三十三年之夢

by Miyazaki Toten, 宮崎滔天, 啟彥 (Translator)

本書為宮崎滔天自傳，描述宮崎滔天所代表的世代接觸西方思想文化，以及受西力東漸情勢下產生之大亞細亞意識。本書是了解十九世紀末期、二十世紀初期東亞國際、政治、社會關係和狀態之重要史料，更是了解二十世紀初期中國近代革命、明治維新後之日本近代史的重要史料。

Genres: Japanese History

385 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[jyun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in its Chinese translated edition "三十三年之夢 "(My Thirty-Three Year's Dream) . It is an interesting book for those intending to realize the early situation of the republic revolution history in modern China or the international situation of Eastern Asia in early 20th century.

Because it is a biographical work, everyone can read it easily not afraid of being too scholarly to understand.

三十三年之夢，是一本自傳體的作品，除可作為文學作品欣賞外，亦是研究20世紀初期近代中國革命的重要史料。
而我自身最受本書感動之處，主要在於宮崎述說早年的學習經歷。在這段培養個人價值觀的時期裡，他經歷了各種當代思想的衝擊，無論是西方的基督教文化、民主人權思想，或是西力東漸下產生的東亞危機意識、東西對抗意識，對於這些意識形態的接觸、經驗、取捨與選擇，最終促成了他投入中國革命的實踐。
全書中宮崎滔天用自我批判的態度書寫，大大降低傳記體著作中特有的歌功頌德、隱惡揚善的片面性，從而使本書具有高度的真實性，除了讀來讓人感到他的情真意切，也使本書具有可信的史料價值。

Quote--
「從來談論英雄豪傑的人，不在少數。但是所謂英雄，所謂豪傑，都是從比較上來斷定的。要想求得神聖般完美無缺的人，則世界古今所有的英雄豪傑只是童稚，只是禽獸而已。禽獸比之於昆蟲則大，童稚比之於禽獸則智。」--p141

「假如洪秀全建立太平天國成功又將如何呢？也許中國不至於處在今天這樣地位。」--p141

「（李鴻章）他對國家的大局究竟有什麼貢獻？如果沒有，那只是擾亂，只是國難。然而為什麼他仍不失為中國的英傑呢？就是因為沒有比他再高的人物。就是說在比較判斷上他才成為中國的豪傑。」--p141

「莊子曰：『逃空虛者，聞人足音跫然而喜，而況乎兄弟親戚之謦欬（談笑）其側者乎？』」--p292

[AK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miyazaki Toten was a Meiji-era would-be revolutionary whose dreams of a Chinese restoration led him to become the right-hand man of Sun Yat-Sen, traveling throughout Asia to make connections and agitate for a Chinese uprising against the Qing Dynasty and Western colonial powers. This autobiography served to introduce Sun and his ideas to the Japanese reading public, though the book was written in 1902 when things didn't look so good for revolutionaries in China, and Miyazaki wrote it as if his life's work had been a failure. In fact, he gave up his pan-Asian scheming and became a performer of naniwa-bushi, a type of ballad singing, for a time. He was back with Sun by the time of the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, although that's not covered in the book.

Though Japan was in the early stages of becoming an empire during this time, Miyazaki's hopes for Asia and the schemes they lead him to are distinctly in line with Sun's pan-Asianism rather than Japan's nascent colonialism.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing account of a Japanese idealist and revolutionary who devotes the first 33 years of his life to revolution in China and befriends Sun, Yat-sen, and who, after many hardships and disappointments, renounces his activism and becomes a balladeer.