Nakae Chomin's Diplomatic Thought And His Political Activities

The middle and late 19 th century was an era full of variables and turbulence for East Asia.As Western capitalist forces continue to infiltrate into the East,East Asian countries had to make changes in difficult pains.The Qing Dynasty had achieved certain results through the Westernization Movement while maintaining the existing system.In addition,Japan,a neighboring country,embarked on the road to enriching the country through the Meiji Restoration.This period was a time when the struggle between the Qing Dynasty and Japan around Korea was heating up.In Japan,it was also a period of change from the freedom and civil rights to the intense enthusiasm for nationalism.At the same time,Japan's constitutional government system had slowly established itself under the double challenge.Japan's recognize of the outside world,especially its recognize of the Qing Dynasty that it was based on this complex situation and constantly changing.Nakae Chomin,a famous Japanese civil rights thinker in modern times,his shining point was not only his civil rights ideology,but his diplomatic thought was also very distinctive.But his diplomatic thought gradually changed with the development of the free civil rights movement,the establishment of Japan's constitutional politics,and the situation changes in East Asia.From the initial “moral diplomacy” to “defensive diplomacy”.It even ended up defining the Sino-Japanese War as a “righteous war”.Although at the end of his life,he still insisted that "civil rights are justified,freedom and equality are just righteousness," but it was precisely because he can not ignore Japan's national interests while insisting on his ideals,making his life full of contradictions and tragic.