In class we discussed the following quotation by Fukazawa Yukichi, from his essay entitled “On De-Asianization”
“Though our land of Japan is situated on the eastern edge of Asia the spirit of its people has already shaken off the backwardness of Asia to accept the civilization of the West. Unfortunately, however we have two neighboring countries, one being called China, the other called Korea. The people of these two countries are no different from us Japanese people in having been brought up since the olden times in the Asian culture and customs, and yet, whether because they are of another racial origin, or because, while similar in culture and customs, differ from us in the main lines of their traditional education, a comparison of the three countries, japan, china, and Korea, reveals that the latter two resemble each other more closely that they do japan. The people of those two countries do not know how to go about reforming and making progress, whether individually or as a country…in our view these two countries have no likelihood of maintaining their independence in the current tide of civilization’s eastward advance. Let there not be the slightest doubt that…those counties will meet their doom in but a few years…” (131-132)
You also read the chapter “History Inside Out” by J.M. Blaut about Eurocentrism and what he calls the colonizer’s model of the world. The task of this assignment is the use Blaut’s argument to analyze the above quotation by Fukuzawa. You are welcome to use other portions of Fukuzawa’s text but your answer should focus on this passage. Hint: you may want to use Blaut’s idea of diffusionism as well as his approach to binaries. You may also want to situate Fukuzawa in the time and place of his essay (ex. Meiji Japan.)
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