| In recent years,the excavation and utilization of new historical materials from outside is the research premise of "Looking at China from the surrounding" advocated by the academic circle,which helps to survey the local image more comprehensively.This article focuses on the Japanese travel notes in Shandong,investigating Japanese views of Shandong and its evolution in the context of the dramatic changes in modern Sino-Japanese relations,discussing its “knowledge” and “action” surrounding the Shandong region,and then analyzing its impact on Japan.The impact of the China policy can be described as a typical case of China from the "eye of a foreign land".Because the Shandong Peninsula faces Japan and the Korean Peninsula across the sea,it has played an important role in the history of Sino-Japanese relations since ancient times.As early as the mid-Tang Dynasty,Japanese monk Yuanren's writing of Shandong in "Into the Tang Dynasty Seeking the Dharma Tournament" left a strong mark in the Japanese historical memory;the spread of Confucian classics and other Chinese classical works in Japan made Shandong,the hometown of Confucius and Mencius,where many wise men grew up,is well-known in Japan;and the popularity of vernacular novels such as "Water Margin" using Shandong as the stage during the Edo period,has painted Shandong's regional image with both "chivalrous" and "bandit".In the mid-nineteenth century,as the West moved eastward and Sino-Japanese relations reversed,Japan changed from an admirer and imitator of Chinese civilization to a covetous and invader of China.Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,the Japanese conducted local investigations in Shandong,focusing on collecting military intelligence mainly in coastal areas;after Germany occupied Qingdao,Japan's interest in Shandong increased sharply and vigorously carried out industrial and commercial investigations;and after Japan replaced Germany,it carried out a carpet-like investigation on Shandong.After the return of Shandong's sovereignty,Japan still paid attention to the Shandong issue and continues to conduct detailed investigations on Shandong resources,Jiaoji Railway,and key cities.Modern Japanese not only remembered and studied classical Chinese poetry by writing about Mount Tai,but also established their self-image of civilization and progress from the over-description of the decline of the "other".Qufu has gradually evolved from a "pilgrimage site" to a "sightseeing spot" that Japanese people must visit in Shandong;no matter the writing of the declining image of Confucius and Mencius,or the complacency of "the way of today,the only way to pass on our country",behind its defaces and praises is the undercurrent of "self-centralization" in Japan since modern times.Of course,in the eyes of these observers,the humanities and customs in the hometown of Confucius and Mencius are acceptable,with obvious local characteristics,and also show a certain degree of conservativeness and backwardness,such as focusing on chastity,being willing to watch,gathering crowds for gambling,and other stereotypes and bad habits,which were criticized by the Japanese.However,the fine tradition of respecting teachers and teaching as well as the penetration of Western Christianity have also promoted the spread of Western learning.After Germany leased Jiaozhou Bay,Japan gradually became interested in Shandong's resources.Affected by Richthofen's related theories,Shandong's "barrenness theory" began to fade.After occupying Qingdao,Japan launched a large-scale field investigation of Shandong Fuyuan and advocated the "Shandong richness theory ".The students of the East Asian School of Common Literature continue to investigate Shandong resources such as coal mines,labor,cotton,peanuts,etc.The report contains many policy recommendations to serve Japan's need for resource plundering in Shandong.Japan paid great attention to the foreign economic forces in Shandong.The operation and expansion of Germany,Britain and other European and American countries in Shandong is the object of Japanese industrial and commercial capital as well as its competitors.Modern Japanese travelers keenly observed the decline of the towns in the Zhifu,Canal,and Xiaoqing River basin.They focused their investigation on the Jiaoji Railway and the cities along it,and tried to promote its importance.In the 1870 s,"the political system still existed,but the military was still ready" was a conclusive summary of Shandong's political understanding at that time,indicating that Japan still had a fear of Shandong's military power.This was in line with the "Chinese military threat theory" that emerged in Japan.After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,the Japanese showed their contempt about Shandong armaments and soldiers,and believed that the Chinese military and police had no ability to maintain social order.Local bureaucrats in Shandong often appear as "peacemakers" in Japanese travel notes.Bureaucrats studying in Japan are quite friendly to Japanese,but they are not necessarily pro-Japanese.Japanese travelers are full of longing and admiration for Qingdao,the "model colony" operated by Germany,and regard it as "Pagoda Tree Township" and "Oriental Paradise".With Japan deepening its invasion of Shandong,the feelings of Shandong people toward Japan have deteriorated.The "May 3rd Massacre" pushed the anti-Japanese movement in Shandong to a climax,but most Japanese people did not realize the awakening of the Chinese people.Modern Japan relied on its geographical advantages to carry out cultural aggression against Shandong in the form of "academic investigation",educational infiltration,and religious infiltration in the early stage.Backed by the powerful force of the Japanese army,they plundered Shandong's resources hidden in the private and underground in order to grab huge profits,and continued to expand their rights in Shandong in name of the robber logic of "colonial progress".In order to help Japan's colonial expansion in Shandong,these travelers collected intelligence with a strong "sense of national mission",made suggestions for colonizing Shandong,and vigorously advocated that colonization was reasonable and beneficial,and those who could think calmly amidst the frenetic wave of expansion are rare.From the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in modern times to the launch of Japan's war of aggression against China,during just sixty years,the modern Japanese investigation of Shandong has experienced a process from "point" to "surface",from coasts to inland.The focus of the content has expanded from military,economy and trade to German colonial operations and Shandong's "richness".In terms of investigative methods,it has quickly realized the transformation from hearsay,quoting second-hand information to on-site investigations of which investigators include spies and scholars,students,politicians,industrialists,religious figures,whose writings and understanding of modern Shandong can be said to reflect the greatest common divisor of the knowledge of modern Japanese about Shandong.With the changes of the international situation and the enhancement of Japan's own strength,Japanese views of Shandong have influenced their choice of Shandong's "knowledge and action",which is contradictory and dual.Japanese views of Shandong contain the contradiction and duality of external "knowledge and action" since modern times.The transformation of its orientation of both civilization and anti-civilization has exposed the contradictions and paradoxes in the formation and foreign expansion of modern Japan.It is full of opportunism and the utilitarianism of power supremacy.Modern Japanese's views of Shandong have the characteristics of "fictional and true" transformation,which not only objectively reflect the historical facts of Shandong,but also exaggerate and distort the truth.In addition,modern Japanese did not regard Shandong as a part of "stagnant China" from the very beginning,but the views of Shandong were also on the extension line of "decentralization" and "self-centralization". |
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