11. ^Okakura, Kakuzo (2008).The Book of Tea.Applewood Books. p. 7.ISBN978-1-4290-1279-9.
  12. ^Ihara, Kichinosuke (July 1983). "My Thirty-three Years' Dream by Miyazaki Toten (Book Review)".Japan Quarterly.30(3): 316.ProQuest1304281243.
  13. ^1924 speech on Greater Asianism
  14. ^Pan-Asianism A Documentary History, 1920–Present.Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2011. p. 78.
  15. ^Pan-Asianism A Documentary History, 1920–Present.Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2011. p. 85.
  16. ^Slavoj Žižek (2023-05-15)."[Column] The trouble with Wang Hui's pan-Asianism".The Hankyoreh.
  17. ^"pan-Asianism | Insight Turkey".www.insightturkey.com.Archived fromthe originalon 18 April 2022.Retrieved21 March2022.
  18. ^Telli̇el, Yunus Doğan (1 June 2011)."Cemil Aydın, The Politics of Anti- Westernism in Asia: Visions of World Order in Pan-İslamic and Pan-Asian Thought".Osmanlı Araştırmaları.37(37): 249–253.
  19. ^"Ötüken Kitap | Panislamizmden Büyük Asyacılığa A. Merthan Dündar".otuken.com.tr(in Turkish). Archived fromthe originalon 18 April 2022.Retrieved24 March2022.
  20. ^Imlay, Talbot Charles (21 June 2021)."Defining Asian Socialism: The Asian Socialist Conference, Asian Socialists, and the Limits of a Global Socialist Movement in 1953".International Review of Social History.66(3): 415–441.doi:10.1017/S0020859021000250.ISSN0020-8590.S2CID237902320.
  21. ^"What is Asian Games? Definition of Asian Games, Asian Games Meaning".The Economic Times.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  22. ^Mehta, Nalin (2014-09-18)."The story of how an Asiad remade a city".The Economic Times.ISSN0013-0389.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  23. ^"How India gave Asia its Games".The Times of India.2010-11-12.ISSN0971-8257.Retrieved2023-09-04.
  • Chen, Jian (1994).China's Road to the Korean War: The Making of the Sino-American Confrontation.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-10025-0.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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