The View Toward Japan In Indian Asianism In The First Half Of The 20th Century And Its Influence

China,India and Japan are regarded as the strategic triangle in Asia.In recent years,Indo-Japan relations see constant progresses.In September 2014,Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visited Japan and the two countries established a "Special Global Strategic Partnership",which promoted Indo-Japan relations to upper stairs.Meanwhile,there are many destabilizing factors lurking in Asia with the establishment of the regional order still under development.Both India and Japan are important neighbors of China,making it of great significance for China to study the bilateral relations between the two countries,especially their ties in participating in regional construction.Regional construction is influenced by many factors.Constructivism of international politics holds that immaterial factors — including ideas,culture and identity—play a profound and decisive role in international politics.As a major country in Asia,India's regional behavior is deeply influenced by how it envisages the shaping of the Asian region,how it views its relations with other countries in the region,and how its regional construction is integrated with its own development process.And India's regional behavior will in turn influence the construction of an Asian region.As a regional thought rooted in traditional Indian ideology and culture as well as shaped by the experience of constantly contacting with the outside world,India's Asianism is an important reference for understanding its behavior in Asia.In order to understand contemporary Asianism of India,we need to further study the emergence and formation of Indian Asianism in the past.Up to 1947 around,the development of Asianism in India can be divided into three periods.In the first period,which ranges from the early 19 th century to the early 20 th century,ideologists rediscovered India from the Indian classics under the influence of western narration.They summarized the Asianism thought that India and the East were synonymous,Eastern civilization was distinguished by spiritual profundity,and that the East and the West complimented each other perfectly.The second period began in the early 20 th century,during which,India's Asianism began to seek for participation in political construction and continuously interact with Japan and China.The third period began with India's independence in 1947 and the partition of India and Pakistan,when Asianism was combined with India's great power aspirations.Meanwhile,in India's Asianism,Japan occupies an important position.On the one hand,Japan is a natural part of India's Asianism.Not only is Japan geographically Asian,but throughout long history,it has been exposed to the influence of Buddhism,which originated in Indian civilization.On the other hand,as the first Asian country which realized industrialization and defeated a European power,Japan's technological,institutional and ideological development attracted the attention of a large number of Indians and influenced the development of Indian Asianism in the second period.After World War II,Indo-Japan relations reestablished close ties after a brief period of decline.Today,bilateral cooperation between the two countries has been developing continuously.The jointly advocation of an Asia-Pacific strategy of the two countries can be seen as a repercussion of India's Asianism which sought Japan's help as well as of Japan's Pan-Asianism which tried to unite with India.From the perspective of Indian Asianism,Japan has unique manifestations caused by various historical factors.From the view of xenophobic religious departmentalism,Japan is a close religious partner that should be united,while from the perspective of anti-imperialism in constructing an independent Asia,Japan is the symbol of Asian sovereignty.Japan can be both a valuable overseas base for India's anti-colonial actions and an exception to "a united Asia".This unique historical process and understanding enables India to have views of Japan which is different to that of the Northeast Asian countries such as China and the Republic of Korea,which see Japan as an aggressor in the past.India's views of Japan avoid the obstacles brought by historical conflicts and make it easier to form long-term cooperation between the two sides.The development of Asianism in India keeps developing,while factors of the past Indian Asianism are still influencing various aspects of Indian politics.It is helpful for us to better understand India's thought and policy,and the current relationship between India and Japan by sorting out the context of India's Asianism and its view of Japan in the first half of the 20 th century.