Discovering Bushidō in China: Endeavours of Liang Qichao

Title

Discovering Bushidō in China: Endeavours of Liang Qichao

Author

Ji-dong CHEN

Page

219-254

DOI

Abstract

Although the term Bushidō (Wushidao in Chinese) is Japanese, the concept has its own history in China. In October 1904, The politician and philosopher Liang Qichao used Wushidao in Chinese (Oct. 1904) to advocate a renovating spirit in China. This article examines the range of receptions given to Liang's adoption and creation of wushidao from the publication of his Zhongguohun Anzaihu (中國魂安在乎) ("The soul of China! Where are you?", 1899), to that of Shangwulun (尚武論) ("On the cult of the warrior," 1903), and that of Zimozi Xueshuo (子墨子學說) ("The theory of Zi Mo Zi," 1904), and eventually to that of Zhongguo Zhi Wushidao (中國之武士道) ("Chinese Bushidō," Oct. 1904). The present paper also discusses the origins of Liang's arguments and traces them to the influence of Fukuzawa Yukichi, Inoue Tetsujirō and especially Arima Yūmasa, a student of Inoue, who came up with the phrase "Meiji Bushidō" during the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War. This study demonstrates that both Chinese and Japanese intellectuals employed the term Bushidō (Wushidao) to reconstruct their sense of national identity and destiny. This study also examines the contemporary claims of Japan and China for the leading role in East Asia, based on their respective interpretations of Bushidō, which in turn related profoundly to state of their cultural inheritance, intellectual progress and political realities of the day.

Keyword

Soul of China, Worship of Warrior, Wushidao, Meiji Bushidō, Shashenchengren

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