East-Asian Theory of Civilization: From the Arts View of Okakura Tenshin
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Yang, Yu-Ying
Abstract
This paper is going to research on Japan’s perceptions on Asia during the process of modernization. During the Meiji Restoration, when Japan met the Western, there were different voices in the society. Among these philosophers during the time, this paper focuses on Okakura Tenshin’s statements about Asia. Okakura(1863-1913) is a philosopher who played an active part as an leader in protecting the Japan’s traditional art and the art education. He had been the principal of The Tokyo Art School ( The Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko), cultivating many master artists of traditional Japanese art, such as Taikan Yokoyama, ShunsoHishida and Kanzan Shimomura. After he resigned from the Tokyo Art School, he founded The Japan Art Institute (The Nihon Bijutsuin) and worked as the curator of the Department of Asiatic Art of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to keep on preserving and promoting the beauty of the Japan and East-Asian Arts.
Besides Okakura’s art reviews, he also released 4 books, including 『The Ideals of the East』(1903), 『The awakening of the East』(wtitten in 1902 and published in1938), 『The awakening of Japan』(1904), and『The Book of Tea』(1906). Thought all of these books were written and completed during the later period of his life, to protect the spirit of the East has played as the main faith in the books. So the 4 books could be seen as a serial publication, declaring his opinions of the Asia.
People has been fixed their eyes on his most famous declaration-「Asia is one」, when making comments on his statements about the Asia. We could say that is has been the core of his perceptions. Here, I am trying to do text analysis, from his art comments to the 4 books , also with the background of Meiji Period, to understand his understanding of civilization and go back to what he has insists upon the relations of the Asia, Japan and the West.
Subjects
Okakura Tenshin
East Asia
Asia is one
Meiji
Type
thesis
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