Sign of the Times
Ability to absorb knowledge helped Japan embrace modern Western civilization
I mentioned in the previous installment of my column that Meiji Japan was the first non-Western society to cope effectively with modern Western civilization. It was made possible with the combination of two qualities of the period encompassing the final years of the Edo and the early Meiji. One was "joi" (expulsion of barbarians), the spirit of protecting Japan's independence and dignity. The other was the ability to voraciously absorb knowledge from other civilizations. It was when the energy of exclusionist terrorism was transformed into the formidable and humble struggle for modernization that Japan made its way toward breakthroughs with significant implications for world history.
So why was Japan able to accomplish such a feat? Its experience in the 19th century was, in fact, not the first instance in which Japan had taken this sort of reaction. In ancient times, Japan had overcome another crisis by employing the same type of approach with Chinese civilization.
It was in 108 B.C. that the Han dynasty conquered the Korean Peninsula and set up the Lelang commandery. After the fall of the Han dynasty in the third century, the kingdom of Goguryeo, which had gained power in northern Korea, crushed the Lelang commandery, ending 400 years of Chinese rule on the peninsula. Goguryeo in the North, Baekje in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast made up the three kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula. Rising to power off the coast was Wa, or the Yamato dynasty, which advanced into the Korean Peninsula from the late fourth century and established a base on the southern tip. The Yamano sent its troops occasionally to the peninsula and influenced the antagonistic balance of the three kingdoms. Baekje, the military underdog of the three which needed Wa support, gained Wa's favor by supplying Buddhism and various Chinese artifacts to the Japanese dynasty.
With the Sui dynasty's unification of China in the late sixth century, changes were set in motion in all of Northeast Asia. Baekje and Silla pledged allegiance to the Sui order, but Goguryeo did not. A 1-million-man strong attack on Goguryeo was launched by Emperor Yang of Sui but ended in failure as a result of tenacious Goguryeo resistance. Despite what Emperor Yang perceived as Wa's insolence from a letter in which Japan's Prince Shotoku implicitly demanded equal treatment from China, calling Yang "the son of heaven where the sun sets" and himself "the son of heaven where the sun rises," Yang most likely embraced the Japanese emissaries to Sui because of strategic considerations for the Yamato dynasty that lurked beyond Sui's archenemy.
When the Tang dynasty was established in 618, each of the three kingdoms of Korea paid tribute to the big power to their west. However, the Tang order did not bring peace to the Korean Peninsula; Goguryeo formed an alliance with Baekje to invade Silla.
It was at this point in time that a figure responsible for changing the course of Northeast Asian history appeared on the scene: Kim Chunchu, born into the Silla royalty, and who at one time nearly lost his life when he refused to relinquish Silla territory to Goguryeo. Two years after the Taika Reform took place, Chunchu arrived in Japan, where, as a man of character, he was able to gain the love and respect of the Yamato court. He returned to Silla the next year, and immediately went on to visit Emperor Taizong of Tang, where he also won over the Chinese emperor.
What was the motivation behind Chunchu's whirlwind tour? He had wanted to observe the inner workings of Northeast Asia's various major players with his own eyes to construct a national strategy for Silla. He concluded that Tang held the key to international relations in the region, and that an alliance with Tang would not only guarantee Silla's security but could possibly make Korean unification by Silla a reality.
Having succeeded in gaining trust from the Emperor, Chunchu formed a strong alliance with the Tang and reformed Silla in its image, even going so far as to adopt the Tang calendar. Chunchu became King Taejong Muyeol, and in 660, dispatched coalition troops with the Tang dynasty to capture Baekje.
After Baekje's fall, remaining forces attempted to restore the country. They asked Japan for the return of Buyeo Pung, a Baekje prince held hostage in Japan to ensure an alliance with Yamato, as well as Japanese military support. Japan's Empress Saimei and Prince Naka no Oe agreed to the request, sending 27,000 troops to the Korean Peninsula in 663. This is what is known as the Battle of Hakusukinoe.
This turned out to be a battle in which a serious mistake was called into question. As is recorded in the book of classical Japanese history "Nihon shoki" (The Chronicles of Japan), Japanese forces set off for battle under the assumption that a quick offensive by such a vast army as their own could bring an enemy to its demise without any preliminary investigations into the conditions of the battlefield such as weather and terrain. Having plunged into enemy land with no information or strategy, Japanese forces were completely defeated at once by the Tang-Silla alliance.
Japan's great moment came after this blow. Convinced that the Tang-Silla alliance would soon descend upon Japan, a mountain fortress and water fortress were built in Dazaifu, the military center of the Yamato dynasty. Citadels protected areas spanning from Kyushu to the Seto Inland Sea to Osaka Bay to Mount Ikoma, and comprised a beacon communication network. Moreover, in recognition of Yamato's strategic geographical weakness, Prince Naka no Oe moved the capital inland to Omi Otsu. This was all a serious effort to step up Japan's defense measures.
Meanwhile, having been forced to recognize the superiority of Tang civilization through its defeat in battle, Japan also launched vigorous national policy reforms starting the following year. Japan realized that its survival depended on learning the secrets of superior civilizations and making them its own. The approximately half a century between the Yamato navy's defeat and the establishment of Heijo-kyo in 710, the capital of a constitutional government modeled after that of Tang China, was a historical period of leaps and bounds in which ancient Japan was able to reach top standards in Northeast Asia at the time.
Eight years after Japan's defeat against the Tang-Silla forces, a Tang fleet of 47 ships sailed into the waters surrounding Japan. Surprisingly, it was not a military expedition, but a diplomatic mission, requesting Japan's cooperation against the fight with Silla, with a special gift of sending war prisoners back home.
What had happened?
After the Battle of Hakusukinoe, Silla had followed its own national strategy plan and in cooperation with Tang invaded Goguryeo, which resulted in the latter's fall in 668. Silla had accomplished Korean unification. Three years later, with Muyeol already dead, Silla took astonishing action. It captured the Korean headquarters of the Tang forces -- once the sponsor of Silla-led unification of the Korean Peninsula. It was a clear declaration of independence from the Tang dynasty. As a result, an angry Tang was asking Japan for its support in launching a disciplinary attack on Silla. Japan didn't want to take any rash behavior such as dispatching troops abroad again, instead focusing on internal enrichment while learning what it could from the Tang dynasty.
Japan's response to the Tang civilization -- displaying a strong desire to do whatever it takes to protect one's sovereignty while striving to learn what it can from other, more advanced civilizations -- is what kicked in approximately 1,200 years later in the 19th century, pushing Japan to become the first non-Western nation on equal footing with strong Western powers. (By Makoto Iokibe, president of the National Defense Academy of Japan)
(Mainichi Japan) June 17, 2009