Ways in Which China, Korea and Japan Reacted to Modernity - Assignment Example

Ways in which China, Korea and Japan reacted to modernity: comparison and contrast Introduction Modernization history and theory has served as guidefor countries in the race of development. Modernization is among the most useful frameworks for China because China can draw lessons from the experiences of other countries in their endeavors of modernization (Chengdan, 2009). Theories of modernization suggest that each society can transform itself from being traditional to being modern, and societies undergoing this transition go on similar paths called as rapportera. States that are more modern than others provide their citizens with a better quality of living. Modernization is made preferable by such developments as far rans and new data technology in addition to the need to modify conventional methods. This perspective makes it difficult to criticize modernization because it rests the control of limits of interaction with the development. Societies undergoing modernization usually reach governance on the standards of abstract principles rather than being dominated by the tradition. As modernization gains strength in a society, traditional cultural and religious values start losing their importance in the citizens’ eyes. Increasing modernization in a society gives so much importance to an individual that he/she eventually becomes even more important than community or family as the basic building block of society. China The experience of China cannot be adequately explained with the modernization theory. Mao executed numerous social transformation and industrialization projects to modernize China. However, modernization did not democratize China. Despite the collapse of the Soviet-style authoritarian regimes all over the world, China did not experience very important political reforms after the death of Mao. In spite of size of its economic sector, China remained authoritarian. Ever since the 1911 revolution and the Qing Dynasty’s end, China has continuously been trying to modernize. Before being overthrown, the Qing Dynasty tried to reform between 1902 and 1908 for its safety and accordingly instigated reforms in transportation, government, and infrastructure. The reforms instigated by the Qing Dynasty were founded on the models of West and included various elements of democracy that are intrinsically linked with the process of modernization. These unsuccessful reforms led to the Revolution of 1911. After the 1911 revolution, modernization was advocated for by other movements including the 1919 May 4th Movement, rejection of imperialism, and iconoclasm (Mitter, 2004) Since the start of the 20th century, China’s efforts to modernize itself have been delayed because of a range of events including the era of warlordism, and civil war between Komintang and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), until establishment of China in the year 1949 (Mitter, 2004). After the accession of the communist party to authority in the year 1949, Mao Zedong based the modernization of China on the Soviet Union. The Great Leap Forward between 1958 and 1961 can be considered as the version of Five year Plan of Soviet Union introduced by Mao. Goals of The Great Leap Forward were to establish a society of modern communism through the process of collectivization and industrialization. Mao Zedong preached self-reliance and his efforts were directed at making China a world power without the enforcement or involvement of western ideas on the society. Although Mao played a role in the modernization of China, The Great Leap Forward was not a success and the Cultural Revolution between the decade starting 1966 did not facilitate the process of industrialization for China (Schoppa, 2011). However, Mao successfully managed to transform China from an agrarian to industrialized country during his era. China produced most goods and commodities itself in the 1970s. Mao built the foundations of the economic progress of China in Deng’s era. Deng Xiapong introduced economic reforms that played a big role in the economic success of China in the 21st century. Deng’s efforts were directed at modernization on four levels including national defense, industry, science and technology, and agriculture. Although the management of many of these modernizations was Chinese, Deng used West as an example. Unlike Mao who advocated self-reliance, Deng financed modernization by generating foreign exchange. Reforms after Deng’s era continued on the path established by him. China took a lot of time to modernize and thus had many countries to learn lessons from in its attempts to modernize. China adopted the One-Child Policy to facilitate the process of modernization. The goal of China is to keep modernizing till the time it becomes one of the first-world countries. Korea Modernizers in South Korea were divided between the Japanese and the American models in the late 19th century. Most Koreans belonged to the educated Christian community and considered America as the best civilization model. Japan, on the other hand, was seen as a more practical model because of the cultural and regional similarity with Japan. Korea could see how Japan had civilized in a span of three decades and was located in East Asia. Around the same time, the nationalist reaction of the reformists against the colonial and domineering attitude of the Japanese in Korea served as an appeal for the implementation of Western model of civilization in Korea. The early Christian nationalist reformers had a worldview oriented around the West and was multilayered, self-contradictory, and complex. Its oppressive elements were hard to identify from the more liberational features. Korea nurtured an idealized image of the West as the correct civilization put Korea’s own traditional culture to the oriental position (Tikhonov, 2005). Their complex relationships with Christianity, modernity, nationalism, and colonialism helped form the self-image of Koreans. This formation was instigated by modification in the civilization notion because of the international society’s transformation, and was successively affected by the Japanese colonization trauma. Koreans concocted their civilization and cultural, racial, and modern self notions through the transitional process from the conventional Confucian civilization notion to the resistance and acceptance notion of the West. Particularly, Western orientalism joined the introduction of the civilization’s Western notion that laid the basis of self-identity of the Koreans. The role of emergence of the Japanese version of orientalism from Korea’s domination by Japan is very important in the development of self-identity of the Koreans. For the same reason, Korea continues to be under the influence of an inferiority complex toward the culture of the West and its feelings toward the culture of Japan are ambivalent. The US initiated an intensive development program for the modernization of South Korea in 1945 to help the country gain economic success and become a model nation-state. Important agents fostering modernization in Korea included but were not limited to the Economic Cooperation Administration, the US Army, and the UN Korean Reconstruction Agency. Koreans have migrated to Hawaii and California in large numbers and on their return to Korea have introduced contemporary business and governmental practices in Korea (Ekbladh, 2004). Japan Japan’s experience shows lack of compatibility with the theory of modernization. After economic modernization and industrialization, Japan did not evolve into a democratic society. Instead, Japan evolved as a strictly fascist authoritarian state till the country was defeated by the Allied Forces during the World War II (Yoda, 1996). Japanese politics before the World War II had almost no democratic practices and principles. Before the US liberated Japan from its military government, the culture of Japan always respected hierarchy and obedience. Liberty and individualism were despised by the people of Japan. During the Meiji period, Japan had already become an industrialized and modern country. Japan can be considered as the first country in the region of East Asia to have successfully industrialized. Japan became a very important colonial and imperialist power in very less time. In 1894, Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty in China and defeated Russia in the year 1905 (Yoda, 1996). Japanese Empire subsequently annexed Taiwan and Korea. Japan had finished its process of industrialization before invading China in 1931, thus having a lot of industrial power to support the war. After the World War II, the performance of Japan was a consequence of the US military supremacy. After its defeat, the US ruled over Japan. Japan was democratized and demilitarized after 1945 to become compatible with the national interest and foreign policy of the US (Yoda, 1996). After their defeat, Japan underwent different changes with respect to modernization starting with the quick intervention of the US with Japan. The people of Japan accepted American demilitarization and democratization without showing much resistance (Ebrey, 2013). Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) was established under the US occupation. SCAP’s goal was not only to dissolve the navy and army but also to punish the leaders responsible. SCAP played an important role in helping people get freedom of speech. SCAP created a new constitution in 1946 that granted people political and civil rights, which was a big milestone in the way of modernization of Japan. Role of government in the modernization of Japan is also very important. To achieve growth, Japan concentrated on technology and industry. The state assisted numerous industries and implemented the policies of protectionism for that. Government took measures to facilitate foreign exchange and issue technology licenses. Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) was a very important guiding agency for the modernization of Japan. To help Japan become a modernized country, the government of Japan used such economic policies as tariffs to provide the Japanese companies with protection against the foreign competitors and to obstruct imports. Comparison The modernization of Japan had a positive influence on Korea; “Whatever advantages the Japanese consumer may have gained at the time from the modernization and expansion of the agricultural sector of Taiwan and Korea, it cannot be denied that both countries emerged from Japanese rule with efficient and productive agricultural systems” (Hall, 1988, p. 259). Although Kija’s place has been diminished today under the influence of the nationalist sentiment in the modern era, yet Kija is known to have symbolized strong self of self-consciousness vis-à-vis China since the start of Korean civilization (Hwang, 2010, p. 4). Conclusion China’s modernization through industrialization, urbanization, and economic policies has provided numerous economic advantages in its quest for becoming world power. However, presently China is facing problems previously faced by other modern countries including disparity of growth between the poor and the rich and other ecological issues. References: Chengdan, Q 2009, Constructing a New Disciplinary Framework of Modern World History Around the Theme of Modernization, Chinese Studies in History Spring, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 7-24. Ebrey, P 2013, Modern East Asia from 1600, A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Boston: Wadsworth. pp. 461–464. Ekbladh, D 2004, How to Build a Nation, Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 12-20. Hall, JW 1988, The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6, Cambridge University Press. Hwang, K 2010, A History of Korea (Palgrave Essential Histories), Palgrave Mcmillan. Mitter, R 2004, A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World, Oxford University Press. Schoppa, RK 2011, Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in Modern China (Third Edition ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Tikhonov, V 2005, The 1890s Korean Reformers View of Japan - a Menacing Model? International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 57-81. Yoda, Y 1996, The Foundations of Japans Modernization: A Comparison With Chinas Path Towards Modernization, BRILL. Read More