My Individualism Written by Natsume Soseki

1658 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of western in civilization and culture

Japanese and Chinese culture had different response towards the western modernization. The two document of “The Heritage of Japanese Civilization” written by Albert M. Craig will help us analyzed the differences and perspective from the Chinese reforming its country. The four document in “The Heritage of Chinese Civilization” which also written by Albert M. Craig will help us see a better perspective from different authors of Chinese culture changes through modernization. This will help us understands the difference between the Chinese and Japanese culture response of western modernization.
The document My Individualism written by Natsume Soseki describes how Japanese society wanted individuality because the people of the country wanted to do everything to benefit for themselves rather than doing it for the country. It states that “His only aim is to earn a living though as a result he may meet a social need and indirectly benefit the nation… but would it be awful if a person always had to keep the nation in mind…” This is an example of an ordinary person earning money and doing everything to keep himself living, but since Japan has encountered the western cultures, the Japanese feels as if they also need to improve themselves. When Japan was adjusting to the western ideals, many of the older generation was still living in the past while they are unable to move forward compare to the newer generation. As for this, the ordinary people are working every day for the sake of the country rather than doing this because they wanted to. It also stated “…if he had to eat his meal or the sake of the nation, wash his face for the sake of the nation, and go to the toilet for the sake of the nation!” This describes they everything they...

... middle of paper ...

...r old systems. Japan was more about changing and advancing the country, while for China they were comfortable with what they had, until realizing that they didn’t want to lose to the world. As well it also felt like China was very intimidated by the west because of their strong and powerful military. A small country like Japan had won wars after altering their country, it gave China more reasons that they need to be aware of modernization.

Works Cited

1. Albert M. Craig, The Heritage of Japanese Civilization (New York: Prentice Hall, 2011), 118.
2. Craig, Japanese Civilization, 118.
3. Craig, Japanese Civilization, 128.
4. Craig, Japanese Civilization, 128.
5. Albert M. Craig, The Heritage of Chinese Civilization (New York: Prentice Hall, 2011), 134.
6. Craig, Chinese Civilization, 139.
7. Craig, Chinese Civilization, 144.
8. Craig, Chinese Civilization, 145.

Show More
Related

  • 1450-1750 Eastern Asian Relations With Europe

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... In conclusion, Japan tried to isolate themselves, and China tried to compete with them, using their land, and excess population. Documents one through ten were all about China, and documents eleven through sixteen were about Japan. Documents one, two, three, and seven talked about whether China was prepared for the European countries, and documents five, six, and nine talked about whether or not China compared to the European countries.

    Read More

  • DBQ Chapter 22

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    East Asia from 1450-1750, including China, Japan, and Ming China, used many different strategies for empire and state building including taking voyages around the world to get ideas for their empire, having a good educational system and a strong, powerful government, including women in schooling and political events, having different views on religious freedoms and having a tough military.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast China And Japan's Response To Western Penetration

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 19th Century, China and Japan each responded differently to western penetration. China was against industrializing and did not want to create an empire like those of the western empires. Japan however learned that if they wanted to survive they had to adopt the changes that the western empires were adopting. Japan began to create an industrialized society and soon became one of the major industrial powers. China went through many rebellions and finally decided to industrialize just enough to be able to fight off the western empires. However, they did not industrialize fast enough or big enough, and they could not defeat the west. Although they responded differently, both China and Japan were affected by western penetration economically,

    Read More

  • Comparing Han China and Ancient Rome

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ther religions since they never really comitted to one main religion. Han China spread Confucianism by leading Confucius lives, they used Confucius ideas for their law codes and taught Confucius ideas to their children. The Confucian ideas spread by the Han helped rulers like Wudi have long reigns of power by embracing rule by morals and ethics. It also helped spread written exams as ways to determine peoples places and jobs in society based off of merit as opposed to putting anyone anywhere just to give people jobs. China also had a growing population of Daoists who believed in the power of nature. As time progressed both of their societies changed their religions. Rome slowly progressed from a basic Hellenistic polytheism to the once persecuted Christianity. Meanwhile China, which was mainly a Confucian and Daoist led society began to accept and embrace Buddhism.

    Read More

  • Self Awareness By Esther Urdang Summary

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this article, the author, Esther Urdang, shows the readers how self-awareness is a necessity in the field of social work. She notes that being more self-aware protects social workers from things such as inappropriate relationships, burnout and not following necessary ethics. Urdang explains how specific casework, similarities between the client and worker, mental disability, involvement in a client’s personal life and self-disclosure can aid in developing inappropriate relationships. Towards the end of her article, she further emphasizes how social work education should focus on helping students become more secure in themselves and their experiences so they know how this affects their work (Urdang, 2010).

    Read More

  • Sense Of Self In A Separate Peace, By John Knowles

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    A strong sense of self, in the words of William Shakespeare, is “To know what we are, but not what we might be.” In the book, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the main character, Gene, ¬¬struggled with having a strong sense of self. His lack of identity negatively affected his life. The major consequence of his absent sense of self was his burning envy and hatred toward his extremely athletically gifted friend Finny. Gene’s lack of identity and hatred toward Finny led him to shake a limb if a tree that Finny was climbing. Finny fell and broke his leg. He later died when the bone marrow escaped into his blood. Gene’s behavior caused Finny’s death but there is reason to believe that Finny would have died anyway. For example, Finny could have been killed in the army, Finny’s lack of caution caused him to break his leg again, and the branch would have broken since it was already weak causing Finny to fall and die.

    Read More

  • Human Dignity by Francis Fukuyama

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his piece, “Human Dignity”, Francis Fukuyama explores the perception of human dignity in today's society. This perception is defined by what Fukuyama calls “Factor X”. This piece draws attention to how human dignity has been affected recently and its decline as we go into the future. Using the input given by the Dalai Lama in his piece, “Ethics and New Genetics”, the implementing of factor X and human dignity on future generations will be explored. Through the use of the pieces, “Human Dignity and Human Reproductive Cloning by Steven Malby, Genetic Testing and Its Implications: Human Genetics Researchers Grapple with Ethical Issues by Isaac Rabino, and Gender Differences in the Perception of Genetic Engineering Applied to Human Reproduction by Carol L. Napolitano and Oladele A. Ogunseitan, the decline on the amount of human dignity found in today's society as well as the regression in Factor X that can be found today compared to times past. Society's twist on ethics as a result of pop culture and an increase in genetic engineering has caused for the decline in the amount of dignity shown by the members of society and the regression of Factor X to take hold in today's society.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Tokugawa and Manchu

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Chinese and Japanese faced much internal conflict, but while China faced a combination of economic setbacks and political weakness, the Japanese were riddled with wars along their countryside. First, the Chinese emperor was too weak in comparison to his bureaucracy, which ended up making most of the decisions for the last Ming dynasty emperor. This was due to the emperor’s realization that having a title as Son of Heaven did not mean he had all the power of the empire. Instead he lived a laid back life where the bureaucrats vied for power and wealth amongst themselves and he merely managed them. Like the Chinese, the Japanese also saw elites battling it out for power, but this time on the battlefield with armies of samurai. These battles put Japan in a period much like the Warring States period in early Chinese history, where families fought and fought for power almost endlessly. The political weakness in China contributed to its economic failure as well. With no force to manage to seas, pirates were free to raid trade ships and villages along the coast line, weakening the Chinese economy that relied on a transport system to supply the country. These two major forces led to China’s fragmentation and eventual takeover by the Manchu. In contrast, the battles happening in Japan were not harmful to the economy as much as they were in China. This is due to the fact that the Japanese daimyos were independent...

    Read More

  • European Imperialism of China and Japan

    402 Words  | 1 Pages

    They also developed a Western style judiciary system. Japan and China reacted differently to the reforms of Imperialism. When put under pressure, Japan succumbed to the power of Western Imperialist ideas. Conversely, China, resisted for a long time. As a result, Japan had more technology, while China was unenlightened of the new advances.

    Read More

  • Westernization in China and Japan

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the middle of the 19th century, despite a few similarities between the initial responses of China and Japan to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately affected and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. At first, both of the Asian nations rejected the ideas which the West had brought upon them, and therefore went through a time period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands that were soon set by Western imperialism forced them, though in different ways, to reconsider. And, by the end of the 19th century both China and Japan had introduced ‘westernizing’ reforms. China’s aim was to use modern means to retain and preserve their traditional Confucian culture. Whereas Japan, on the other hand, began to successfully mimic Western technology as it pursued modernization, and thus underwent an astounding social upheaval. Hence, by the year 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world’s superpowers, whereas China was on the edge of anarchy.

    Read More

  • Why Europe and Not China in World Colonization?

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    For several centuries the Europeans were always trying to have the best of the best in their country. Because they were so greedy they went of on several voyages to trade and gain those products they desired like silk, porcelain, tea, and lacquer-ware. With this the Europeans were always trying to out due and impress the Chinese with their clocks and their scientific gadgets. But they were never impressed, the Chinese always believed they were better and never wanted much to do with the Europeans. The Chinese were always very advanced in every skill; they believed that they had all that they needed to be a strong nation.

    Read More

  • Essay On Individualism

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thoreau, Henry David, and Jeffrey S. Cramer. Walden : A Fully Annotated Edition. New Haven:

    Read More

  • Individualism And Collectivism Essay

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hypothesis: “We hypothesize that the performance of individual members in such situations is likely to be highest when the members hold both individualist and collectivist orientations toward their work” (Hollenbeck, Humphrey, Meyer, Wagner, 2012, pg. 947).

    Read More

  • Individualism Essay

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of Individualism can be traced all the way back to England before America’s existence. As we know, individualism has been interpreted in many forms throughout history. The 19th century is no different, taking hold of its own idea of individualism, called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism suggests freedom should not be confined to those focused on money and superficial gains. Instead, people should depend on no one but themselves. This movement focused on “greater individualism against conformity” (Corbett et al.). Heavily influenced by the Romantic period, transcendentalism adopted the belief that reason was more important than logic as Benjamin Franklin has believed. Reason must also include unique emotion and spirit (Corbett et

    Read More

  • The Myth Of Individualism Analysis

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the recent weeks, I have noticed a trend in our cultural beliefs regarding groups outside of our own. As a nation, while the United States has a strongly individualistic nature from a personal perspective, there is also a strong collectivist belief regarding everyone outside of themselves and their groups. Rather than believing that each member of an external group is responsible for their decisions alone (myth of individualism), separating them from a collective (one bad apple), the consensus is generally geared opposite. For example, the belief that all immigrants want to steal American jobs, when one is not an immigrant, or that feminists are actually misandrists, when one is not a feminist. What I believe we have

    Read More

More about My Individualism Written by Natsume Soseki

Open Document