Tuesday, January 12, 2010
How the Reading From Pages 577-580 Changed my Document-Based Theory
After reading, my thesis on the Japanese rise to power has changed very little. My first thesis was that Japan adopted other countries ideas while simultaneously denying their connection to the outside world to retain national pride. My thesis has become; Japan rose to power by generating national pride through successful revolution and feelings of social enlightenment as well as adopting new technologies and ideas from foreign powers discreetly. The parts in the reading which changed my thesis the most were the last two paragraphs on page 580. Before reading, I was unaware that Japan had revolted and overthrown the shogunate in the Meiji restoration; this turning point in Japanese history was crucial to the country's quick rise to power. Also, the idea that Japanese society would open up to foreign influence was something that was not conveyed in the documents as opposed to clearly demonstrated in the reading.
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I don't think that Japan adopted foreign ideas discreetly. Frankly, I think that would have been almost impossible for any countries to take ideas from others without any recognition, even if its not direct. I'm just not really sure by what you mean by "discreetly" taking ideas. Japan certainly used other ideas, but it was quite obvious that they were westernized.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think discreetly is the wrong word. I was trying to get the message accross that Japan did not like to give other countries credit for their influence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the last two paragraphs of our reading. It was mainly these paragraphs that changed my original thesis. The fact that Japan eventually opened up to other countries and that this was what fueled their success is key. The documents only displayed to us when Japan was very opposed to foreigners, and the section in the reading about the Meiji revolution was very much the opposite. While I was reading the documents and trying to create a thesis from them, I kept going back to why the situation in Japan did not turn out the same as the situation in China? The circumstances were very similar: both countries closing their doors to foreign influence. However, it is really the Meiji revolution that brought success to Japan; something China never had.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point you make about how japan was very open to other countries ideas, although they do not give any credit. This is probably because a foreigner wrote the textbook, but the documents were all made by japanese people, so they were biased and propoganda-like. This was probably why so many people in our class, including myself thought that the japanese were so independent.
ReplyDeleteBoth of your theses were equally wise, capturing the source of their motivation. Though outwardly it might seem somewhat arrogant and superficial, claiming these accomplishments as their own might have been necessary to keeping the people happy. This was especially true after a revolt - in an unstable society, keeping the government in good standing was very important.
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