What do you think?
Rate this book
中國和日本: 1500年交流史
中日一衣帶水，兩國文化和政治上的密切連結可追溯至1500 年前，但如今則關係緊張。日本對中國不斷增強的軍事實 力深感焦慮，而二戰時的日軍暴行給中國留下的創傷至今 未癒。近年兩國國民中對對方國家抱有好感的比例尚不及 10%，她們都認為對方應以更開放的態度正視歷史，否則關 係難以改善。 傅高義新作《中國和日本》，以公元600年日本吸取中國文 明的核心元素開篇，述至二十世紀末中國向日本借鑑發展市 場經濟的經驗，考察了中日關係史上的多個重要轉捩點，包 括朝貢貿易、甲午戰爭、殖民滿洲、中日戰爭、改革開放前 日本的對華援助、近年來中日關係的惡化等等。縱觀中日交 往的歷史，兩國間的文化聯繫源遠流長，中國憑藉廣博的文 明和豐富的資源佔據上風。但到十九世紀，日本成功實現近 代化改革，並於1895年在甲午戰爭中擊敗中國，從而扭轉局 勢，後來居上。近四十年來，雖然推動貿易往來和觀光交流 的努力不斷，二戰創傷之巨仍使兩國合作困難重重。 傅高義強調日本應為戰爭中的侵略行為鄭重道歉，同時也力 勸中國將日本視為亞洲地區潛在的重要合作夥伴。為了世界 秩序的穩定，中日必須從環境保護、災難管理、全球經濟 及科學研究等領域的共同利益&
608 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2019
140 people are currently reading
1263 people want to read
About the author
Ezra F. Vogel
43 books217 followersEzra Feivel Vogel was an American sociologist who wrote prolifically on modern Japan, China, and Korea. He was Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.
Vogel was born to a family of Jewish immigrants in 1930 in Delaware, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1950 and received his Ph.D. from the Department of Social Relations in 1958 from Harvard.
After two years of field work in Japan, Vogel worked as an assistant professor at Yale University from 1960 to 1961, but returned to Harvard for post-doctoral work on Chinese language and history. He was appointed as a lecturer in 1964, later becoming a tenured professor; he remained at Harvard until his retirement.
Vogel was involved with several research centers during his career. He was director of Harvard's East Asian Research Center from 1972 to 1977 and chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies from 1977 to 1980. He also was director of the Program on US–Japan Relations at the Center for International Affairs from 1980 to 1987, and was named honorary director upon stepping down. He was director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies from 1973 to 1975 and from 1995 to 1999. He was founding director of the Asia Center (1997–1999).
Vogel retired on June 30, 2000.
Vogel was born to a family of Jewish immigrants in 1930 in Delaware, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1950 and received his Ph.D. from the Department of Social Relations in 1958 from Harvard.
After two years of field work in Japan, Vogel worked as an assistant professor at Yale University from 1960 to 1961, but returned to Harvard for post-doctoral work on Chinese language and history. He was appointed as a lecturer in 1964, later becoming a tenured professor; he remained at Harvard until his retirement.
Vogel was involved with several research centers during his career. He was director of Harvard's East Asian Research Center from 1972 to 1977 and chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies from 1977 to 1980. He also was director of the Program on US–Japan Relations at the Center for International Affairs from 1980 to 1987, and was named honorary director upon stepping down. He was director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies from 1973 to 1975 and from 1995 to 1999. He was founding director of the Asia Center (1997–1999).
Vogel retired on June 30, 2000.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
February 18, 2021
I read the author's biography of Deng Xiaoping in college. I decided to give this one a try after hearing he had recently passed away. (obituary)
Ezra Vogel hoped this book could help to broker a political reconciliation between the governments of Japan and China. Given their extensive economic and cultural ties, why aren't they BFFs in the way that the USA has been with its former WW2 adversaries? My short answer is that the Chinese Communist Party promotes ultranationalist propaganda about Japanese wartime atrocities during WW2 to distract the Chinese people. Anger at Japan deflects from a reckoning with the CCP's far higher body count and litany of abuses against the Chinese people. Ever since the CCP gave up on communism, the corrupt party leadership has been overly reliant on nationalism as its ideological pillar of support. The people of Eastasia need to continue worshipping Big Brother (Mao, and now Xi Jinping), who will protect them from the depredations of Oceania and Eastasia (USA & Japan). If Oceania and Eastasia aren't so bad after all, the Chinese might ask, what's the point of continuing a military dictatorship when the Chinese in neighboring democracies like Taiwan are so clearly better off?
The above paragraph is my answer to the current impasse between China and Japan, especially after having read in this book about all the ways in which the Japanese people have apologized and paid implicit war reparations to China. The author does not share my conclusions, or at least he refuses to say them out loud. If he did, then the CCP would not permit his books to be published in China, which would defeat the purpose of the project (nudging the CCP away from its belligerent path). The book has to work within the limitations of CCP censorship, which unfortunately results in a noticeable pulling of punches. Nonetheless, I filled in many gaps in my historical knowledge of the two countries by reading this. Sometimes you learn as much from the author's omissions as your do from what they put pen to paper about. - 2/17/21
Ezra Vogel hoped this book could help to broker a political reconciliation between the governments of Japan and China. Given their extensive economic and cultural ties, why aren't they BFFs in the way that the USA has been with its former WW2 adversaries? My short answer is that the Chinese Communist Party promotes ultranationalist propaganda about Japanese wartime atrocities during WW2 to distract the Chinese people. Anger at Japan deflects from a reckoning with the CCP's far higher body count and litany of abuses against the Chinese people. Ever since the CCP gave up on communism, the corrupt party leadership has been overly reliant on nationalism as its ideological pillar of support. The people of Eastasia need to continue worshipping Big Brother (Mao, and now Xi Jinping), who will protect them from the depredations of Oceania and Eastasia (USA & Japan). If Oceania and Eastasia aren't so bad after all, the Chinese might ask, what's the point of continuing a military dictatorship when the Chinese in neighboring democracies like Taiwan are so clearly better off?
The above paragraph is my answer to the current impasse between China and Japan, especially after having read in this book about all the ways in which the Japanese people have apologized and paid implicit war reparations to China. The author does not share my conclusions, or at least he refuses to say them out loud. If he did, then the CCP would not permit his books to be published in China, which would defeat the purpose of the project (nudging the CCP away from its belligerent path). The book has to work within the limitations of CCP censorship, which unfortunately results in a noticeable pulling of punches. Nonetheless, I filled in many gaps in my historical knowledge of the two countries by reading this. Sometimes you learn as much from the author's omissions as your do from what they put pen to paper about. - 2/17/21
April 26, 2020
Due to its length and breadth, this book can be a bit of a slog to go through. There is no real narrative “through-line” and the analysis is minimal. It is “merely” a chronological catalog of Sino-Japanese relations. I say “merely” in quotes because this still has a ton of value. This book is that plateful of vegetables you should eat! I think it would be a great reference work: if you have a specific topic or era you want to know about, read the chapter to get a basic grounding, and then check out the bibliography to dig in. In the hands of a skilled lecturer, I think this would be a great text for an undergrad course.
May 17, 2021
This review will recommend various books and podcasts to guide the perplexed with regards to Chinese history, which gives context to today.
When I first began reading (may he rest in peace) Ezra Vogel's lovely book China and Japan: Facing History, I had taken up the task of consuming all of my miscellaneous China materials in chronological order across sources, such as trying to absorb everything from the Qing dynasty before allowing myself to touch anything from WWII.
That was overelaborate and unnecessary, and meant I never finished anything, and I will not present the materials here in those terms. It's more important to learn the facts than to learn them in any rigid order. Instead, I will identify general holes or gaps in different sources, and recommend a general constellation of reading and listening to ensure that each given source's deficits are filled out by another's merits.
In pursuit of that goal, I will begin with what this book is not.
First of all, readers should be aware that Vogel's book has a gaping Cold War-shaped hole in the middle, and more especially a Mao-shaped hole. This was canny on Vogel's part; he's obviously more of a Zhou Enlai / Deng Xiaoping man anyway, and by largely breezing past this period he increases the likelihood of getting his book past mainland censors.
I recall in an interview, most probably either at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies or through the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (both have Spotify channels), that the Chinese publication of this book was via Hong Kong. That gave Vogel more leeway on the censorship front, to be sure—after all, Yang Jisheng managed to publish Tombstone in Hong Kong as recently as 2008.
But there are other reasons to have largely left these things out. For one, there is already a voluminous literature on the subject, as well as a high-volume minority of older Americans who think of China solely in terms of Mao Zedong rather than in terms of Deng Xiaoping or Xi Jinping. It was also, frankly, a quieter period with regards to the book's core topic, Sino-Japanese relations: WWII had ended, China had turned inward, and Japan was reorienting itself to the new world order.
To remedy this gap, I recommend Henry Kissinger's On China, which expends most of its energy on the 1950s thru the 1980s, and which gives a front-row seat to the initial Nixon visit and opening-up of China. Readers of Kissinger may also consider Allison and Blackwill's Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World. Kissinger and Lee are men of the same era, and these two books were published at about the same time, and each emphasize the U.S.-China relationship rather than the Sino-Japanese relationship; they reflect a particular inflection point in modern historical understandings of China, and expectations towards China's future.
Now, on to the second big gap. Vogel spends almost no time on the more ancient history of either China or Japan. We learn, at rapid pace, that Japan received Confucian bureaucracy, Buddhist philosophy, character-based writing, and tea from China at about the same time; then, in a flash, we're in the 1800s! Again, this has to do with the book being about the Sino-Japanese relationship: there were long of time stretches where relatively little cultural exchange happened. But the beginning of this book felt the most impoverished of all to me, and below I present materials to remedy that.
Laszlo Montgomery's "The China History Podcast" is a godsend for anybody interested in China. In addition to a 40-ish episode crash course of every single Chinese dynasty, Laszlo also presents a 9-part history of Chinese philosophy, a 6-part history of China-Vietnam relations, an 8-part history of Tang Poetry, a 10-part history of Hong Kong, a (now-missing?) history of tea, and many more besides. As you get to the more modern periods of Chinese history, you will also find him invaluable for his treatments of Deng Xiaoping, the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Civil War, Zhou Enlai, the Warlord Era, the Nixon visit, etc.
Justin Jacobs's "Beyond Huaxia: A College History of China and Japan" is also invaluable. He begins with ancient history and philosophy, and progressively inches forward towards the Qing dynasty and then the rise of the PRC. Following those first 40 episodes or so, he spends another 20 episodes on WWII and the Sino-Japanese relationship, which will dovetail well with your reading of Vogel. Jacobs is usefully cynical, in that he is often very willing to unpack realpolitik machinations plainly, including at the level of national projects to create or subvert different forms of identity.
For a true deep dive into early Chinese history, there are eight philosophers you should consider reading. These are Kongzi (Confucius), Mengzi (Mencius), Sunzi (Sun Tzu), Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mengzi, Xunzi, and Hanfeizi. Of these, Kongzi, Sunzi, and Laozi are really quite short and there's no good reason not to knock them out in an afternoon. Sunzi and Laozi are probably fictional personages projected backwards in history, though, and you should be skeptical about the idea that Sunzi isn't trickledown from Hanfeizi, or that Laozi isn't trickledown from Zhuangzi.
Aside from those three very short ones, Mengzi is fairly approachable and not too long either, and is necessary to understanding Confucianism as a system. Think of Mengzi as a systematizing Aristotle or Plato, with Kongzi as more of a Socrates or Christ, followed around by disciples jotting down all his passing thoughts without much elaboration or clarity. I recommend Bryan W. Van Norden's 2008 edition of Mengzi's work for its discussion of Zhu Xi and inclusion of traditional commentaries amid the text; this gives the reader an even better sense of the post-Kongzi Confucianism that was institutionalized by the Civil Service Examinations and the Mandarin scholar-bureaucrat officialdom.
And aside from those four (Kongzi, Mengzi, Sunzi, Laozi), Zhuangzi is hilarious and insightful and if you had to choose one Chinese philosopher to read I insist that it be him. The rest, Mozi and Xunzi and Hanfeizi, are moreso for completionists, although if you're very interested in the realpolitik and geopolitics aspect of China then you may want to read Hanfeizi for exposure to Chinese Legalism. At face value, it can seem as though the thinking of Mozi and Xunzi and Hanfeizi quickly went extinct, but the institutionalized Confucianism that I mentioned above integrated aspects of all of them.
Now I'm really beginning to wander astray and lose the thread of this review being about Vogel's book, but I have one more broad suggestion before I finally carry on with things. I haven't fully read these yet, having gotten terribly sidetracked in my backlog, but Philip Chadwick Foster Smith's The Empress of China and the London Folio Society's 2004 edition of Lord Macartney's An Embassy to China are fascinating for their detailed glimpses of how China looked to Americans and the British at the cusp of the 19th century, in the end of Emperor Qianlong's reign, before China's decline and the "Century of Humiliation" that followed.
So now you've been supplied with resources to tackle all of China's history PRIOR to the 1800s, which is where Vogel's book really takes off. I expect that anybody with any interest in this knows or suspects the broad strokes—the decline of the Qing, the rise of the Meiji, Japan's first military forays around Korea and Manchuria, the eruption of total war, the rebuilding afterwards, then (again, mostly skipping the Cold War) the resurgence of more positive Sino-Japanese relations in the 1970s and 80s, then eventually a play-by-play of the sorts of significant global political controversies that you read about in the news. All of this is fascinating.
Several reviewers comment that this is very much at a bird's-eye level, and that's true, because that's the only way to cover this much content in this many pages. What I find most compelling about Vogel's account, aside from its general quality and thoroughness, is his consistent interest in education and the exchange of ideas. This is the general theme of the book, that China has given to Japan and Japan has given to China, and each of these exchanges have contributed to one another's economic development and global status.
Even beyond this as a generality, though, I feel that his highlighting of the fact-finding missions following the Meiji Restoration, of the many Chinese revolutionaries who had a Japanese education, of the simple necessity of expertise to maintain a military or stay on the cutting edge of technology, and so on—these all remind us to stay conscious of education in our own time, especially when all that separates one economic superpower with an ageing population from another economic superpower with an ageing population is which country innovates faster.
When I first began reading (may he rest in peace) Ezra Vogel's lovely book China and Japan: Facing History, I had taken up the task of consuming all of my miscellaneous China materials in chronological order across sources, such as trying to absorb everything from the Qing dynasty before allowing myself to touch anything from WWII.
That was overelaborate and unnecessary, and meant I never finished anything, and I will not present the materials here in those terms. It's more important to learn the facts than to learn them in any rigid order. Instead, I will identify general holes or gaps in different sources, and recommend a general constellation of reading and listening to ensure that each given source's deficits are filled out by another's merits.
In pursuit of that goal, I will begin with what this book is not.
First of all, readers should be aware that Vogel's book has a gaping Cold War-shaped hole in the middle, and more especially a Mao-shaped hole. This was canny on Vogel's part; he's obviously more of a Zhou Enlai / Deng Xiaoping man anyway, and by largely breezing past this period he increases the likelihood of getting his book past mainland censors.
I recall in an interview, most probably either at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies or through the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (both have Spotify channels), that the Chinese publication of this book was via Hong Kong. That gave Vogel more leeway on the censorship front, to be sure—after all, Yang Jisheng managed to publish Tombstone in Hong Kong as recently as 2008.
But there are other reasons to have largely left these things out. For one, there is already a voluminous literature on the subject, as well as a high-volume minority of older Americans who think of China solely in terms of Mao Zedong rather than in terms of Deng Xiaoping or Xi Jinping. It was also, frankly, a quieter period with regards to the book's core topic, Sino-Japanese relations: WWII had ended, China had turned inward, and Japan was reorienting itself to the new world order.
To remedy this gap, I recommend Henry Kissinger's On China, which expends most of its energy on the 1950s thru the 1980s, and which gives a front-row seat to the initial Nixon visit and opening-up of China. Readers of Kissinger may also consider Allison and Blackwill's Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World. Kissinger and Lee are men of the same era, and these two books were published at about the same time, and each emphasize the U.S.-China relationship rather than the Sino-Japanese relationship; they reflect a particular inflection point in modern historical understandings of China, and expectations towards China's future.
Now, on to the second big gap. Vogel spends almost no time on the more ancient history of either China or Japan. We learn, at rapid pace, that Japan received Confucian bureaucracy, Buddhist philosophy, character-based writing, and tea from China at about the same time; then, in a flash, we're in the 1800s! Again, this has to do with the book being about the Sino-Japanese relationship: there were long of time stretches where relatively little cultural exchange happened. But the beginning of this book felt the most impoverished of all to me, and below I present materials to remedy that.
Laszlo Montgomery's "The China History Podcast" is a godsend for anybody interested in China. In addition to a 40-ish episode crash course of every single Chinese dynasty, Laszlo also presents a 9-part history of Chinese philosophy, a 6-part history of China-Vietnam relations, an 8-part history of Tang Poetry, a 10-part history of Hong Kong, a (now-missing?) history of tea, and many more besides. As you get to the more modern periods of Chinese history, you will also find him invaluable for his treatments of Deng Xiaoping, the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Civil War, Zhou Enlai, the Warlord Era, the Nixon visit, etc.
Justin Jacobs's "Beyond Huaxia: A College History of China and Japan" is also invaluable. He begins with ancient history and philosophy, and progressively inches forward towards the Qing dynasty and then the rise of the PRC. Following those first 40 episodes or so, he spends another 20 episodes on WWII and the Sino-Japanese relationship, which will dovetail well with your reading of Vogel. Jacobs is usefully cynical, in that he is often very willing to unpack realpolitik machinations plainly, including at the level of national projects to create or subvert different forms of identity.
For a true deep dive into early Chinese history, there are eight philosophers you should consider reading. These are Kongzi (Confucius), Mengzi (Mencius), Sunzi (Sun Tzu), Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mengzi, Xunzi, and Hanfeizi. Of these, Kongzi, Sunzi, and Laozi are really quite short and there's no good reason not to knock them out in an afternoon. Sunzi and Laozi are probably fictional personages projected backwards in history, though, and you should be skeptical about the idea that Sunzi isn't trickledown from Hanfeizi, or that Laozi isn't trickledown from Zhuangzi.
Aside from those three very short ones, Mengzi is fairly approachable and not too long either, and is necessary to understanding Confucianism as a system. Think of Mengzi as a systematizing Aristotle or Plato, with Kongzi as more of a Socrates or Christ, followed around by disciples jotting down all his passing thoughts without much elaboration or clarity. I recommend Bryan W. Van Norden's 2008 edition of Mengzi's work for its discussion of Zhu Xi and inclusion of traditional commentaries amid the text; this gives the reader an even better sense of the post-Kongzi Confucianism that was institutionalized by the Civil Service Examinations and the Mandarin scholar-bureaucrat officialdom.
And aside from those four (Kongzi, Mengzi, Sunzi, Laozi), Zhuangzi is hilarious and insightful and if you had to choose one Chinese philosopher to read I insist that it be him. The rest, Mozi and Xunzi and Hanfeizi, are moreso for completionists, although if you're very interested in the realpolitik and geopolitics aspect of China then you may want to read Hanfeizi for exposure to Chinese Legalism. At face value, it can seem as though the thinking of Mozi and Xunzi and Hanfeizi quickly went extinct, but the institutionalized Confucianism that I mentioned above integrated aspects of all of them.
Now I'm really beginning to wander astray and lose the thread of this review being about Vogel's book, but I have one more broad suggestion before I finally carry on with things. I haven't fully read these yet, having gotten terribly sidetracked in my backlog, but Philip Chadwick Foster Smith's The Empress of China and the London Folio Society's 2004 edition of Lord Macartney's An Embassy to China are fascinating for their detailed glimpses of how China looked to Americans and the British at the cusp of the 19th century, in the end of Emperor Qianlong's reign, before China's decline and the "Century of Humiliation" that followed.
So now you've been supplied with resources to tackle all of China's history PRIOR to the 1800s, which is where Vogel's book really takes off. I expect that anybody with any interest in this knows or suspects the broad strokes—the decline of the Qing, the rise of the Meiji, Japan's first military forays around Korea and Manchuria, the eruption of total war, the rebuilding afterwards, then (again, mostly skipping the Cold War) the resurgence of more positive Sino-Japanese relations in the 1970s and 80s, then eventually a play-by-play of the sorts of significant global political controversies that you read about in the news. All of this is fascinating.
Several reviewers comment that this is very much at a bird's-eye level, and that's true, because that's the only way to cover this much content in this many pages. What I find most compelling about Vogel's account, aside from its general quality and thoroughness, is his consistent interest in education and the exchange of ideas. This is the general theme of the book, that China has given to Japan and Japan has given to China, and each of these exchanges have contributed to one another's economic development and global status.
Even beyond this as a generality, though, I feel that his highlighting of the fact-finding missions following the Meiji Restoration, of the many Chinese revolutionaries who had a Japanese education, of the simple necessity of expertise to maintain a military or stay on the cutting edge of technology, and so on—these all remind us to stay conscious of education in our own time, especially when all that separates one economic superpower with an ageing population from another economic superpower with an ageing population is which country innovates faster.
April 20, 2021
This is a decent book on Sino-Japanese relations, by the same author as "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China", who unfortunately died shortly a little over a year after its publication (the book was published in July 2019, the author died in December 2020). The book goes all the way back to the Japanese adoption of Chinese characters in the 600-838 all the way up until the almost present (i.e. 2018ish). Most of the book is focused on the period of antagonism starting with the first Sino-Japanese war in 1894-1985 and finishing at the end of WWII, which I've already read a lot about and so isn't very interesting to me in particular. I would have enjoyed the book more if extra time had been spent on the period of early cultural influence of Tang China on Japan - for example, only a sentence or two is devoted to the borrowing of Chinese characters. This is interesting enough to me that I would read a whole book on it, if such a book existed, I was aware it existed, and I had a means of obtaining it. In any event, I felt a few sentences was too little, but this is just a reflection of my own personal interests and doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the book.
The period after World War II was more detailed and I learnt some things. At the end of the book there was an excellent 40ish page "biographies of key historical figures", including suggested further reading on each of them. This final section of the book was my favorite, and I have already ordered one of the recommendations.
The period after World War II was more detailed and I learnt some things. At the end of the book there was an excellent 40ish page "biographies of key historical figures", including suggested further reading on each of them. This final section of the book was my favorite, and I have already ordered one of the recommendations.
May 13, 2023
Overall an interesting read.
Like any history, it's biased in one way or another. For example, there's a much greater focus on the 20th century than any other time period, and the author seems to skew toward a Japanese perspective on events. That said, it still contains lots of interesting information.
Like any history, it's biased in one way or another. For example, there's a much greater focus on the 20th century than any other time period, and the author seems to skew toward a Japanese perspective on events. That said, it still contains lots of interesting information.
February 24, 2023
Very good overview of Sino Japanese relations with a very good douse of Korea. Will definitely need to read this a second time, though.
February 15, 2025
Very good
May 29, 2022
Remembering this moment in my tennis class when I had to break a tie with the other player, who is Chinese (from China), and we used the base of my racquet, which is made in Japan, to make the call. I said, "Japan or Not Japan?" She paused to seem like she had to think about it, then said, "Not Japan." Of course. Then I spun my racquet.
12. Facing the New Era / 20:10:07
Sun, May 29 | 10:32:01 AM
Four principles for bringing Sino-Japanese relations to a new stage: mutual trust, a big picture perspective, common development based on equality and mutual benefit, and strengthening exchanges with an eye toward the future (2007)
More Audible Notes:
12. Facing the New Era / 20:10:07
Sun, May 29 | 10:32:01 AM
Four principles for bringing Sino-Japanese relations to a new stage: mutual trust, a big picture perspective, common development based on equality and mutual benefit, and strengthening exchanges with an eye toward the future (2007)
More Audible Notes:
May 19, 2022
Another masterpiece and a balanced view of the issues facing both countries. Thanks for the gift Ezra Vogel!
October 11, 2019
Vogel's book is an excellent introduction to the history of interaction between these two Asian powers. While also charting the developments within each country he relates how they also contributed to growth or decline in the other. He charts their political, social, cultural and military relationships as they change over time and how each country impacted the cultural development of the other. An important book for anyone seeking to understand the complicated history of interaction between China and Japan.
"What Japan learned from China between 600 and 838-written language, Buddhism, Confucianism, literature, music, and architecture, or the basic building blocks of Japanese culture-survived even after the arrival of Western culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." 26
"Nagaska had been a small fishing village until 1571, when Portuguese ships began docking there, and after 1641, when it became the only port on Japan's four main islands open to international trade, it quickly grew into a cosmopolitan port city." 63
"In 1868 hundreds of young samurai from these three domains marched from Kyoto to the shogun's palace in Edo, where the leaders of the Tokugawa shogunate, aware that they had lost the support of the domains around the country, agreed to transfer power to the emperor to avoid entering into a devastating prolonged war." 73
"In both China and Japan, the history from 1911 to the outbreak of war in 1937 is the story of political leaders struggling to maintain domestic order and good relations with other countries but losing out to their militaries." 207
"From September 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur arrived to lead the Occupation, until April 1952, the Allied Occupation forces introduced changes in Japan's political, economic, and education systems and controlled Japan's foreign policy." 297
"From 1945 to the 1970s the United States was the world's greatest industrial power, but by the early 1970s, as other countries were gaining industrial technology and paying low wages to their workers, U.S. industrial goods began to lose out, even in the United States, to foreign products. The rapidly declining costs of global shipping and the openness of U.S. markets contributed to this process." 325
"The governments of the European countries and the United States had guided their economies mainly by providing regulations to ensure fair market operations, but the Japanese government had promoted economic development by providing coordination and guidance, and assuring that funds were available for the development of key sectors." 347
"What Japan learned from China between 600 and 838-written language, Buddhism, Confucianism, literature, music, and architecture, or the basic building blocks of Japanese culture-survived even after the arrival of Western culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." 26
"Nagaska had been a small fishing village until 1571, when Portuguese ships began docking there, and after 1641, when it became the only port on Japan's four main islands open to international trade, it quickly grew into a cosmopolitan port city." 63
"In 1868 hundreds of young samurai from these three domains marched from Kyoto to the shogun's palace in Edo, where the leaders of the Tokugawa shogunate, aware that they had lost the support of the domains around the country, agreed to transfer power to the emperor to avoid entering into a devastating prolonged war." 73
"In both China and Japan, the history from 1911 to the outbreak of war in 1937 is the story of political leaders struggling to maintain domestic order and good relations with other countries but losing out to their militaries." 207
"From September 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur arrived to lead the Occupation, until April 1952, the Allied Occupation forces introduced changes in Japan's political, economic, and education systems and controlled Japan's foreign policy." 297
"From 1945 to the 1970s the United States was the world's greatest industrial power, but by the early 1970s, as other countries were gaining industrial technology and paying low wages to their workers, U.S. industrial goods began to lose out, even in the United States, to foreign products. The rapidly declining costs of global shipping and the openness of U.S. markets contributed to this process." 325
"The governments of the European countries and the United States had guided their economies mainly by providing regulations to ensure fair market operations, but the Japanese government had promoted economic development by providing coordination and guidance, and assuring that funds were available for the development of key sectors." 347
April 3, 2024
took forever to read and put me into a slump, literally didn't touch it for weeks and came back and it still was largely the same. like. decent ish as a purely chronological account of events but erm girl
April 17, 2023
Harvard East Asia expert Ezra F. Vogel's "China and Japan" is a comprehensive and balanced account of the interactions between China and Japan throughout history, particularly in the past near 200 years. The conflict between these two nations caused tremendous suffering for people on both sides, leading to war from the 1930s to the end of World War II. Conventional Chinese narratives often depict the Japanese as the sole instigators of these conflicts, attributing blame either to a few militant zealots or implicitly to the entire Japanese race as malevolent, despite the fact that official blame tends to focus on specific groups rather than the entire population. However, Vogel's analysis of the interactions between these two countries is much more complex.
The interactions were dynamic, involving many different players, and not all of the provocateurs were from the Japanese side. Rather than malignity, the real issue was personal ambition, which is a global phenomenon that transcends race. The true lesson of this history of suffering is that personal ambition, while not necessarily wrong, can lead to destructive consequences if pursued in certain ways.
Today, the Japanese people appear to have reflected more deeply on these events than their counterparts on the other side, who often obsess over the view that China was simply the victim in the conflict and believe that the only lesson to be learned is to try all means to become more powerful, without much regard for other considerations. Ironically, this was the same belief held by the Japanese militant zealots who pursued their cause before WWII, and was indisputably the driving force of the disaster. Many Chinese today are filled with an unexamined sense of righteousness, believing that they can pursue power without succumbing to the same evils, without an understanding that evil can be an emergent phenomenon, beyond the control of its individual elements. Vogel's work offers a valuable perspective on this important historical period and encourages readers to contemplate the enduring lessons of this tragic chapter in human history.
The more current significance of this book is its relevance to the current state of affairs between China and Japan. In the 1970s and 1980s, the two countries enjoyed the most friendly relationship in their history, largely due to China's urgent need for allies to face threats from the Soviet Union and its urgent need for financial support from the then far more developed Japan. Nowadays, those factors have completely disappeared. Instead, the Chinese side has brought two issues, the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands (which had existed since the end of WWII but was of much lower priority) and Japanese officials' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, to the forefront with the highest priority. This shift in focus suggests that China is the active side in the deterioration of the relationship. Meanwhile, popular hostility towards Japan is, at the very least, not discouraged and even encouraged in China. As a reaction, Japanese aversion towards China has also reached a historical high since the end of WWII. Vogel not only provides a comprehensive history of China-Japan relations but also makes concrete suggestions for both sides to move out of this lose-lose interaction.
The interactions were dynamic, involving many different players, and not all of the provocateurs were from the Japanese side. Rather than malignity, the real issue was personal ambition, which is a global phenomenon that transcends race. The true lesson of this history of suffering is that personal ambition, while not necessarily wrong, can lead to destructive consequences if pursued in certain ways.
Today, the Japanese people appear to have reflected more deeply on these events than their counterparts on the other side, who often obsess over the view that China was simply the victim in the conflict and believe that the only lesson to be learned is to try all means to become more powerful, without much regard for other considerations. Ironically, this was the same belief held by the Japanese militant zealots who pursued their cause before WWII, and was indisputably the driving force of the disaster. Many Chinese today are filled with an unexamined sense of righteousness, believing that they can pursue power without succumbing to the same evils, without an understanding that evil can be an emergent phenomenon, beyond the control of its individual elements. Vogel's work offers a valuable perspective on this important historical period and encourages readers to contemplate the enduring lessons of this tragic chapter in human history.
The more current significance of this book is its relevance to the current state of affairs between China and Japan. In the 1970s and 1980s, the two countries enjoyed the most friendly relationship in their history, largely due to China's urgent need for allies to face threats from the Soviet Union and its urgent need for financial support from the then far more developed Japan. Nowadays, those factors have completely disappeared. Instead, the Chinese side has brought two issues, the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands (which had existed since the end of WWII but was of much lower priority) and Japanese officials' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, to the forefront with the highest priority. This shift in focus suggests that China is the active side in the deterioration of the relationship. Meanwhile, popular hostility towards Japan is, at the very least, not discouraged and even encouraged in China. As a reaction, Japanese aversion towards China has also reached a historical high since the end of WWII. Vogel not only provides a comprehensive history of China-Japan relations but also makes concrete suggestions for both sides to move out of this lose-lose interaction.
October 5, 2020
China and Japan are the world's 2nd and 3rd, with an extremely deep history that extends back millennia - the relationship between them will also have as much of an impact on the world going forward as it has had shaping the history of the world to date. It is a long history marked by mutual exchanges - some good, others bad that have left deep scarring. Vogel does an excellent job presenting the long and complex history between these 2 countries - despite the China and Japan's length, the book does not feel especially repetitive or tedious. An excellent addition was the biography of key people at the end, which helps to provide more detail and clarity, individuals are easily consigned the background given the extent of the story.
The book is well-structured, in roughly chronological order, with the chapters broken down roughly into key periods between the two countries, with each chapter almost self-contained for readers interested in a specific period. A few are often co-authored with other experts - which also helps to flesh out the content of each chapter. Vogel also does a good job of highlighting the impasse between the two nations (or perhaps more accurately civilisations), both of which have internalised into their histories key moments - perhaps in a way a lot of younger countries may find baffling. As he notes - China wants redress for many of the injuries caused in World War Two, which perhaps Japan has not addressed as frankly as Germany (for example in the presentation of history in their text books). However Vogel also accurately sums of the situation from the Japanese point of view: "In their view, Japan has made great contributions to China, contributions that have been inadequately acknowledged. ... The Japanese recognize that the Chinese are becoming stronger, both militarily and economically. In dealings with the Chinese, the Japanese want to be treated as respected equals, not forced to submit to China’s demands." (p410-11).
One area where Vogel falls short is in presenting any ground-breaking vision of break the deadlock. Of course suggestions are provided - for example increased exchanges, reciprocal visits, and co-operation. But these are hardly ground breaking (if a little cliche). Of course, the fact that there are no easy solutions is one reason why there is an impasse, so perhaps this criticism seems a little unfair. But any long term solution will require some outside of the box thinking (a la Kissinger paving the way for the thawing in China-US relations). Perhaps if even well-informed and impartial outsider with Vogel's depth of knowledge struggles to deliver any, it just shows the work ahead for the leaders of the two countries going forward.
The book is well-structured, in roughly chronological order, with the chapters broken down roughly into key periods between the two countries, with each chapter almost self-contained for readers interested in a specific period. A few are often co-authored with other experts - which also helps to flesh out the content of each chapter. Vogel also does a good job of highlighting the impasse between the two nations (or perhaps more accurately civilisations), both of which have internalised into their histories key moments - perhaps in a way a lot of younger countries may find baffling. As he notes - China wants redress for many of the injuries caused in World War Two, which perhaps Japan has not addressed as frankly as Germany (for example in the presentation of history in their text books). However Vogel also accurately sums of the situation from the Japanese point of view: "In their view, Japan has made great contributions to China, contributions that have been inadequately acknowledged. ... The Japanese recognize that the Chinese are becoming stronger, both militarily and economically. In dealings with the Chinese, the Japanese want to be treated as respected equals, not forced to submit to China’s demands." (p410-11).
One area where Vogel falls short is in presenting any ground-breaking vision of break the deadlock. Of course suggestions are provided - for example increased exchanges, reciprocal visits, and co-operation. But these are hardly ground breaking (if a little cliche). Of course, the fact that there are no easy solutions is one reason why there is an impasse, so perhaps this criticism seems a little unfair. But any long term solution will require some outside of the box thinking (a la Kissinger paving the way for the thawing in China-US relations). Perhaps if even well-informed and impartial outsider with Vogel's depth of knowledge struggles to deliver any, it just shows the work ahead for the leaders of the two countries going forward.
November 11, 2024
This a primarily a decent narrative history of international relations between China and Japan, but it's not quite what I was expecting.
- It's focused mostly on Japan
- It's mostly post-Meiji era (late 19th century on)
- It's pretty detailed, for the most part, but skips over the Mao era almost completely
The relative lack of emphasis on more ancient history and deeper cultural connections was, for me, disappointing, but this was still interesting for the depth it gave to a key relationship that I've not seen discussed that much in other books of Japanese history I've read.
The general thrust of the argument seems to be the fair one that, by the mid-late 19th century, both China and Japan were being impacted by similar external forces in the shape of imperialist pressure (primarily from Britain, the US and Russia). This forced Japan into the Meiji modernisation, and China into an identity crisis that took it a long time to shake off. China's weakness was then both an opportunity and a threat for Japan - if it didn't colonise China (and Taiwan, and Korea, etc etc), someone else would, and in the late 19th/early 20th century, imperialism seemed to be the way forward. If China had got it's act together first, it probably would have been China making the move. And if not, Russia or Britain or even the US or someone else would have taken them all over.
Quite how that led to some of the more extreme violence Japanese troops carried out in China /Manchuria (and elsewhere), I'm still not entirely sure - but it's certainly possible that this too was inspired by European imperialism. After all, European empires were up to some pretty disgusting stuff around the same period, particularly in Africa, so...
Either way, almost a century on, China isn't yet ready to fully get over Japan's aggression or accept that the country's fairly fundamentally changed since WWII.
For a country with such a long history, that's understandable. But what this book does a good job of making clear is that China and Japan have more in common than they sometimes like to admit, and a lot more shared interests.
None of this is especially surprising, of course. But it's still interesting.
- It's focused mostly on Japan
- It's mostly post-Meiji era (late 19th century on)
- It's pretty detailed, for the most part, but skips over the Mao era almost completely
The relative lack of emphasis on more ancient history and deeper cultural connections was, for me, disappointing, but this was still interesting for the depth it gave to a key relationship that I've not seen discussed that much in other books of Japanese history I've read.
The general thrust of the argument seems to be the fair one that, by the mid-late 19th century, both China and Japan were being impacted by similar external forces in the shape of imperialist pressure (primarily from Britain, the US and Russia). This forced Japan into the Meiji modernisation, and China into an identity crisis that took it a long time to shake off. China's weakness was then both an opportunity and a threat for Japan - if it didn't colonise China (and Taiwan, and Korea, etc etc), someone else would, and in the late 19th/early 20th century, imperialism seemed to be the way forward. If China had got it's act together first, it probably would have been China making the move. And if not, Russia or Britain or even the US or someone else would have taken them all over.
Quite how that led to some of the more extreme violence Japanese troops carried out in China /Manchuria (and elsewhere), I'm still not entirely sure - but it's certainly possible that this too was inspired by European imperialism. After all, European empires were up to some pretty disgusting stuff around the same period, particularly in Africa, so...
Either way, almost a century on, China isn't yet ready to fully get over Japan's aggression or accept that the country's fairly fundamentally changed since WWII.
For a country with such a long history, that's understandable. But what this book does a good job of making clear is that China and Japan have more in common than they sometimes like to admit, and a lot more shared interests.
None of this is especially surprising, of course. But it's still interesting.
November 4, 2022
This was a pretty good examination of the Japan/China relationship, especially as pertains to the last 50 years. While Vogel’ decision to start so far back was a bit strange, he does manage to catch up to the 19th century reasonably fast. From there he pays particular attention to how both countries reacted to the encroachment of their sovereignty by Europeans and Americans. He focuses on the strengthening movements in both countries and the fights against reactionary forces that ended with a modernized Japan and an unstable China at the end of the 19th century. He follows the recognition of this fact by the Chinese themselves and the attempts to use the Japanese model to modernize, receiving direct help from Japan in this. During the tumultuous first half of the 20th century he focuses not on the military aspect of the conflict but in the political situation in both countries that lead to an out-of-control military in Japan and an even more fragmented and weakened China. However, by far the best part of the book pertains to the Japan-China relationship since the end of WWII. Vogel tracks the openings and retrenchments in both countries and shows the remarkable help that Japan gave to China in the years after its Cultural Revolution. He similarly highlights how the periods of greater cooperation came when leaders in each country were knowledgeable and respectful of the other. Definitely an interesting and worthwhile read.
February 12, 2020
I really didn't like this book. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why, but something about the writing style I found extremely irritating. To my mind, it reads like it was meant for a very young audience (which would not be interested in the subject matter) or maybe non-fluent English learners (which would be fine, but it should be marketed that way). The middle chapters were the most interesting, particularly the different paths each nation took during the period starting with the Meiji Restoration and ending with the fall of the Qing. The beginning and end were very boring and slow (note: I finally gave up in Chapter 10, so I can't comment beyond that). Another recent reviewer recommended focusing on Chapters 3-8, and that sounds about right to me.
As noted, I didn't finish -- which is very rare for me, even with books that leave me feeling less than enthusiastic. Some other reviewers seem very enthusiastic, so if you're interested in the subject matter by all means give this book a try.
As noted, I didn't finish -- which is very rare for me, even with books that leave me feeling less than enthusiastic. Some other reviewers seem very enthusiastic, so if you're interested in the subject matter by all means give this book a try.
February 7, 2020
Mr. Vogel did a wonderful job laying out 1500 years of pride and shame, in the most peaceful manner, with the most respect for both countries, and truly broad understanding and research. Overall for such a topic, it's clearly structured in time and events. So the reading experience is great and it stikes resonance to me as a Chinese.
However this book, as grand vision as it tries to carry, is oversimplified and naive in some aspects. The solutions are almost too academic to be realistic and practical. And limited by paragraph, many many storylines are too plain to touch readers that are not proactively interested. However this does not lowers the completeness of this masterpiece. I respect Vogel's effort to be neutral about sensitive topics like patriotism education, and caring for the future between these countries.
The younger generation should definitely read it, as only when one has seen vastitude in history can he cherish the spectacular of presence.
However this book, as grand vision as it tries to carry, is oversimplified and naive in some aspects. The solutions are almost too academic to be realistic and practical. And limited by paragraph, many many storylines are too plain to touch readers that are not proactively interested. However this does not lowers the completeness of this masterpiece. I respect Vogel's effort to be neutral about sensitive topics like patriotism education, and caring for the future between these countries.
The younger generation should definitely read it, as only when one has seen vastitude in history can he cherish the spectacular of presence.
July 20, 2020
The study adopts the approach of telling the history of the countries as an intertwined story, as is the reality of the last two thousand years (excepting the Tokugawa interlude). Different yet the same, each with idiosyncrasies but also a mirror reflection of the other. Peaceful interaction and constructive learning interspersed with violence, most notably the period between the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the end of WW II.
A rich, well told history.
Looking to the future today, one questions in what direction their relationship will go. Perhaps one positive outcome of the Trumpian retreat from a mature global role will be these two great nations will work on a bi-lateral relationship, free of super-power distractions.
A rich, well told history.
Looking to the future today, one questions in what direction their relationship will go. Perhaps one positive outcome of the Trumpian retreat from a mature global role will be these two great nations will work on a bi-lateral relationship, free of super-power distractions.
September 11, 2019
This would probably rank as the best history of Japan-China relations, starting from the beginnings of Japan's interactions with the dynasties of the Middle Kingdom and learning from them, to surpassing them in the last 19th century and sending China scrambling to learn from them, to the present day, when it appears China is about to restore the natural centuries-old order in Asia with itself at the top. This work appears less based on primary research by Vogel himself (he admits the earliest classical Chinese documents are beyond his portfolio) but nonetheless contains more information about relations between the two countries than you're likely to find anywhere else.
June 8, 2020
China and Japan share one of the longest histories between nations, good, bad and ugly. And with 1500 years, you can cherry pick, how you approach each other, and what should be emphasized at the current time.
Why I started this book: I am always looking for more information about the history of Asia, and this book looked promising as it was a dual focus book.
Why I finished it: Long and interesting, but hard to keep track of all the statesmen, businessmen and military leaders. With over 1500 years to cover, this history is brisk, broad and shallow. Start here and then learn more elsewhere.
Why I started this book: I am always looking for more information about the history of Asia, and this book looked promising as it was a dual focus book.
Why I finished it: Long and interesting, but hard to keep track of all the statesmen, businessmen and military leaders. With over 1500 years to cover, this history is brisk, broad and shallow. Start here and then learn more elsewhere.
March 4, 2024
This book by Professor Vogel is what I would hand to a student who asked for a summarized history of Sino-Japanese relations. Thorough, complete, but perhaps so broad it’s meant to leave the reader introduced yet “master-of-none” in regard to the nuance of the two countries relationship.
I would recommend for anyone indulging into specific periods of the two countries relations to read “Forgotten Ally” by Rana Mitter and “Three Tigers, One Mountain” by Michael Booth. The first, the story of China from prior to the first Sino-Japanese War through World War II and the second a relaxed, satirical, walk through modern relations of the countries to include Korea and Taiwan.
I would recommend for anyone indulging into specific periods of the two countries relations to read “Forgotten Ally” by Rana Mitter and “Three Tigers, One Mountain” by Michael Booth. The first, the story of China from prior to the first Sino-Japanese War through World War II and the second a relaxed, satirical, walk through modern relations of the countries to include Korea and Taiwan.
January 29, 2020
Good summary of the joint history of rations between China and Japan. The pre-modern chapters light but provided a good outline. The chapters on the relationship between the two countries since the Meiji are noteworthy. The post war section gets too little time and the post Tiananmen period is truly disappointing.
Worth a read especially chapters 3 to 8.
Worth a read especially chapters 3 to 8.
May 6, 2020
The focus of the book is modern history of both countries, so the book basically skimp on the ancient history, which was a disappointment to me somehow. It's good for beginner, but not exactly what I was looking for. I have to say Vogel is still a very good writer. As he said he is not a historian but rather a sociologist.
December 31, 2020
Ezra Vogel's last book provides is a culmination of his long and impressive career. It is a social history of the Japan-China relationship. It has a bias of telling most of the stories from the Japanese side. It has a emphasis on the leaders and their personalities and foibles. Great anecdotes through out.
September 29, 2019
An outstanding work by Vogel one of the “deans” of Chinese /Asian history. From a learning perspective, the most interesting sections of the book dealt with their relations dating back to AD 600 all the way through to the early 19th century and how the Japanese turned to China for many of the social and cultural building blocks. The sections dealing with Manchuria, wars of 1895 and the Nanking massacre onwards are v well addressed and provide an interesting context in how their relations oscillated from lukewarm to cold over the decades. The book provides a solid framework to understanding the issues both countries face as China becomes more powerful.
December 18, 2019
4.25 / 5.0
Well balanced treatment of historical relations. Impressed with the amount of pre western discussion. Particularly enjoyed biographies in Appendix. Very informative especially putting current spats into historical context.
Well balanced treatment of historical relations. Impressed with the amount of pre western discussion. Particularly enjoyed biographies in Appendix. Very informative especially putting current spats into historical context.
April 16, 2020
First time reading about the relations between China and Japan and his history.
I like it. A really nice summary of such a long history.
At the end it is very clear the situation of both countries
I recommend it especially for beginners in this topic
I like it. A really nice summary of such a long history.
At the end it is very clear the situation of both countries
I recommend it especially for beginners in this topic
July 18, 2020
An excellent overview of China's and Japan's historical relations with a helpful section'Biographies of Key Figures' at the end of the book. I found the chapters covering the Sino-Japanese war, its origins and aftermath to be especially informative.
September 4, 2021
This book was great. It logically progresses through the beginning of Sino-Japanese relations from the beginning to now. Every page contains relevant information. The author may not be the best writer, but the content of the book is extremely relevant and useful.
Read
September 20, 2024Not insightful. But okay as a succinct book for general readers. Though you might as well read the Wikipedia pages about relations between the two countries given the flaws you may perceive in the book (being subjective without offering actual insights to justify that).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews