Modern East Asia Research Articles

Familial hypodontia in bronze age Northwest China (1046–771BC)

ObjectiveThis research aimed to report hypodontia cases in a Middle Bronze Age high-tier cemetery in China and test the possible hereditary behind hypodontia by performing kinship tests on those individuals. DesignIn this study, dental anomalies were observed on a human skeletal sample (n = 45) uncovered from Yaoheyuan, China. Ancient DNA analysis was subsequently employed on a subsample of the Yaoheyuan individuals (n = 15), including individuals observed hypodontia and individuals randomly sampled from the cemetery for preliminary investigation on the cemetery demography. Kinship estimation tests (READ, TKGWV2, KIN, and F3 test) were subsequently employed. ResultsThe Yaoheyuan elite population had a prevalence (n = 7, 15 %) of tooth agenesis in either the maxilla or mandible, with one to two teeth missing. All missing teeth were incisors, except for one individual missing maxillary second molar. Preliminary ancient DNA results indicate that several kinship groups existed among interred individuals, including those with hypodontia, indicating the hereditary origin of these cases. ConclusionsThe prevalence of hypodontia observed on site is high compared to that in both modern East Asian populations and archaeological samples in the Chinese population. The preliminary kinship analysis suggests a case of familial hypodontia. Ancient DNA analysis should be thoroughly conducted in future studies to understand the genetic markers contributing to those hypodontia cases among the Yaoheyuan individuals.

Ethical leaders’ search for meaning: Ancient Confucian wisdom in Modern East Asia

In secular Western societies, individuals often embark on an autonomous quest for meaning in life, which, however, can lead to frustration. In contrast, many East Asian ethical leaders draw on age-old teachings to find fulfillment—an underexplored topic that merits further investigation. By analyzing ancient Confucian tenets and the discourses of modern Confucian leaders, this paper unveils three key aspects of the Confucian meaning of life: The Heavenly Way (the comprehension that good begets good), the Heavenly Mandate (the purpose of doing good), and the Heavenly Nature (the significance of one’s inherent goodness). From a psychological perspective, this “Confucian meaning framework” has persisted for millennia because its elements not only exhibit internal consistency and structural robustness but also fulfill humanity’s psychological needs for meaningfulness, transcendence, justice, self-improvement, competence, altruism, relatedness, morality, moral autonomy, and self-esteem. Therefore, ancient Confucian wisdom effectively counters the contemporary existential vacuum in modern East Asia. This paper highlights the crucial role of cultural heritage in our existential quests, opening new avenues for blending philosophical insights with psychological research. It also illustrates the power of psychological theories to explain the lasting influence of certain ancient cultures on modern life, demonstrating the intriguing interplay between culture and psychology.

Migration and Technological Dialogue in Early Modern East Asia: A Historiographical Review

ABSTRACTBy reviewing historiographical trends within existing scholarship on migration and movement, and knowledge and technological dialogue in early modern East Asia, this article demonstrates how these bodies of work have become increasingly interdisciplinary and inclusive, thereby challenging prior characterisations of the region. Recent trends within the field combined with considerations of embodiment are, however, laying the groundwork for more meaningful integration by examining how migrants actually transferred, adapted, and leveraged their knowledge and skills. This article concludes by pointing to the potential to fully bring to the fore the complex nature of both migrants and technological dialogue.

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Modernity and inter‐imperiality: Rethinking social theory in East Asia

AbstractThis paper aims to contribute to global social theory by contextualizing modernity/coloniality in East Asia. It begins with a reconstruction and evaluation of three sociological accounts of East Asian modernity, namely Kazuko Tsurumi's theory of endogenous development, Sun Liping's theory of communist civilization, and Chang Kyung Sup's theory of compressed modernity. Despite their insights, these theorists fail to transcend the Eurocentrism and methodological nationalism implicit in the paradigm of latecomer modernization. These problems can be better addressed by anti‐colonial perspectives, including Tani Barlow's colonial modernity, Chen Kuan‐Hsing's inter‐Asia, Xie Lizhong's post‐Western sociology, and Wang Mingming's civilizational anthropology. Yet European hegemony continues to define the spatiotemporal frame of these perspectives. To overcome the lingering problem of Eurocentrism, Laura Doyle's notion of inter‐imperiality is employed to highlight the power‐laden interaction and interdependence among imperial powers in the global and regional history of East Asia. This alternative approach, I argue, can shed new light on East Asian modernity and delineate its dialectical formation.

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia

Population genetic admixture and evolutionary history in the Shandong Peninsula inferred from integrative modern and ancient genomic resources

BackgroundAncient northern East Asians (ANEA) from the Yellow River region, who pioneered millet cultivation, play a crucial role in understanding the origins of ethnolinguistically diverse populations in modern China and the entire landscape of deep genetic structure and variation discovery in modern East Asians. However, the direct links between ANEA and geographically proximate modern populations, as well as the biological adaptive processes involved, remain poorly understood.ResultsHere, we generated genome-wide SNP data for 264 individuals from geographically different Han populations in Shandong. An integrated genomic resource encompassing both modern and ancient East Asians was compiled to examine fine-scale population admixture scenarios and adaptive traits. The reconstruction of demographic history and hierarchical clustering patterns revealed that individuals from the Shandong Peninsula share a close genetic affinity with ANEA, indicating long-term genetic continuity and mobility in the lower Yellow River basin since the early Neolithic period. Biological adaptive signatures, including those related to immune and metabolic pathways, were identified through analyses of haplotype homozygosity and allele frequency spectra. These signatures are linked to complex traits such as height and body mass index, which may be associated with adaptations to cold environments, dietary practices, and pathogen exposure. Additionally, allele frequency trajectories over time and a haplotype network of two highly differentiated genes, ABCC11 and SLC10A1, were delineated. These genes, which are associated with axillary odor and bilirubin metabolism, respectively, illustrate how local adaptations can influence the diversification of traits in East Asians.ConclusionsOur findings provide a comprehensive genomic dataset that elucidates the fine-scale genetic history and evolutionary trajectory of natural selection signals and disease susceptibility in Han Chinese populations. This study serves as a paradigm for integrating spatiotemporally diverse ancient genomes in the era of population genomic medicine.

중일(中日) 근대문예론의 형성과 그 이동(異同)에 관한 소고(小考)

This paper attempts to compare the literary theory of Tsubouchi Shoyo(坪內逍遙), which was developed from the 'arts-the arts' examined throughout Wang Guowei's(王國維) literary theory, and Wang Guei's literary theory, which was established as the early modern Japanese literary theory. As Tsubouchi Shoyo's first statement, 'Novels are art(美術)' in 『Shosetsu Shinzui(小說神髓)』 opened the chapter of modern Japanese literary theory, this paper aims to explore Wang Guowei's literary theories in relation to the formation of modern literary theory in China. Therefore, in the case of the formation of Japanese modern art theory, Tsubouchi Shoyo's use of Western literary theory and logic in his own way within the magnetic field of pragmatic thought and literary dance theory that spread throughout Japanese society in the 1880s, while building a literary theory that incorporated the discourse of the Japanese art world at the time, was used as a guide to examine the formation of Chinese modern art theory and Wang Guowei's literary theory treatise. This was further utilized to examine the shifts in the theses that were common to their literary theories. In fact, the formation environment of Sino-Japanese modern literary theory was different in terms of its reception and paragraph situation according to the way the two countries experienced modern East Asia, but there are also similar points. It is also true that Wang Guowei's and Tsubouchi Shoyo's views and arguments on the literary arts developed in very different ways after they published their literary theory works and related papers, depending on their respective life trajectories and the circumstances of their respective countries. Nevertheless, neither Tsubouchi Shoyo nor Wang Guowei built a separate literary theory that completely excluded the dominant discourse in the academic and literary circles of their time. Rather, Wang Guowei, who studied a wide range of disciplines, including mathematics and natural sciences, could be said to have been more attuned to and thought about the axioms of modern China's time and built his literary theories in response to them.

How Concrete Is Confucian Liberalism?

Abstract This commentary evaluates whether Roy Tseng’s Confucian Liberalism provides an attractive normative political philosophy for modern East Asia, compared with existing Confucian political theories. I argue that Tseng’s Confucian-Hegelian theory operates at a highly abstract level, without outlining institutional structures and policy orientations that embody his philosophical ideals. In contrast, leading Confucian political theorists in the past two decades, be they progressive, liberal, or traditionalist, have offered multiple “Confucian-inspired regimes” for modern societies. It is therefore doubtful whether Tseng has advanced a new alternative to existing proposals, and whether the theory of Confucian liberalism is truly sensitive to the “here and now.”

Northward Extension of East Asian Summer Monsoon Since the Miocene Set by the Uplift of Tibetan Plateau

AbstractThe modern East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) features an extension from tropical to subtropical areas. However, the fundamental process that determines the northward extension of EASM in the geological history remains unclear. Here, we showed evidence from proxy data, climate modeling, and theoretical solutions that the northward extension of EASM to today's boundary emerged no later than the Miocene. The extension was driven by the monsoon seasonal march which features stepwise northward rainfall stages. The seasonal progression of monsoon was determined by Rossby wave responses from early summer to late summer and caused by the weakening of westerly jet colliding with the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The Rossby wave responses further led to a northward migration of the western Pacific subtropical high and thereby monsoon precipitation. Our findings propose a novel physical linkage between the geological evolution of EASM and the TP uplift in the context of monsoon seasonal march.

Legitimation Game: The Anti-Japanese Textbook Issue in Sino–Japanese Relations, 1914–1937

ABSTRACT This article examines the anti-Japanese textbook issue, a diplomatic controversy from 1914 to 1937 between Japan and China over whether the Chinese government was inciting hatred against Japan by promoting school textbooks with offensive and xenophobic content. I argue that the issue represents a legitimation process, whereby Japan’s concern about the content of these textbooks was determined by, and fluctuated with, its need to mobilise domestic and international audiences for its China policy in changing geopolitical contexts. Such an approach helps to explain why the anti-Japanese textbook issue persisted for more than two decades after 1914 and why Japan’s approach to the matter inconsistently oscillated between interventionist and non-interventionist principles. More broadly, the article illustrates the value of paying closer attention to the internal inconsistencies of Japanese imperialism rather than merely its expansionist tendencies, and of analysing education and the writing of textbooks in early modern East Asia not just as a means of nation-building but also as part of Japan’s efforts to build its empire in a broader, transnational context.

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia, written by Sheila Miyoshi Jager

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia, written by Sheila Miyoshi Jager

Planning and construction of the British concessions and settlements in modern East Asia (1845–1876): Shanghai, Yokohama, and Tianjin

ABSTRACT Under British informal imperial policy, East Asia’s system of concessions and settlements rapidly spread and promoted modernization. Especially in the mid- to late nineteenth century, the formative phase of the concession system, Shanghai, Yokohama and Tianjin embraced modern Western urban planning and architectural ideas by implementing Land Regulations (LR). A comparison of institutions, policies and mutual influences resulting from British colonization in these three cities can reflect the intricate internal and external factors that shape their local modernization, which helps explain the urban development trajectory in East Asia. However, existing studies lack comprehensive comparative analysis, exploration of institutional motives for spatial formation and examination of correlations between urban management patterns. Therefore, this study aims to situate the relation between colonialism and modernization in East Asia through an analysis of promulgation process, content changes and spatial impact of LR, the fundamental law of the concessions. This study shows that LR had an inheritance influenced by Consul Alcock. Characteristics of modern urban planning emerged in management and space. The modernization process was shaped by the development of the British native urban governance system, changes in colonial policy and the different social contexts of China and Japan.

An Overview of Interaction within Pre-modern East Asian Region Through Buddhist Impact

Scholars have researched the impact of Buddhism on pre-modern and modern East Asia from different aspects, both within and between politics (states since the late 19th century): art, ideology, cultural practice, and food. Among existing academic literature on Buddhisms impact on the interaction between polities within East Asia, the expansion of certain material cultural elements and cultural concepts and foodways are among the major focuses. This paper employs the anthropological understanding of non-material and material components of culture. The working anthropological definition of religion is combined, to summarize and categorize the existing research on Buddhisms impact on pre-modern East Asian culture. Understanding culture in its material and non-material components, and its relationship with religion through time and space leads to this article to structure the relationship between Buddhism and pre-modern East Asian cultures into its expansion, its development, and its impact on different subcategories of a culture. The overview suggests an increase in future research on the multidirectional interaction of Buddhist pre-modern East Asian cultures and Buddhisms influence on greater foodway within different pre-modern East Asian societies.

The Influence of Confucian Cultural Values on the Social Roles of Contemporary Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Women

The background of the research is based on the problems and dilemmas faced by women in modern East Asian society. The research investigated how Confuciuss thoughts put social constraints on women in China, Japan, and South Korea because of their gender through the content of the books and the derived meaning of folk while looking at the ideological transformation of women in society to resist these regulations. People in those societies are often disciplined by thousands of years of traditional etiquette, hence the conflict between self-consciousness and cultural oppression brought about by Confucianism becomes an important topic among East Asian scholars. The paper aims to show how the Confucius norms build on the fixed gender role in different ways and analyze the social oppression of East Asian women, with the resistance and struggle that women are making in these countries. Hence a better understanding of the progress of women's rights in East Asian countries and the role of women in society. The significance of the paper is that it makes up the research gap on how Confucian culture oppresses women's social status and uses realistic scenes while demonstrating the transformation of women's self-consciousness under these regulations in a chronological sequence.

The Genealogy of Confucian Modernity and the Reconstruction of Confucian Traditions in Post-Liberation Korea

Abstract: This article aims to trace the genealogy of Confucian modernity after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule and analyze how the historical context in which Confucian traditions were reconstructed. It seeks to analyze the process through which the disparate concepts of modernity and Confucianism were combined, moving beyond the perspective of denigration and development of Confucian traditions found in existing studies and approaching it from the perspective of postcolonial studies and traditions as invented practices. From the post-liberation period to the early 1960s, two arguments competed: one viewed Confucianism as having ruined the country, while the other claimed that it had sprouted modern times. While the former view still persisted, Confucianism was being used for political purposes, and scholars including Ch'ŏn Kwanu made efforts to find the sprout of modernism from Confucianism. The turning point came with the fervor of "modernization" that swept the country and the world in the 1960s. Influenced by domestic and foreign modernization theories, including Rostow's modernization theory, which began in the United States, the Park Chung Hee regime embraced the "modernization of the motherland" as its slogan. At the academic level, this trend was reinforced by the United States' support for Korean studies. In this process, discussions linking traditional Confucianism with modernization became more sophisticated in the intellectual community. By the late 1960s, these discussions went beyond explaining the connection between Confucianism and modernity through the concept of sprouting and reached a level of directly mentioning their connection. In the 1970s, this trend intensified further, leading to the conclusion that sirhak (practical learning) in Confucianism had pioneered its own modernization theory before the adoption of Western modernity. Through these analyses, this study aims to delineate the genealogy of discussions about Confucianism, such as that it is the cause of underdevelopment represented by stagnation or that it is the basis of East Asian modernity. Ultimately, by analyzing the contexts in which Confucian traditions are reconceptualized, this study aims to critically reconstruct the notions of tradition, nationalism, and modernity.

Inheritance and Innovation of Corporate Culture: The Integration of Confucianism and Christianity by Modern East Asia Company

Confucianism has a far-reaching influence on all aspects of politics, economy and culture of China, and it is also the ideological foundation of corporate culture construction. The introduction of foreign religions into China in modern times also had an important impact on modern Chinese enterprises and their culture. East Asia Company have successfully created a corporate culture of harmony, service, humanism and win-win by absorbing the excellent ideas of Confucianism and the spirit of Christianity, which is a successful example of the perfect connection between Chinese and Western spirits, and their excellent ideas and valuable experience still have a very important role in shaping contemporary corporate culture.

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia by Victor Seow (review)

Plato in East Asia?

Shadi Bartsch in her recent publication Plato goes to China (2023) has argued that Plato and the Greek classics have had an out-sized impact on Chinese politics and intelligentsia. This article, while sympathetic to her approach, argues that there is little evidence that Plato and the Greek Classics have exerted any direct influence on Chinese politics. Rather it argues that what influence Plato has had on China is actually indirect via a pre-war national socialist Japanese filter. In pre-World War II Japan Plato was fetishized as the ancient source of western socialist and communist thinking. Radical extremists such as Kita Ikki and Kanokogi Kazunobu created a new ideology that mingled aspects of Platonism with socialism and Japanese nationalism. They hoped thereby to create a modern-day Platonic utopia for the East Asian races (and for the Japanese in particular). This article examines how this modern-day “version” of Platonism with “Asian” characteristics impacted on pre-war Japan and modern East Asia as a whole.