Rachel Harris
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262979
- eISBN:
- 9780191734717
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262979.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
The Sibe are an immigrant group, Qing dynasty bannermen who made a three-year ‘long march’ from Manchuria in the 18th century to serve as a border garrison in the newly conquered Western Regions of ...
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The Sibe are an immigrant group, Qing dynasty bannermen who made a three-year ‘long march’ from Manchuria in the 18th century to serve as a border garrison in the newly conquered Western Regions of the Qing Chinese empire. They preserved their military structure and a discrete identity in the multi-ethnic region of Xinjiang and are now officially recognised as an ethnic minority nationality under the People's Republic. They are known in China today as the last speakers of the Manchu language, and as preservers of their ancient traditions. This study of their music culture reveals not fossilised tradition but a shifting web of borrowings, assimilation, and retention. It is an informed account of culture and performance in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. The book approaches musical and ritual life in this ethnically diverse region through an understanding of society in terms of negotiation, practice, and performance. It explores the relations between shamanism, song, and notions of externality and danger, bringing recent theories on shamanism to bear on questions of the structural and affective powers of ritual music. The book focuses on the historical demands of identity, boundary maintenance, and creation among the Sibe, and on the role of musical performance in maintaining popular memory, and it discusses the impact of state policies of the Chinese Communist Party on village musical and ritual life. It draws on a wide range of Chinese, Sibe-Manchu language sources, and oral sources including musical recordings and interviews gathered in the course of fieldwork in Xinjiang.Less
The Sibe are an immigrant group, Qing dynasty bannermen who made a three-year ‘long march’ from Manchuria in the 18th century to serve as a border garrison in the newly conquered Western Regions of the Qing Chinese empire. They preserved their military structure and a discrete identity in the multi-ethnic region of Xinjiang and are now officially recognised as an ethnic minority nationality under the People's Republic. They are known in China today as the last speakers of the Manchu language, and as preservers of their ancient traditions. This study of their music culture reveals not fossilised tradition but a shifting web of borrowings, assimilation, and retention. It is an informed account of culture and performance in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. The book approaches musical and ritual life in this ethnically diverse region through an understanding of society in terms of negotiation, practice, and performance. It explores the relations between shamanism, song, and notions of externality and danger, bringing recent theories on shamanism to bear on questions of the structural and affective powers of ritual music. The book focuses on the historical demands of identity, boundary maintenance, and creation among the Sibe, and on the role of musical performance in maintaining popular memory, and it discusses the impact of state policies of the Chinese Communist Party on village musical and ritual life. It draws on a wide range of Chinese, Sibe-Manchu language sources, and oral sources including musical recordings and interviews gathered in the course of fieldwork in Xinjiang.
James Carter
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195398854
- eISBN:
- 9780199894413
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398854.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Attracted by Tanxu’s work in Yingkou and other Manchurian cities, government leaders in Harbin invited Tanxu there to construct a Buddhist temple. The motivations were, as elsewhere, both religious ...
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Attracted by Tanxu’s work in Yingkou and other Manchurian cities, government leaders in Harbin invited Tanxu there to construct a Buddhist temple. The motivations were, as elsewhere, both religious and political, aiming to bring Buddhism to a city that lacked a major temple, but also to use the architecture and location of the temple to promote Chinese nationalism in a city that had until recently been a Russian semi-colony, and retained a Russian identity in much of its population and infrastructure. Tanxu continued his work in Harbin, while also travelling throughout the region and even Japan as part of the East Asian Buddhist Conference, until 1932, when Japanese armies invaded Harbin and established the state of Manchukuo as a Japanese protectorate. Although insistent that he was not a guerrilla in the Japanese resistance, Tanxu’s patron, General Zhu Qinglan, attracted the attention of Japanese spies and police, and Tanxu soon fled to Xi’an.Less
Attracted by Tanxu’s work in Yingkou and other Manchurian cities, government leaders in Harbin invited Tanxu there to construct a Buddhist temple. The motivations were, as elsewhere, both religious and political, aiming to bring Buddhism to a city that lacked a major temple, but also to use the architecture and location of the temple to promote Chinese nationalism in a city that had until recently been a Russian semi-colony, and retained a Russian identity in much of its population and infrastructure. Tanxu continued his work in Harbin, while also travelling throughout the region and even Japan as part of the East Asian Buddhist Conference, until 1932, when Japanese armies invaded Harbin and established the state of Manchukuo as a Japanese protectorate. Although insistent that he was not a guerrilla in the Japanese resistance, Tanxu’s patron, General Zhu Qinglan, attracted the attention of Japanese spies and police, and Tanxu soon fled to Xi’an.
Erik Esselstrom
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832315
- eISBN:
- 9780824868932
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832315.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
For more than half a century, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimushō) possessed an independent police force that operated within Japan's informal empire on the Asian continent. Charged ...
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For more than half a century, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimushō) possessed an independent police force that operated within Japan's informal empire on the Asian continent. Charged with “protecting and controlling” local Japanese communities first in Korea and later in China, these consular police played a critical role in facilitating Japanese imperial expansion during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book describes how the Gaimushō police became deeply involved in the surveillance and suppression of the Korean independence movement in exile throughout Chinese treaty ports and the Manchurian frontier during the 1920s and 1930s. It had in fact evolved over the years from a relatively benign public security organization into a full-fledged political intelligence apparatus devoted to apprehending purveyors of “dangerous thought” throughout the empire. While historians often still depict the Gaimushō as an inhibitor of unilateral military expansionism during the first half of the twentieth century, the book's exposé on the activities and ideology of the consular police dramatically challenges this narrative. Revealing a far greater complexity of motivation behind the Japanese colonial mission, it illustrates how the imperial Japanese state viewed political security at home as inextricably connected to political security abroad from as early as 1919—nearly a decade before overt military aggression began—and approaches northeast Asia as a region of intricate and dynamic social, economic, and political forces.Less
For more than half a century, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimushō) possessed an independent police force that operated within Japan's informal empire on the Asian continent. Charged with “protecting and controlling” local Japanese communities first in Korea and later in China, these consular police played a critical role in facilitating Japanese imperial expansion during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book describes how the Gaimushō police became deeply involved in the surveillance and suppression of the Korean independence movement in exile throughout Chinese treaty ports and the Manchurian frontier during the 1920s and 1930s. It had in fact evolved over the years from a relatively benign public security organization into a full-fledged political intelligence apparatus devoted to apprehending purveyors of “dangerous thought” throughout the empire. While historians often still depict the Gaimushō as an inhibitor of unilateral military expansionism during the first half of the twentieth century, the book's exposé on the activities and ideology of the consular police dramatically challenges this narrative. Revealing a far greater complexity of motivation behind the Japanese colonial mission, it illustrates how the imperial Japanese state viewed political security at home as inextricably connected to political security abroad from as early as 1919—nearly a decade before overt military aggression began—and approaches northeast Asia as a region of intricate and dynamic social, economic, and political forces.
Eiichiro Azuma
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195159400
- eISBN:
- 9780199788545
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159400.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines the meanings of Japanese immigrant nationalism. The origin of modern Issei nationalism can be traced to the rise of Japanese militarism in Manchuria in the early 1930s, which ...
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This chapter examines the meanings of Japanese immigrant nationalism. The origin of modern Issei nationalism can be traced to the rise of Japanese militarism in Manchuria in the early 1930s, which drastically transformed the hitherto estranged relationship between the empire and the immigrant community after 1924. For policy makers in Japan, Japanese residents in the United States became politically relevant at this time in the context of the growing tension with Anglo-American powers. The rise of Japanese immigrant patriotism and Japan's attempt to exploit it for geopolitical purposes, did not result in the metamorphosis of the Issei into a replica of the Japanese militarist or the ultranationalist extremist, as anti-Japanese agitators often claimed. Instead, Issei patriotism inaugurated another phase of the immigrant-state partnership where immigrant dreams and Japan's state mandate converged in complex ways.Less
This chapter examines the meanings of Japanese immigrant nationalism. The origin of modern Issei nationalism can be traced to the rise of Japanese militarism in Manchuria in the early 1930s, which drastically transformed the hitherto estranged relationship between the empire and the immigrant community after 1924. For policy makers in Japan, Japanese residents in the United States became politically relevant at this time in the context of the growing tension with Anglo-American powers. The rise of Japanese immigrant patriotism and Japan's attempt to exploit it for geopolitical purposes, did not result in the metamorphosis of the Issei into a replica of the Japanese militarist or the ultranationalist extremist, as anti-Japanese agitators often claimed. Instead, Issei patriotism inaugurated another phase of the immigrant-state partnership where immigrant dreams and Japan's state mandate converged in complex ways.
James Z. Lee and Cameron D. Campbell
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199280681
- eISBN:
- 9780191602467
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280681.003.0017
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
To assess trends in the standard of living in Liaoning province in north-east China during the nineteenth century, the secular change in demographic rates and their sensitivity to economic conditions ...
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To assess trends in the standard of living in Liaoning province in north-east China during the nineteenth century, the secular change in demographic rates and their sensitivity to economic conditions are examined. The findings show that marital fertility rose, child mortality fell and some men were able to marry much earlier. Fertility became less sensitive to grain prices, suggesting a decline in the vulnerability of rural populations to economic shocks. Based on these trends, the conclusion can be drawn that the standard of living in Liaoning rose during the nineteenth century. While these results may not be generalized to China as a whole, they do raise the possibility of variation between and within regions of China in trends in living standards during the nineteenth century.Less
To assess trends in the standard of living in Liaoning province in north-east China during the nineteenth century, the secular change in demographic rates and their sensitivity to economic conditions are examined. The findings show that marital fertility rose, child mortality fell and some men were able to marry much earlier. Fertility became less sensitive to grain prices, suggesting a decline in the vulnerability of rural populations to economic shocks. Based on these trends, the conclusion can be drawn that the standard of living in Liaoning rose during the nineteenth century. While these results may not be generalized to China as a whole, they do raise the possibility of variation between and within regions of China in trends in living standards during the nineteenth century.
Ji Li
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195396447
- eISBN:
- 9780199979318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195396447.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion, World Modern History
This chapter explores how missionaries, starting in the mid-nineteenth century, developed a method for assessing the degree of faith of Christians in communities in Manchuria. Far from being a ...
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This chapter explores how missionaries, starting in the mid-nineteenth century, developed a method for assessing the degree of faith of Christians in communities in Manchuria. Far from being a passing experiment, missionaries’ use of statistical methods and quantitative language to measure the religiosity of local converts became a central concern of the Church, as important as translating texts to and from Latin, French, and Chinese. In creating this method, missionaries calculated the impact of their efforts and defined what it meant to be a “good” Christian.Less
This chapter explores how missionaries, starting in the mid-nineteenth century, developed a method for assessing the degree of faith of Christians in communities in Manchuria. Far from being a passing experiment, missionaries’ use of statistical methods and quantitative language to measure the religiosity of local converts became a central concern of the Church, as important as translating texts to and from Latin, French, and Chinese. In creating this method, missionaries calculated the impact of their efforts and defined what it meant to be a “good” Christian.
T. G. Otte
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199211098
- eISBN:
- 9780191705731
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199211098.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Asian History
The apparent implosion of all central authority in China in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising led to a renewed Russian expansionist drive in the northern provinces of the Chinese Empire. The ...
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The apparent implosion of all central authority in China in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising led to a renewed Russian expansionist drive in the northern provinces of the Chinese Empire. The resulting Manchurian crisis, triggered by Russian attempts to establish a protectorate there under the guise of the Ts'êng–Alekse'ev agreement, marked the nadir of Anglo–Russian relations. It threatened to escalate into a regional war. That a conflict was averted owed much to Lord Lansdowne's brinkmanship. But the full significance of the crisis went beyond the region. It threw into sharper relief the nature of Britain's relations with Germany and Japan, and so highlighted the ongoing problems of isolation. This chapter concludes with a re-interpretation of the failed Anglo–German alliance talks in the spring of 1901.Less
The apparent implosion of all central authority in China in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising led to a renewed Russian expansionist drive in the northern provinces of the Chinese Empire. The resulting Manchurian crisis, triggered by Russian attempts to establish a protectorate there under the guise of the Ts'êng–Alekse'ev agreement, marked the nadir of Anglo–Russian relations. It threatened to escalate into a regional war. That a conflict was averted owed much to Lord Lansdowne's brinkmanship. But the full significance of the crisis went beyond the region. It threw into sharper relief the nature of Britain's relations with Germany and Japan, and so highlighted the ongoing problems of isolation. This chapter concludes with a re-interpretation of the failed Anglo–German alliance talks in the spring of 1901.
Dale C. Copeland
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161587
- eISBN:
- 9781400852703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161587.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter demonstrates that Japan's foreign policy from 1931 to 1941 was rooted in a logic going back many decades. It starts by briefly discussing US–Japanese relations from the end of the ...
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This chapter demonstrates that Japan's foreign policy from 1931 to 1941 was rooted in a logic going back many decades. It starts by briefly discussing US–Japanese relations from the end of the Russo-Japanese War up to 1921. The chapter then turns to an exploration of Japanese behavior during the period of Shidehara diplomacy and late Taisho democracy. It shows that Japanese leaders of all stripes, including Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro, were hardheaded realists who sought to maintain Japan's economic position in Manchuria and northern China even as they acted to reduce the risk of economic or military conflict with the great powers. The rest of the chapter takes up a more detailed analysis of the tragic decade from 1931 to 1940.Less
This chapter demonstrates that Japan's foreign policy from 1931 to 1941 was rooted in a logic going back many decades. It starts by briefly discussing US–Japanese relations from the end of the Russo-Japanese War up to 1921. The chapter then turns to an exploration of Japanese behavior during the period of Shidehara diplomacy and late Taisho democracy. It shows that Japanese leaders of all stripes, including Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro, were hardheaded realists who sought to maintain Japan's economic position in Manchuria and northern China even as they acted to reduce the risk of economic or military conflict with the great powers. The rest of the chapter takes up a more detailed analysis of the tragic decade from 1931 to 1940.
Shuang Chen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780804799034
- eISBN:
- 9781503601635
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804799034.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
The book explores the social economic processes of inequality produced by differential state entitlements. Drawing on uniquely rich source materials from central and local archives, the book provides ...
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The book explores the social economic processes of inequality produced by differential state entitlements. Drawing on uniquely rich source materials from central and local archives, the book provides an unprecedented, comprehensive view of the creation of a socio-economic and political hierarchy under the Eight Banners in the Qing dynasty in what is now Shuangcheng County, Heilongjiang province. Shuangcheng was settled by bannermen from urban Beijing and elsewhere in rural Manchuria in the nineteenth century. The state classified the immigrants into distinct categories, each associated with differentiated land entitlements. By reconstructing the history of settlement and land distribution in this county, the book shows that patterns of wealth stratification and the underlying social hierarchy were not merely imposed by the state from the top-down but created and reinforced by local people through practices on the ground. In the course of pursuing their own interests, settlers internalized the distinctions created by the state through its system of unequal land entitlements. The tensions built into the unequal land entitlements therefore shaped the identities of immigrant groups, and this social hierarchy persisted after the fall of the Qing in 1911. The book offers an in-depth understanding of the key factors that contributed to social stratification in agrarian societies in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century China. Moreover, it also sheds light on the many parallels between the stratification system in Qing-dynasty Shuangcheng and the structural inequality in contemporary China.Less
The book explores the social economic processes of inequality produced by differential state entitlements. Drawing on uniquely rich source materials from central and local archives, the book provides an unprecedented, comprehensive view of the creation of a socio-economic and political hierarchy under the Eight Banners in the Qing dynasty in what is now Shuangcheng County, Heilongjiang province. Shuangcheng was settled by bannermen from urban Beijing and elsewhere in rural Manchuria in the nineteenth century. The state classified the immigrants into distinct categories, each associated with differentiated land entitlements. By reconstructing the history of settlement and land distribution in this county, the book shows that patterns of wealth stratification and the underlying social hierarchy were not merely imposed by the state from the top-down but created and reinforced by local people through practices on the ground. In the course of pursuing their own interests, settlers internalized the distinctions created by the state through its system of unequal land entitlements. The tensions built into the unequal land entitlements therefore shaped the identities of immigrant groups, and this social hierarchy persisted after the fall of the Qing in 1911. The book offers an in-depth understanding of the key factors that contributed to social stratification in agrarian societies in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century China. Moreover, it also sheds light on the many parallels between the stratification system in Qing-dynasty Shuangcheng and the structural inequality in contemporary China.
CHUSHICHI TSUZUKI
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205890
- eISBN:
- 9780191676840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Political History
The 20th century began with hopes and anxieties for Japan, a modern nation-state in the making. In 1901, the beginning of the new century brought events which, in retrospect, seem equally pregnant ...
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The 20th century began with hopes and anxieties for Japan, a modern nation-state in the making. In 1901, the beginning of the new century brought events which, in retrospect, seem equally pregnant with foreboding. The state of army and the navy at the turn of the century are examined. The chapter also outlines the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, armament expansion, Russians in Manchuria, and the rise of Japanese ‘Jingoism’. It concentrates on the Russo-Japanese war. On 10 February 1905, Japan formally declared war against Russia. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had contributed to the strengthening of the Japanese navy. The chapter examines the 1905 riots. In addition, the international realignment after the war and the road to Korean annexation are covered.Less
The 20th century began with hopes and anxieties for Japan, a modern nation-state in the making. In 1901, the beginning of the new century brought events which, in retrospect, seem equally pregnant with foreboding. The state of army and the navy at the turn of the century are examined. The chapter also outlines the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, armament expansion, Russians in Manchuria, and the rise of Japanese ‘Jingoism’. It concentrates on the Russo-Japanese war. On 10 February 1905, Japan formally declared war against Russia. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had contributed to the strengthening of the Japanese navy. The chapter examines the 1905 riots. In addition, the international realignment after the war and the road to Korean annexation are covered.
Jonathan Schlesinger
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780804799966
- eISBN:
- 9781503600683
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804799966.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Based on three years of archival research, A World Trimmed with Fur uses Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian records to rethink China’s environmental history in the years 1760-1830, when a rush for natural ...
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Based on three years of archival research, A World Trimmed with Fur uses Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian records to rethink China’s environmental history in the years 1760-1830, when a rush for natural resources transformed both China and its borderlands. We tend to tell China’s environmental history in this period with settlers in mind: in the Qing empire’s frontiers, we are told, people like the Manchus, Mongols, and Tibetans maintained separate and untouched homelands before modern Chinese immigrants developed them. This book argues instead that the very notion of the untouched, like distinctions between Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, was itself a product of empire and an invention of the boom years. Stunning reports poured into Beijing during these years: mussels disappeared from the wild; mushroom pickers destroyed the steppe; trappers killed the last fur-bearing animals. The empire’s response, in turn, was dramatic. In Mongolia and the northern borderlands, the court backed a so-called “purification” campaign to repatriate undocumented Chinese, investigate Mongols collaborators, and restore the land to a “pure” and pristine form. In the Northeast, the Qing state mobilized around efforts to establish controls on immigration and trade, control pearling, and allow mussel beds to revive. Results were mixed. Conservation succeeded in some regions; others were emptied of fur-bearing animals, stripped of mussels, or left bare around abandoned camps. We thus can ask: what did it mean for the land to be “pristine”?Less
Based on three years of archival research, A World Trimmed with Fur uses Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian records to rethink China’s environmental history in the years 1760-1830, when a rush for natural resources transformed both China and its borderlands. We tend to tell China’s environmental history in this period with settlers in mind: in the Qing empire’s frontiers, we are told, people like the Manchus, Mongols, and Tibetans maintained separate and untouched homelands before modern Chinese immigrants developed them. This book argues instead that the very notion of the untouched, like distinctions between Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, was itself a product of empire and an invention of the boom years. Stunning reports poured into Beijing during these years: mussels disappeared from the wild; mushroom pickers destroyed the steppe; trappers killed the last fur-bearing animals. The empire’s response, in turn, was dramatic. In Mongolia and the northern borderlands, the court backed a so-called “purification” campaign to repatriate undocumented Chinese, investigate Mongols collaborators, and restore the land to a “pure” and pristine form. In the Northeast, the Qing state mobilized around efforts to establish controls on immigration and trade, control pearling, and allow mussel beds to revive. Results were mixed. Conservation succeeded in some regions; others were emptied of fur-bearing animals, stripped of mussels, or left bare around abandoned camps. We thus can ask: what did it mean for the land to be “pristine”?
Lord Bullock and William Deakin
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221142
- eISBN:
- 9780191678417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221142.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
At 10:20 a.m. on 18 September 1931, in the suburb of Mukden, a bomb exploded on the Southern Manchurian railway. The damage was minimal but a Japanese patrol claimed they had been fired upon by ...
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At 10:20 a.m. on 18 September 1931, in the suburb of Mukden, a bomb exploded on the Southern Manchurian railway. The damage was minimal but a Japanese patrol claimed they had been fired upon by Chinese soldiers and were forced to retaliate. By the following morning the Japanese had breached the walls of Mukden and occupied the city. Japan's successful action in Manchuria has come to be seen as part of a nationalist upsurge against a western-created form of internationalism. The origins of the crisis can be traced to post-war nationalist movements in China and Japan, intent on change at home and the assertion of the full independence of their respective countries. Japan was condemned at Geneva for its actions in Manchuria but was not subjected to sanctions. It was far from clear in 1933 how far she would retreat into isolation. These events, nonetheless, marked a change in Japan's policy and in western perceptions of her intentions. They revealed, too, weaknesses in the international structure that had been created during the 1920s that called into question some of the fundamental principles on which it was based.Less
At 10:20 a.m. on 18 September 1931, in the suburb of Mukden, a bomb exploded on the Southern Manchurian railway. The damage was minimal but a Japanese patrol claimed they had been fired upon by Chinese soldiers and were forced to retaliate. By the following morning the Japanese had breached the walls of Mukden and occupied the city. Japan's successful action in Manchuria has come to be seen as part of a nationalist upsurge against a western-created form of internationalism. The origins of the crisis can be traced to post-war nationalist movements in China and Japan, intent on change at home and the assertion of the full independence of their respective countries. Japan was condemned at Geneva for its actions in Manchuria but was not subjected to sanctions. It was far from clear in 1933 how far she would retreat into isolation. These events, nonetheless, marked a change in Japan's policy and in western perceptions of her intentions. They revealed, too, weaknesses in the international structure that had been created during the 1920s that called into question some of the fundamental principles on which it was based.
Martin Ceadel
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199241170
- eISBN:
- 9780191696893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241170.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The peace movement experienced a dramatic revival from the beginning of 1919 to the eve of the Manchuria crisis and also benefited from the public's growing disappointment with the post-war world. In ...
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The peace movement experienced a dramatic revival from the beginning of 1919 to the eve of the Manchuria crisis and also benefited from the public's growing disappointment with the post-war world. In the early 1920s, the Labour party's success gave a boost to the Union of Democratic Control, but doubts over League of Nations gave way to the unprecedented success of the League of Nations Union (LNU) that developed as a substantial peace association. The failure of World War I in delivering international improvements as promised has only provided confidence in peace activism over the duration of this period. Another significant contribution was the development of LNU into a respectable yet vigorous peace association aiming to gain public support for the league's ideals.Less
The peace movement experienced a dramatic revival from the beginning of 1919 to the eve of the Manchuria crisis and also benefited from the public's growing disappointment with the post-war world. In the early 1920s, the Labour party's success gave a boost to the Union of Democratic Control, but doubts over League of Nations gave way to the unprecedented success of the League of Nations Union (LNU) that developed as a substantial peace association. The failure of World War I in delivering international improvements as promised has only provided confidence in peace activism over the duration of this period. Another significant contribution was the development of LNU into a respectable yet vigorous peace association aiming to gain public support for the league's ideals.
Martin Ceadel
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199241170
- eISBN:
- 9780191696893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241170.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
On September 19, 1931, Japan began the process of converting the Chinese province of Manchuria into its own puppet state of Manchukuo, thus calling into question an earlier pronouncement about the ...
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On September 19, 1931, Japan began the process of converting the Chinese province of Manchuria into its own puppet state of Manchukuo, thus calling into question an earlier pronouncement about the prospects of peace just nine days before, However, peace movements fare best when optimism is seasoned with a dash of pessimism: although the former gives their ideas plausibility, the latter is needed to give them urgency. In the early 1930s, the mixture was therefore ideal: the optimism carried over from the post-Locarno period ignited with the pessimism generated by Japanese, German, and Italian behaviour to stimulate the most intense phase of peace activism ever, of which unquestionably the highlight was the extraordinary Peace Ballot of 1934–5.Less
On September 19, 1931, Japan began the process of converting the Chinese province of Manchuria into its own puppet state of Manchukuo, thus calling into question an earlier pronouncement about the prospects of peace just nine days before, However, peace movements fare best when optimism is seasoned with a dash of pessimism: although the former gives their ideas plausibility, the latter is needed to give them urgency. In the early 1930s, the mixture was therefore ideal: the optimism carried over from the post-Locarno period ignited with the pessimism generated by Japanese, German, and Italian behaviour to stimulate the most intense phase of peace activism ever, of which unquestionably the highlight was the extraordinary Peace Ballot of 1934–5.
Janis Mimura
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449260
- eISBN:
- 9780801460852
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449260.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Japan's invasion of Manchuria in September of 1931 initiated a new phase of brutal occupation and warfare in Asia and the Pacific. It forwarded the project of remaking the Japanese state along ...
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Japan's invasion of Manchuria in September of 1931 initiated a new phase of brutal occupation and warfare in Asia and the Pacific. It forwarded the project of remaking the Japanese state along technocratic and fascistic lines and creating a self-sufficient Asian bloc centered on Japan and its puppet state of Manchukuo. This book traces the origins and evolution of this new order and the ideas and policies of its chief architects, the reform bureaucrats. The reform bureaucrats pursued a radical, authoritarian vision of modern Japan in which public and private spheres were fused, ownership and control of capital were separated, and society was ruled by technocrats. The book shifts our attention away from reactionary young officers to state planners—reform bureaucrats, total war officers, new zaibatsu leaders, economists, political scientists, engineers, and labor party leaders. It shows how empire building and war mobilization raised the stature and influence of these middle-class professionals by calling forth new government planning agencies, research bureaus, and think tanks to draft Five Year industrial plans, rationalize industry, mobilize the masses, streamline the bureaucracy, and manage big business. Examining the political battles and compromises of Japanese technocrats in their bid for political power and Asian hegemony, the book offers a new perspective on Japanese fascism by revealing its modern roots in the close interaction of technology and right-wing ideology.Less
Japan's invasion of Manchuria in September of 1931 initiated a new phase of brutal occupation and warfare in Asia and the Pacific. It forwarded the project of remaking the Japanese state along technocratic and fascistic lines and creating a self-sufficient Asian bloc centered on Japan and its puppet state of Manchukuo. This book traces the origins and evolution of this new order and the ideas and policies of its chief architects, the reform bureaucrats. The reform bureaucrats pursued a radical, authoritarian vision of modern Japan in which public and private spheres were fused, ownership and control of capital were separated, and society was ruled by technocrats. The book shifts our attention away from reactionary young officers to state planners—reform bureaucrats, total war officers, new zaibatsu leaders, economists, political scientists, engineers, and labor party leaders. It shows how empire building and war mobilization raised the stature and influence of these middle-class professionals by calling forth new government planning agencies, research bureaus, and think tanks to draft Five Year industrial plans, rationalize industry, mobilize the masses, streamline the bureaucracy, and manage big business. Examining the political battles and compromises of Japanese technocrats in their bid for political power and Asian hegemony, the book offers a new perspective on Japanese fascism by revealing its modern roots in the close interaction of technology and right-wing ideology.
W. G. Beasley
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221685
- eISBN:
- 9780191678479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221685.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
There is no evidence that in declaring war on China in 1894, the Itô government had had any expectations of territorial gain, but the ease and rapidity of Japanese victories soon prompted them. ...
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There is no evidence that in declaring war on China in 1894, the Itô government had had any expectations of territorial gain, but the ease and rapidity of Japanese victories soon prompted them. Against this background, what had begun as a war over Korea developed into the first stage of Japanese imperial expansion. Its components, as Japanese leaders envisaged them, were worked out in the course of framing the peace terms to be demanded from China in the winter of 1894–5. Some were territorial, focusing on south Manchuria and Taiwan. Others were economic, anticipating commercial privileges for Japan in Chinese ports. China was in no position to refuse them, as the negotiations of 1895 made clear. As a result, Japan acquired its first colony, Taiwan, and it entered into the co-operative imperialism of the treaty ports by the consent of those who already enjoyed their advantages.Less
There is no evidence that in declaring war on China in 1894, the Itô government had had any expectations of territorial gain, but the ease and rapidity of Japanese victories soon prompted them. Against this background, what had begun as a war over Korea developed into the first stage of Japanese imperial expansion. Its components, as Japanese leaders envisaged them, were worked out in the course of framing the peace terms to be demanded from China in the winter of 1894–5. Some were territorial, focusing on south Manchuria and Taiwan. Others were economic, anticipating commercial privileges for Japan in Chinese ports. China was in no position to refuse them, as the negotiations of 1895 made clear. As a result, Japan acquired its first colony, Taiwan, and it entered into the co-operative imperialism of the treaty ports by the consent of those who already enjoyed their advantages.
W. G. Beasley
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221685
- eISBN:
- 9780191678479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221685.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Spheres of influence, such as the powers had acquired elsewhere, were not always thought by Japanese governments to be enough. Yet it was impossible for them to ignore the fact that establishing ...
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Spheres of influence, such as the powers had acquired elsewhere, were not always thought by Japanese governments to be enough. Yet it was impossible for them to ignore the fact that establishing political power, going beyond the limits of the treaty port system, was likely to provoke opposition from Britain and America, who were in a position to deny, or at least hamper, Japanese access to international credit and the Chinese market. An attempt was therefore made to resolve this dilemma by making a distinction between two arms of Japanese imperialism. This chapter describes the annexation of Korea and the Japanese sphere of influence in Manchuria. It deals with the processes of its formulation and the tensions to which it gave rise among decision makers.Less
Spheres of influence, such as the powers had acquired elsewhere, were not always thought by Japanese governments to be enough. Yet it was impossible for them to ignore the fact that establishing political power, going beyond the limits of the treaty port system, was likely to provoke opposition from Britain and America, who were in a position to deny, or at least hamper, Japanese access to international credit and the Chinese market. An attempt was therefore made to resolve this dilemma by making a distinction between two arms of Japanese imperialism. This chapter describes the annexation of Korea and the Japanese sphere of influence in Manchuria. It deals with the processes of its formulation and the tensions to which it gave rise among decision makers.
W. G. Beasley
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221685
- eISBN:
- 9780191678479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221685.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The collapse of world trade had two important consequences for Japanese imperialism. On one hand, it undermined the economic structures within which it had operated. By breaking up trading patterns, ...
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The collapse of world trade had two important consequences for Japanese imperialism. On one hand, it undermined the economic structures within which it had operated. By breaking up trading patterns, the slump completed the process of Japanese disillusionment with the treaty port system. On the other hand, conservatives resented the other face of ‘national wealth and strength’: the erosion of traditional values that it brought about and the corruption that seemed to be inherent in urban life and party politics. Co-prosperity in China and plans to create an independent Manchuria were aspirations that already had a history in Japan. There took place a reversal of priorities: coexistence with the West, which had been primary, became secondary; relationships with Asians, which had been secondary, became primary. The shift was manifest in nationalist attitudes some time before it was reflected in government policies.Less
The collapse of world trade had two important consequences for Japanese imperialism. On one hand, it undermined the economic structures within which it had operated. By breaking up trading patterns, the slump completed the process of Japanese disillusionment with the treaty port system. On the other hand, conservatives resented the other face of ‘national wealth and strength’: the erosion of traditional values that it brought about and the corruption that seemed to be inherent in urban life and party politics. Co-prosperity in China and plans to create an independent Manchuria were aspirations that already had a history in Japan. There took place a reversal of priorities: coexistence with the West, which had been primary, became secondary; relationships with Asians, which had been secondary, became primary. The shift was manifest in nationalist attitudes some time before it was reflected in government policies.
W. G. Beasley
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221685
- eISBN:
- 9780191678479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221685.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The events leading to the creation of Manchukuo in 1931–2 changed the frame of reference for Japanese policy making in several ways. Externally, they demonstrated that in certain circumstances the ...
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The events leading to the creation of Manchukuo in 1931–2 changed the frame of reference for Japanese policy making in several ways. Externally, they demonstrated that in certain circumstances the objections of the powers could be ignored. The very fact of exercising power in China raised difficult questions for many Japanese. What machinery could Japan devise for giving its wishes effect? How were the realities of Japanese power to be reconciled with emotive and sincere slogans such as ‘coexistence and co-prosperity’ or ‘Sino-Japanese accord’? Could one reconcile the fact of empire with a sense of being Asian? It was from such dilemmas that the concept of the New Order emerged. The expression was first applied to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, north China, and Manchukuo.Less
The events leading to the creation of Manchukuo in 1931–2 changed the frame of reference for Japanese policy making in several ways. Externally, they demonstrated that in certain circumstances the objections of the powers could be ignored. The very fact of exercising power in China raised difficult questions for many Japanese. What machinery could Japan devise for giving its wishes effect? How were the realities of Japanese power to be reconciled with emotive and sincere slogans such as ‘coexistence and co-prosperity’ or ‘Sino-Japanese accord’? Could one reconcile the fact of empire with a sense of being Asian? It was from such dilemmas that the concept of the New Order emerged. The expression was first applied to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, north China, and Manchukuo.
Brook Gotberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380088
- eISBN:
- 9780199855377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380088.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter presents a set of case studies to examine the cycle theory of international norm change with respect to rules on conquest. Each case represents a key cycle of norm change. The cases ...
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This chapter presents a set of case studies to examine the cycle theory of international norm change with respect to rules on conquest. Each case represents a key cycle of norm change. The cases include Germany's 1870 annexation of Alsace-Lorraine; World War I; Japan's transformation of Manchuria into puppet state “Manchukuo” during the early years of the League of Nations; the Nazi invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland leading up to World War II; North Korea's 1950 invasion of South Korea at the beginning of the Cold War; and the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait at the Cold War's end.Less
This chapter presents a set of case studies to examine the cycle theory of international norm change with respect to rules on conquest. Each case represents a key cycle of norm change. The cases include Germany's 1870 annexation of Alsace-Lorraine; World War I; Japan's transformation of Manchuria into puppet state “Manchukuo” during the early years of the League of Nations; the Nazi invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland leading up to World War II; North Korea's 1950 invasion of South Korea at the beginning of the Cold War; and the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait at the Cold War's end.
