澳洲指导assignment范文：Analysis of Ernest Satow’s assumptions abou

Introduction介绍

 

Ernest Satow (1843-1929)was part of a minority of Englishmen who reached Japan in the middle of the 19th century and applied themselves to learning the Japanese with remarkable results (Ruxton, 2003).Sometimes described as a scholar-diplomat, Satow was a student interpreter in Japan for most of the 20 year period between 1862 and 1882, before being appointed British Consul General in Bangkok(1884), then Minister to Uruguay (1888) and Minister to Morocco (1893). He wrote this letter to his long-time friend and scholar of Japan, F.V. Dickins shortly before his return to Japan to take up his appointment as Minister in Tokyo.Although Satow has thus many and multipleassumptions to distinction, his letter reveals an abiding involvement with and interest in Japan throughout his life(Ruxton, 2007), and this is particularly so with the correspondence contained in many volumes, for his correspondents were pioneer japanologists like him. In this letter he told Dickins hisclaims about current affairs around Japan and other powers related to Japan.Some sections of the letter intricate since these points of view are full of subjectivity and out of his scholarly study in Japan. The essay will show some passages labeled and explain them correspondingly. The phrases will be cited in bold italic and the analysis follows it.

 

The question remains, is the Japanese nation able to carry out the whole of the magnificent programme, is there sufficient stock of physical strength in reserve to meet the huge demands that will be made upon it. 现在的问题是，日本能否完成整个宏伟计划，是否有足够的体力储备来满足对自己货架的一个巨大需求。

For this passage, Sir Ernest Satow queried Japan by comparison with Portugal. As Portugal is the first global empireof the world'shistory, his gigantic enterprise under the special stimulus drove him start killing. However, Satow was worried about the national strength of Japan. In 1870s,Meiji was striving to rebuild traditional ties with its Asian neighbors so they began the two missions: one is to determine the boundaries of Japan and the other is to, according to the expectations of Western countries, adjust the relations between two nearest continental neighbors - Russia and North Korea (James, 2002). Toward the end of 19th century,western powers increasingly feel the need to establish colonial empires to promote the development of their metropolitan nation, the imperialist conquest become theirnational policy picked out to the public.Under this circumstance, Japan usedthe widespread argument of expansionism, forming the new opinion thatJapan must act decisively, and other neighbor countries may be sacrificed even, if Japan did not want to be sacrificed.Nevertheless, Japan was sopuny that he had toobey Western countries. In this case, Japan was universally considered to be unable to carry out the whole magnificent program and Satow was no exception.

 

During my residence in Japan I never had belief that, Japan would get beyond a third or fourth rate position; the people seemed to be too much mere imitators, and wanting in bottom.

TokutomiSohō (1980) believes that by 1893 the political, educational and commercial areas of Japan have made great achievements, whichis still unable, however, to convince the West revise theunequal treatiesthat Japan has endured thirty years of.He put the blame on racism attitude and wrote that Japan is the most advanced,the most developed, the most civilized, and the most powerful Eastern countries, however, it seems that Japan can never get rid of the contempt from the white.

There exists a phenomenon that people thought Japan acted as an imitator too much and that called “orientalism” (Said, 1979). Edward Saidthought that the Orientalism is fancyof the Orientin Western countriesof the 19thcentury, and it is not onlya very systematic disciplinewhich isaccording to European culture in shaping all aspects of political science, sociology, military, ideological, scientific and even imagineafter the age of enlightenment, and inclined tobe manufacturedby the West, but also a way of rebuilding, and evencontrolling the Eastern.Japanese thought that the west cannot differentiate their specificity among the Asia nations, so that they want to prove themselves to the world exigently.AsJapan was eager to enter the ranks of leading countries in an era of imperialism and international status paralleledin the line, nothing could stop the Japanese leaders to emulate the behavior of the Western powers.However, the strategy to imitate was scorned by Satow.But to some extent, there is a certain deviation from the reality because in the later Russo-Japanese War, Japan finally achieved both naval and land warfare victory.

 

If Russia, which seems inclined to object, translated her objections into words, what will be the result? I cannot imagine our taking sides in such a quarrel.

The actual strength of Russia is giganticat that time, at least most of nations thought by that way. On the other hand, dividing China is extensively known as the consensus reached by the European powers. Based on the two reasons, maybe no one dared help Japan. Yet Dickins was always appreciating Japan and believe Japan was in the process of improvement. Satow considered thesetwo points of situation so he was concerned about Russia’s objection.

Nevertheless, in 1895, when satow wrote this letter, Russia had not taken any actions about Manchuria and Corea, but based on the annals, Russia indeed took actions as satow’s assumptions. April 23, 1895, Russia, France, and Germany warned Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula back to China. Japanese government sought British and American for help, only to be told the result against Russia is useless and dangerous (James, 2002).May 5, the Prime Minister had to choke down and announcedthatthe Liaodong Peninsula back to China.From this, Satow’s foresight had been proved into accurate.

 

Only this is certain, that to the lips of those of us who were eyewitnesses of what went on, the word “revolution” came spontaneously, never the other, till it was adopted out of courtesy to theJapanese, in the same way as Tokio has been substituted for Yedo and Emperor for Mikado in European mouths, because Japan liked that better.

As the belief that any successful modern power must be an empire is deeply rooted in the hearts of Japanese, their strategy indicated the thought so much. The fear and concern to the West is fertile breeding ground for the growth of Japanese imperialism. When Ito Hirobumi(1841), Yamagata (1838) and many other leaders of the Meiji period were young as warriors, they saw the Japanese become a semi-colonial country as a result of the West. So they had to deal with a new round of Western invasion of Asia as rulers, which would overturn the invasion of their country and the destruction of their modernization efforts(James, 2002). The Government of Japan deeply recognized the weakness of them compared to Western powers, and therefore on the defensive, and that the establishment of empire is the right countermeasure to safeguard their countryin the potentially hazardousunstable international environment. Japan is afraid of becoming "meatin a party", as a prominent Western politician said, so he, in turn, became his first "guest on the table"(Mayo, 1967).Satow as a British civil servant, he has his own habit in thinking about empires. He was farsighted and analyzed the rising of Japanese imperialism by synthesis since he knew so many current politics of Japan and Asia and doped out what the Government of Japan really want.

 

Conclusion总结

To sum up, Ernest Satow write the letter and come to his assumptions accurately ingeneral. And why Satow arrive at the views that he expresses on Japan in relation to other powers is consist of the following three reasons. Above all, it is because of the historical background of that era.The letter was written in 1895, when Japan was going to the imperialism. What Japan did is out of its strategy of self-hold and being powerful nation.Meanwhile, the western powers were coveted on Asia’s dominion. Under this circumstance, Satow had his own opinion to Japan’s actions. Then,the habit of Ernest Satow’s thinking is also a major factor. Ernest Satow as a British civil servant, he thought about world affairs in comparative terms.Finally, the orientalism was rooted in his heart so that he had a bias to Japan’s certain policy.When it comes to Japan’s behavior as imitator of western powers, Satow seemed to be very contemptuous and he thought that the resources of Japan was very small in comparison with those of a first rate of power so that he never believed Japan would get beyond a third or fourth rate position. Those three aspects of factor made Ernest Satow form his own opinion. While his idea impacting with F.V. Dickins’, some interesting quarrels would happen but they made sense. From what Satow’s forecast and the real history are, it is remarkable for his assumptionswhich are well-founded and almost completely correct.At any rate the letter was a historical itemwith the content of Japan as a rising power in the twentieth century and had been an important material when people study the modern history of either Japan or Asia.#p#分页标题#e#

 

References:文献

James L. M. (2002). Japan: A Modern History.New York: W.W. Norton & Co. cop.

John D.P. (1980). TokutomiSohō, 1863-1957: A Journalist for Modern Japan. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Mayo M. (1967).“Atitudes Toward Asia and the Beginnings of Japanese Empire,” in Grant K. Goodman,comp. .Imperial Japan: A Reassessment.New York: Occasional Papers of the east Asia Institute. Columbia University .

Ruxton I.(2003, 2007).The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Tokyo (1895-1900): A Diplomat Returns to Japan. Tokyo: Edition Synapse; Sir Ernest Satow’s Private Letters toW. G. Aston and F. V. Dickins:The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologistfrom 1870 to 1918.Lulu Press Inc.

Said E. (1979) . Orientalism. New York.