Untitled Flashcards Set

ANT370 Cultures in East Asia - Midterm Review

China

• Cohen - Changing Han: Myron Cohen discusses how Han identity has evolved due to political, economic, and cultural shifts, moving from traditional Confucian structures to modern national identity.

• Imperial Chinese System: The bureaucratic, Confucian-based system that governed China for centuries, emphasizing hierarchy, meritocracy, and the Mandate of Heaven.

• Han Civilization & Han Identity: Han Chinese make up the majority ethnic group in China; their identity has been shaped by Confucian values, historical unity, and state policies.

Philosophy & Governance

• Qi and Mandate of Heaven: Qi refers to life force/energy in Chinese cosmology, while the Mandate of Heaven was the divine right to rule, used to justify dynastic power.

• Confucian Education, Rituals, and Relationships: Confucianism structured Chinese society through education, respect for hierarchy, and moral conduct, shaping governance and family life.

Japan (Hendry - Identity & History)

• Waves of Japanese Identity: Japanese identity has shifted through different historical periods, influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, Westernization, and modern nationalism.

• Historical Change and Identity: Japan’s identity evolved through feudalism, imperial expansion, post-war pacifism, and economic modernization.

• Japanese Diasporas: Japanese migration to places like Brazil and the U.S. has created distinct overseas Japanese communities.

• Sources of Identity: Japanese identity is shaped by language, history, Shinto and Buddhist traditions, and social structures.

• Aging Japan: Japan has one of the world’s oldest populations, causing labor shortages and social welfare challenges.

• Changing Japanese Relationships with China: Historically complex due to war memory, economic ties, and political tensions.

Memory & War (Wang - Manufacturing of War Memory)

• WORAJ: War memory is contested in Japan and China, with different narratives about WWII and responsibility.

• Mao and the Communist Revolution: Mao Zedong led the Communist revolution in 1949, establishing the PRC with socialist reforms.

• Great Leap Forward: A failed economic campaign (1958-1962) that led to famine and millions of deaths.

• Cultural Revolution: Mao’s attempt (1966-1976) to purge capitalist elements, leading to mass persecution and social upheaval.

• Historical Amnesia: The deliberate forgetting or rewriting of history, often seen in China regarding events like the Cultural Revolution.

• Nanking Massacre: The mass killing of Chinese civilians by the Japanese army in 1937, still a major point of historical contention.

• Tiananmen Square: The 1989 pro-democracy protests violently suppressed by the Chinese government.

Right-Wing Manga & Historical Memory – Shields

• Discursive Manga – Manga as a medium for historical debate, often used to shape narratives about Japan’s past.

• Manga as a Site of Historical Debate – Some manga portray Japan as a victim of WWII rather than an aggressor, while others challenge revisionist narratives.

• Peaceful Japan vs. Nationalist Narratives – Tension between Japan’s postwar pacifist identity and right-wing efforts to restore nationalist pride.

• State Shinto & WWII – Shinto was used to justify imperial expansion and loyalty to the emperor before its state sponsorship was dismantled after Japan’s defeat.

• Yasukuni Shrine & Kamikaze Pilots – A controversial shrine honoring Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals, linked to nationalist views on WWII.

• Patriotic Education & Revisionist Textbooks – Right-wing efforts to revise history textbooks to downplay Japan’s wartime atrocities and emphasize nationalist pride.

Transnational Religion (Reader & Tolentino)

• Aum: A doomsday cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.

• WWII and State Religions: State-sponsored religious ideologies during the war.

• Alienated Youth, Ennui, and Societal Voids: Religious movements gaining traction among disillusioned youth.

• Unification Church: A transnational religious group with political influence.

• American Occupation & Religious Freedoms: The post-war U.S. occupation introduced religious freedoms in Japan.

• Falun Gong: A spiritual movement in China, perceived as a political threat and suppressed by the state.

• Qi Gong & Health Crisis: Traditional Chinese healing practices that gained popularity but were also politically sensitive.

• Spiritual Vacuum of Communism: The loss of traditional spirituality under Communist rule.

• Threat to Chinese State & Repression: The PRC’s crackdown on religious movements like Falun Gong.

• Real Chinese History & Right-Wing US Politics: How religious groups align with political ideologies.

Reproduction in China (Zhu)

• One-Child Policy: China’s population control policy (1979-2015) with lasting social consequences.

• High-Quality Babies & Biopower: State control over reproduction to shape the population’s quality.

• Super Mums & Surveillance: The pressure on mothers to raise "ideal" children under strict government oversight.

• Cultural Hegemony & Cultural Authorities: The dominance of state narratives over reproductive policies.

• Biomedicalization of Childbirth: Increased medical intervention in childbirth.

• Consuming Motherhood & Commercialization: The commodification of motherhood through products and services.

Sports (Morris)

• Indigenous Identity & Chiwanese: The merging of Chinese and Taiwanese identities through sports.

• Mainlander vs. Taiwanese Identity: Political and cultural divisions within Taiwan.

• Japanese Colonization & Sports and Civilization: Japan’s influence on Taiwan through sports.

• Physical Culture Movement: Sports as a tool for modernization.

• 228 & White Terror: Taiwanese political repression (1947).

• Little League World Series: Taiwan’s dominance in youth baseball.

Food Culture (Sand & King)

• Umami & Colonization and MSG: The role of taste science in global food cultures.

• Social Life of an Ingredient & Civilization, Taste, and Food: How food connects to identity and class.

• Science & Processed Foods & Chinese Restaurant Syndrome: The politics of MSG and food safety.

• “Chinese” Food in Taiwan & Nationalist’s Cooking: How cuisine reflects political identity.

• Diaspora Foods & Authentication Strategies: The role of food in maintaining cultural identity abroad.

• CCP’s Reclaiming of Chinese Food: State efforts to define authentic Chinese cuisine.

Environmental Issues & Waste (Morimoto, Landsberger, Gygi)

• 3/11 & Triple(4) Disaster: The 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan.

• The Place of the Rural in Contemporary Japan: Rural revitalization efforts.

• Furusato (Hometowns) & Liminal Boars: The symbolic importance of rural spaces.

• Ecosemiotics & Decontamination Efforts: The cultural meanings of environmental clean-up.

• Garbage-scapes: The politics of waste management in China and Japan.

• Plastic Japan & Incinerators and Erasures: Japan’s waste export practices.

• Clean Japan & Waste Exports: The myth of Japan’s environmental cleanliness.

Youth & Social Change ("Lie Flat" - Su)

• Lying Flat & Involution: Youth rejecting overwork culture.

• Moral Panics & Competitive Worlds (996): The extreme work culture (9 AM-9 PM, 6 days a week) in China.

• Pressure to Marry & Changing Attitudes of Youth: Declining marriage rates and shifting gender roles.

• Social Mobility & Non-Violent Resistance: Economic stagnation leading to passive resistance.

Detailed Historical Dates/Events:

China

Mao and the Communist Revolution (1921–1949)

• 1921 – The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is founded in Shanghai.

• 1934–1935 (Long March) – Mao Zedong leads the Red Army on a retreat to evade the Nationalist forces; it becomes a key moment in Communist history.

• 1945–1949 (Chinese Civil War resumes) – After WWII, the CCP (led by Mao) and the Nationalists (Kuomintang, KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek) resume fighting.

• 1949 (Establishment of the People's Republic of China, PRC) – The CCP defeats the Nationalists, who retreat to Taiwan. Mao proclaims the PRC on October 1, 1949.

Great Leap Forward (1958–1962)

• A campaign to rapidly industrialize China, particularly in steel and agriculture.

• Led to widespread famine due to poor planning and collectivization failures.

• Estimated 30-45 million deaths, making it one of the deadliest human-caused disasters in history.

Cultural Revolution (1966–1976)

• Mao, fearing a return to capitalism, launches a campaign to purge “bourgeois” elements.

• Red Guards (youth groups) attack intellectuals, officials, and historical sites.

• The chaos leads to economic disruption, mass persecution, and millions of deaths.

• Ends with Mao’s death in 1976 and the arrest of the “Gang of Four” (including Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing).

Nanking Massacre (December 1937–January 1938)

• The Imperial Japanese Army captures Nanjing (then China’s capital) and commits mass executions, sexual violence, and looting.

• Estimated 200,000–300,000 civilians and POWs killed.

• A major source of historical tension between China and Japan.

Tiananmen Square Massacre (June 4, 1989)

• Pro-democracy protests led by students and intellectuals in Beijing.

• The Chinese government imposes martial law; the military fires on protesters.

• Estimated several hundred to thousands killed.

• The event is heavily censored in China today.

Japan

Waves of Japanese Identity & Historical Change

1. Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868) – Japan was under a feudal military government, isolated from foreign influence.

2. Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) – Japan modernized rapidly, abolishing feudalism and building a strong military and industry.

3. Imperial Expansion & WWII (1931–1945) – Japan invades China (Manchuria in 1931, full war in 1937) and later enters WWII.

4. Post-war Pacifism (1945–present) – After WWII, Japan adopts a pacifist constitution and focuses on economic growth.

WWII and Japan’s Defeat (1939–1945)

• 1941 (Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7) – Japan attacks the U.S., bringing America into WWII.

• 1945 (Atomic Bombs & Surrender)

  • August 6: Hiroshima bombed.

  • August 9: Nagasaki bombed.

  • August 15: Japan surrenders.

• U.S. Occupation (1945–1952) – Japan is occupied by the U.S.; adopts a pacifist constitution in 1947.

Manufacturing of War Memory & Right-Wing Manga

• After WWII, Japan debates its role in the war.

• Some revisionist textbooks and manga downplay war crimes like the Nanking Massacre.

• Controversies over the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors war criminals.

Religion & Politics

State Shinto & WWII (1868–1945)

• Shinto was used to justify Japanese nationalism and emperor worship.

• The U.S. dismantled State Shinto after WWII.

Aum Shinrikyo (Tokyo Subway Attack, March 20, 1995)

• A doomsday cult releases sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and injuring thousands.

• The cult combined Buddhist, Hindu, and apocalyptic beliefs.

Falun Gong Repression (1999–Present)

• A spiritual movement based on Qi Gong meditation.

• The Chinese government bans it in 1999, seeing it as a political threat.

• Practitioners face persecution, including forced labor and organ harvesting accusations.

Reproduction & One-Child Policy (1979–2015)

• Introduced in 1979 to control population growth.

• Led to gender imbalances due to sex-selective abortions.

• Relaxed to a two-child policy in 2015 and later to a three-child policy in 2021 due to aging demographics.

Sports & Identity

Chiwanese & Mainlander vs. Taiwanese Identity

• Taiwan’s identity is shaped by Japanese colonization (1895–1945) and later rule under Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT.

• The 228 Incident (February 28, 1947) – Taiwanese uprising against KMT rule, violently suppressed.

• “White Terror” (1949–1987) – Martial law period in Taiwan with crackdowns on political dissent.

Little League World Series (1970s-1990s)

• Taiwan dominated international Little League baseball, symbolizing national pride.

Food & Cultural Identity

MSG & Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (1960s–Present)

• MSG, a flavor enhancer, became controversial in the U.S. during the 1960s, leading to racist stereotypes about Chinese food.

CCP’s Reclaiming of Chinese Food

• China has promoted regional cuisines (e.g., Sichuan, Cantonese) as part of its soft power.

Environmental Issues

Triple Disaster (3/11 Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Meltdown, March 11, 2011)

• A 9.0 earthquake triggers a tsunami, leading to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

• The radiation crisis led to decontamination efforts and debates on nuclear power.

Garbage-Scapes & Waste Management

• China’s "Circular Economy" & Recycling Policies:

  • 2017 (National Sword Policy) – China bans foreign waste imports, disrupting global recycling.

• Japan’s “Plastic Japan” & Clean Image:

  • Japan exports waste but promotes a “clean” national image.

Youth & Social Change ("Lie Flat" Movement, 2020s-Present)

• "Lying Flat" (Tang Ping) Movement – Young people in China reject overwork culture (996: 9 AM - 9 PM, 6 days a week).

• Pressure to Marry – Declining marriage and birth rates due to financial and social pressures.

• Non-Violent Resistance – Economic stagnation leads youth to quietly disengage rather than protest.