Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (''also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism'') is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian peoples. Various theories and movements of Pan-Asianism have been proposed, particularly from East, South and Southeast Asia. The motive for the movement was the values of

Western imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

and colonialism, and that Asian values preceded

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

values.

Japanese Asianism

Pre- World War II Japanese Pan-Asianism was, at its core, the idea that Asia should unite against European imperialism. Japanese Asianism developed in intertwining among debates on solidarity with

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n nations who were under pressure of Europe and on aggressive expansion to the Asian continent. The former debates originated from liberalism. Their ideologues were Tokichi Tarui (1850–1922) who argued for equal Japan- Korea unionization for cooperative defence against the European powers, and Kentaro Oi (1843–1922) who attempted domestic

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

al government in Japan and reforms of Korea. Pan-Asian thought in Japan began to develop in the late 19th century and was spurred on particularly following the defeat of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

(1904–1905). This created interest from Indian poets

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and Sri Aurobindo and Chinese politician

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serv ...

The growing official interest in broader Asian concerns was shown in the establishment of facilities for Indian Studies. In 1899, Tokyo Imperial University set up a chair in Sanskrit and Kawi, with a further chair in

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yiel ...

being set up in 1903. In this environment, a number of Indian

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s came to Japan in the early twentieth century, founding the

Oriental Youngmen's Association The Oriental Youngmen's Association was founded in Japan in 1900 to facilitate the cultivation of friendship among Japanese, Indian, and other Asian students studying in Japan. It was an early expression of Pan-Asianism Satellite photograph of Asi ...

in 1900. Their anti-

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

political activity caused consternation to the Indian Government, following a report in the London ''

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * ''The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

''. However, Japanese society had been strongly inclined to ultranationalism from the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. The latter debates on aggressive expansionism to

became clearly apparent. Their representatives were the Black Ocean Society and the

Black Dragon Society The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan. History The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by martial artist Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor Mitsuru Tōyama's '' Gen'yōsha''. I ...

. The Black Dragon Society (1933) argued for

Japanese imperialism This is a list of regions occupied or annexed by the Empire of Japan until 1945, the year of the end of World War II in Asia, after the surrender of Japan. Control over all territories except most of the Japanese mainland (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyus ...

and expansionism, and they led to a debate on securing the Asian continent under Japanese control. Exceptionally,

Ryōhei Uchida was a Japanese ultranationalist political theorist, Pan-Asianist, and martial artist, active in the pre-war Empire of Japan. Biography Uchida was born in Fukuoka prefecture. He was the son of '' Shinto Muso-ryu'' practitioner Uchida Ryōgorō ...

(1874–1937), who was a member of the Black Dragon Society, was a Japan-Korea unionist and activist of Philippines and Chinese revolutions.

Tōten Miyazaki or Torazō Miyazaki (1 January 1871 – 6 December 1922) was a Japanese philosopher who aided and supported Sun Yat-sen during the Xinhai Revolution. While Sun was in Japan, he assisted Sun in his travels as he was wanted by Qing dynasty autho ...

(1870–1922) consistently supported a Chinese revolution of

with spiritual sacrifice and sympathy under imperial Japan.

Okakura Kakuzō (also known as 岡倉天心 Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar and art critic who in the era of Meiji- Restoration reform defended traditional forms, customs and beliefs. Outside Japan, he is chiefly renowned for '' The Book of Tea: A Jap ...

(1862–1913) criticized European imperialism as a destroyer of human beauty, and argued for romantic solidarity with diverse "

as one" against European civilization.

ASIA is one. The Himalayas divide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, the
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
with its communism of Confucius, and the Indian with its individualism of the Vedas. But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for the
Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *'' Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *'' The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilat ...
and
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...
, which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the great religions of the world, and distinguishing them from those maritime peoples of the Mediterranean and the Baltic, who love to dwell on the Particular, and to search out the means, not the end, of life.''

In this Okakura was utilising the Japanese concept of ''sangoku'', which existed in Japanese culture before the concept of

became popularised. ''Sangoku'' literally means the "three countries": ''

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separat ...

'' (the largest island of Japan), '' Kara'' (China) and ''

Tenjiku Tianzhu which also referred as Heaven is the historical East Asian name for India, Originally pronounced as l̥induk or *qʰl'iːn tuɡ 天竺 in Old Chinese, it comes from the Chinese transliteration of unattested Old Persian diminutive *Hi ...

'' (India). However, most Pan-Asianists were

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and imperialistic and were connected with rightist organizations. They discussed self-righteous solidarity which led to

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

such as a "new order" of East Asia and " Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" based on Japanese supremacy.

New Greater Asianism from China

From a Chinese perspective, Japanese Asianism was interpreted as a rationalized ideology for Japanese military aggression and political absorption (cf. Twenty-One Demands). In 1917, Li Dazhao (1889–1927) argued for the liberation of Asian nations and equal greater Asian union. In 1924,

(1866–1925) stated that the West was

hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...

and the East was Confucian, and he argued for full independence by resisting colonialism with "Greater Asianism" which unified Asian nations.

Early period of Pan-Asianism

More significant and successful spread of Pan-Asianism than Japan's period in World War II was seen during the reign of Genghis Khan ''(Temuchin).''. At the beginning of the 13th century, Genghis Khan wanted to unite all the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

s in Central Asia (especially the nomadic tribes) and unite them into a single nation and gather the Mongolian political identity under the same roof. and established the world's largest contiguous empire.

Turkish Pan-Asianism

Pan-Asianism in Turkey has not yet been fully explored, it is not known how many people hold this ideology and how widespread it is. However, Turks who supports Japan in the Second World War and has the Pan-Asianism ideology uses a redesigned Turkish flag based on Japan's flag in the Second World War.

Pan-Asianism post World War II

Political leaders from

in the 1910s and 20s to

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the offic ...

in the 1990s argue that the political models and ideologies of Europe lack values and concepts found in Asian societies and philosophies. European values such as individual rights and freedoms would not be suited for Asian societies in this extreme formulation of Pan-Asianism. The idea of " Asian values" is somewhat of a resurgence of Pan-Asianism. One foremost enthusiast of the idea was the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. In India,

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...

dreamed of a united socialist Asia.

References

Bibliography

* Saaler, Sven and J. Victor Koschmann, eds., ''Pan-Asianism in Modern

Japanese History The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventi ...

: Colonialism, Regionalism and Borders.'' London and New York: Routledge, 2007. * Saaler, Sven and C.W.A. Szpilman, eds., ''Pan-Asianism: A Documentary History,'' Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. two volumes (1850–1920, 1920–present). (vol. 1), (vol. 2) * Saaler, Sven and C.W.A. Szpilman, "Japan and Asia," Saaler, Sven and C.W.A. Szpilman, eds.,
Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese History
'. London: Routledge, 2018, pp. 25–46 (accessible online https://routledgehandbooks.com/pdf/doi/10.4324/9781315746678.ch3).