Author ｜
Chen Wei-fen
Abstract ｜
Wenming 文明 is a term used in Chinese classics, meaning “brightness” (ming 明) of “culture” (wen 文), namely well-developed culture and education. It also connotes the yearning for the Three Dynasties. Not until the mid-nineteenth century did “wenming” become the Chinese translation of the western term “civilization.” Since then, the meaning of “wenming” has included the connotation of evolutionism from the received etymology of “civilization,” suggesting a well-structured social order and living style, which sharply contrasts with “savagery” and “barbarism.” The full development of Western imperialism in Asia led to the formation of the corresponding translation between “wenming” and“civilization.” Western great powers often used “civilization” as a description for the degree of their material life and thus regarded it as a universal criteria for evaluating other countries. The achievement of modernization established in the Meiji Restoration of Japan was called “Civilization and Enlightenment Movement” (wenming kaihua). The process of modernization went amazingly fast-possibly a unique experience in world history. Both Japanese and foreigners played important roles in promoting Japan’s civilization. This group of people included Japanese intellectuals, overseas ambassadors and students, and the foreign technological specialists and educators hired by the government and non-government organizations in Japan (they were called oyatoi gaikokujin in Japanese). They not only paid particular attention to the connotations and content of “civilization” through translation but also tried to introduce them to Japan. By analyzing the bilingual and Chinese dictionaries in the late Tokugawa period and Meiji period, Fukuzawa Yukichi’s works, and the text and images of the Iwakura Embassy, this article explores how“civilization” was symbolically presented in various aspects. Through the generalization of how the idea of “wenming” was circulated, this article portrays an alternative vision of Japan’s modernization.
keywords ｜
civilization, culture, modernity, Modern Japan and China, text/body