摘要(外文): | In his revolutionary days, Sun Yat-Sen gathered like-minded colleagues, mobilized the public, as well as placed great emphasis on pursuing foreign policy. His active advocacy of foreign policy was impelled by the impact of foreign power on the survival and development of China at the end of the Qing dynasty. Among those he advocated was the “Greater Pan-Asianism” ideology or the promotion of Asian solidarity. The context and spirit of the Pan-Asianism discourse was illustrated in his speech delivered in Kobe, Japan; the speech mainly focused on two dimensions. The first involved the state of affairs in international relations, especially the role of China and Japan in Asia-Pacific regional order and world order in general. The second discussed the differences and conflict between Eastern and Western civilizations. Sun Yat-Sen saw Eastern civilization as a “culture of the rule of Right or the Kingly Way” emphasizing “benevolence, justice, and morality.” At the same time, he considered Western civilization as a “culture of the rule of Might” that emphasized materialism and force. Sun Yat-sen then advised Japan to become “the fortress of the Eastern culture of the Kingly way” and not a “supporter of the Western culture of the rule of Might.” He believed that China and Japan should help each other as well as co-exist and share in their prosperity. He stated that both countries should reject the encroachment and bullying of the hegemonic culture of Western influences. The common belief on the reasons for Sun Yat-Sen’s last-minute decision to take a longer route from Shanghai to Tianjin via a detour through Kobe in Japan was attributed to the lack of direct sailing trip and the opportunity to visit old friends in Japan. However, this article’s analysis disproved this belief. To perform a comprehensive exploration and analysis of Sun Yat-Sen’s intentions as well as the situations in Japan at the time, it used recent relevant information indicated in the book The Collected Works of Sun Yat-Sen; the letters of Soong Ching-Ling, who accompanied Sun Yat-Sen during his trip up north; and works of American, Japanese, and other important scholars. This article allowed for comparison of the ideas of Pan-Asianism and regional groupings. The article also reviewed the viewpoints of Sun Yat-Sen’s Pan-Asianism in relation to its significance in contemporary international and Asia-Pacific relations. |
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