China and Japan in the Global Setting

The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures

by Akira Iriye

The relationship between China and Japan remains among the most significant of all the world’s bilateral affairs—yet it is also the most tortured and the least understood. Akira Iriye adds brilliant clarity to the past century of Chinese–Japanese interactions in this masterful interpretive survey. Placing the relationship within its global context, he outlines three distinct periods in the history of these Asian giants. From the 1880s to World War I, the two nations struggled for power. Armaments, war strategies, and security measures played pivotal roles, reflecting the importance 0f military calculations in a world dominated by Western governments. In the second period, that between the two World Wars, Iriye illuminates the dominant role of culture and the stress on internationalism. China’s continuing literary influence, an exchange of ideas and students reforms such as Japan’s Taisho democracy and China’s May Fourth movement, and both nations’ bid for racial equality in the West profoundly affected these interwar years. The third period reaches from the end of World War II through the present day, and is characterized by exchanges of an economic trade, shipping, investment, and emigration. The author discusses the results of China’s civil war, the rise and decline 0f the Cold War in the West, and the cultural and ecological problems brought by Japan’s spiraling economic development. But economic ties remain deeply entwined with cultural concerns, and ultimately, Iriye stresses, the future of China and Japan depends on the successful cultural interdependence of what may be the most significant pair of countries in the world today.

Genres: History, China, Japan

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Akira Iriye is an historian of American diplomatic history especially United States-East Asian relations, and international issues. A graduate of Haverford College and Harvard University, he taught at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Rochester, and the University of Chicago before accepting an appointment as Professor of History at Harvard University in 1989, where he became Charles Warren Professor of American History in 1991. He was Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies from 1991 through 1995. He served as President of the American Historical Association in 1988, and has also served as president for the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.

Reviews

[Alexander Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick introduction to Iriye's view of history. He lays out his basic argument that Sino-Japanese and arguably Pacific history can be understood as being composed of three parts: militarism pre-WWI, culturalism from the May Fourth Movement up to WW2 and economic post WW2. Readers who like this book can check out his other articles/books for a longer or more detailed discussion - this one doesn't go into sourcing, etc.

[Benemint · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little reading that not-really-history lovers will enjoy. Some of the date he quotes are fun and useful for general lecturing.