The Influence Of China In Japanese National Consciousness

Since the Tokugawa Shogunate was forced to "founding", Japanese with lofty ideals felt the severe national crisis, after the news of the defeat of China in the opium war in China was introduced into Japan, Japanese disappointed at their old system gradually. Stimulating by the present situation of home and abroad, the Japanese national consciousness was awoken and the Japanese with lofty ideals began to actively seek a way for the future of Japan. Before the awake of Japanese national consciousness, although Japan had been alienated with China in politics, ideology and culture aspects were still be independent as restricted by "Chinese concept". Until the middle of the 19 th century, with the reason of the national sovereignty crisis, the questioned traditional Confucian culture and the rise of orchidology in Japan, Japanese national consciousness was awoken and quickly sprout. At the same time, modern China as a “the other” began to affect Japan.The real communication between Modern China and Japan began in the diplomatic of 1871, the officer and individual of Japan visited China increased gradually since that time. The reasons for visiting China were variety, such as visiting, detecting and collecting information, studying, and working. Most of Japanese who visited China recorded their actions and preserved them, they timely coupled their notes back to Japan for the development of Japan’s modernization. Initially, they hoped to get useful information from China to help Japan out the sovereign crisis, increasing trade with China to accumulate the capital of Japan. But with the establishment of Japanese Meiji government and the continued turbulence in east Asia, the public opinion and ideals about China in Japan began to change, and the national mentality also gradually began to change at the same time. And this change also profoundly reflected during the Japanese travelers in China. In their notes, they showed their emotion to their motherland, analyzed the condition of China, expressed their individual objective knowledge. What mentioned above for one thing reflected what they had known about China in Japan, for another reflected their new knowledge about China after their fieldwork.Therefore, based on a part of notes of Japanese in late Tokugawa Shogunate and Meiji era, there will be reflect the knowledge of Japanese about China in different era by analyzing their emotion, views and ideals in notes. Finally, the transform of their understanding about China will be an important evidence to prove the influence of China in the Japanese national consciousness. The author will explore the influence of China in the Japanese national consciousness, to eventually have a conclusion of that the influence of China in the Japanese national consciousness can not be neglected.