Couple of quick notes from across the sea…today is National Foundation Day in Japan. Calculations derived from the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki date the beginning of the Japanese imperial line and the founding of the Japanese nation to February 13, 661 B.C.E., with the Emperor Jimmu getting the credit for both occasions. While the early chapters of these two texts are generally considered mythological…what the heck, I’m in no position to argue. It’s like dating 5000 years of Chinese history back to the Yellow Emperor, if people believe it, that’s great, more power to ‘em.
The lunar calendar dates in the Kojiki were ‘confirmed’ by the Emperor Kammu in the 8th Century C.E. and after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the Japanese government switched calendars, scholars fussed about and decided on the gregorian calendar date of February 11.
During the Meiji era, the day was proclaimed “Empire Day” in 1872, as a celebration of national unity and homage to the imperial line. Notably, the Japanese government also chose this date in 1889 to promulgate the Meiji Constitution. The annual celebration of empire (with not so subtle overtones of imperialism at key moments in history) was scuttled after World War II. The current holiday dates from 1966.
So, anyway, I’m thinking sushi sometime this week…
paul cohen‘s got a new book out that might be up your alley, j.
The ancient story of King Goujian, a psychologically complex fifth-century BCE monarch, spoke powerfully to the Chinese during China’s turbulent twentieth century. Yet most Americans–even students and specialists of this era–have never heard of Goujian. In Speaking to History, Paul A. Cohen opens this previously missing (to the West) chapter of China’s recent history. He connects the story to each of the major traumas of the last century, tracing its versatility as a source of inspiration and hope and elegantly exploring, on a more general level, why such stories often remain sealed up within a culture, unknown to outsiders. Labeling this phenomenon insider cultural knowledge, Cohen investigates the relationship between past story and present reality. He inquires why at certain moments in their collective lives peoples are especially drawn to narratives from the distant past that resonate strongly with their current circumstances, and why the Chinese have returned over and over to a story from twenty-five centuries ago. In this imaginative stitching of story to history, Cohen reveals how the shared narratives of a community help to define its culture and illuminate its history.
very tied into the memory of “national humiliation” as well, worth a look.
Given the historic occasion, sushi seems pretty much obligatory.
Speaking of China’s historical enemies, you missed the 30th Anniversary of the Sino-Vietnamese War. (Although, granted, Pol Pot is a more interesting subject.)
Tom,
I’m actually working on a post about that war for this week, the anniversary is coming up on February 17. It’s a fascinating subject which gets very little play in the PRC these days, surprising given that anywhere between 40,000 to 100,000 people were killed in the fighting.