TTLV: Japan's Perception of the Great Oceanic Powers in the 19th Century

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Nguyen Anh Vu

2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: October 25, 1980

4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Decision No. 2119/2011/QD-XHNV-SDH dated November 1, 2011, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recognizing the student.

6. Changes in the training process:

(Note the types of changes and the corresponding times)

7. Thesis title:Japan's perception of the Great Oceanic Powers in the 19th Century

8. Major: Asian Studies Code: 60 31 06 01

9. Scientific supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim– University of Social Sciences and Humanities

10. Summary of the thesis results:

This thesis focuses on clarifying the following points:

The firstAlthough closely intertwined with Asian societies and having absorbed many refined cultural elements and values ​​from the currents of Eastern civilization, Japanese society possesses many distinctive features compared to other Asian societies. Perhaps nowhere else in Asian societies exists a feudal system of land ownership and distribution based on the "lord-servant" model as typical as in Japan. As an Eastern nation, the feudal political system with its decentralized power structure throughout seven centuries of Japanese history can also be considered a unique phenomenon. So what makes an East Asian nation like Japan share so many similarities with the inherent characteristics of the West?

MondayModern Japan, like other Asian countries, was also pressured by Western powers, but it was one of the first to recognize the necessity of learning from the West and successfully accomplished this task. New cultural and ideological currents gave rise to advanced economic foundations, paving the way for Japan's miraculous leap forward, transforming from an agricultural to an industrial economy. So, how did the Japanese perceive the power of the West, specifically the maritime powers from the West, before deciding to adopt the capitalist path?

TuesdayDespite being a highly successful capitalist society, Japan remains an Asian country with a typical East Asian culture. Japan has its own unique culture dating back to ancient times, and the Japanese character has been shaped throughout history within this cultural environment. Let's call this the Japanese character. Why, then, has the combination of Japanese character and Western knowledge led to such tremendous success? We choose to address these questions to understand how the Japanese perceived the Western maritime powers in the 19th century.

11. Practical applications: (if any)

12. Future research directions: (if any)

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Nguyen Anh Vu 2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: October 25, 1980 4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Admission decision number: 2119/2011/QD-XHNV-SDH Dated November 1, 2011

6. Changes in academic process:

(List the forms of change and corresponding times)

7. Official thesis title: The Conception of Japan about great marine-power nations in the 19th century

8. Major: Oriental Study 9. Code: 60 31 06 01

10. Supervisors: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Van Kim

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

The thesis concentrated on three points below:

First, although there is a very close relationship with many Asian societies and meet different original sources of oriented cultures but Japanese society also contains a lots of strange cultural phenomenon compared to other Asian ones, for example |Western-style land possession in Japan. What makes Japan social so different like that?

Second, in the modern times, both Japan and other Asian countries were under coercion by the Western but only Japan realized the fact that they have to learn from the Western and have done this with a great success. And it is one of the most important reasons that helped Japan make a great step forward, transforming to an industrialized country from an outdated agricultural one. What Japanese people think about the Western, especially the great marine power countries, to decide learning from them?

Thirdly, being a successful capitalized country but Japan is also an Asian society with its symbolic characteristics. Japan had its own culture from the beginning and the characters of the Japanese also formed independently along with historic time. If we call it Japanese character, so why this Japanese character and Western knowledge combined also broungt such a great success?

12. Practical applicability, if any:

13. Further research directions, if any:

14. Thesis-related publications: