ABSTRACT
Today, our world is witnessing the acceleration of globalization. However, amid this process, East Asia faces a particular problem: the contradicting interpretations of World War II in this region’s various countries. Such cognitive contradictions are seemingly the result of conflicting historical views. But in fact, they represent a general situation of political rivalry and economic conflicts in the region.
The Chinese people traditionally tend to judge historical events from a moral standpoint. More specifically, the Chinese consider the West to be invaders and conspirators. At the same time, however, they have to concede the role of the West as the enlighteners and advocates for modern civilization. The contradictions in the Chinese worldview are obvious. Deeply influenced by the pre-modern tributary system, the Chinese are used to understanding the current conflicts in East Asia from the worldview of tianxia, which privileges the unified central authority and therefore tends to be self-centered. In addition, since revolutionary historiography is still the prevailing interpretation of modern Chinese history, the history of East Asia is customarily described as Asia’s resistance against the West and a revolution against local tradition. Moreover, given China’s success in economic construction over the past 40 years, nationalism has gradually and unwittingly given rise to an overwhelming national pride and national arrogance. We urgently need to reflect on the influences of these factors in shaping Chinese historical perceptions.
When discussing collaborative studies of historical perception in East Asia, we need to take into consideration a broad range of issues, including the mode of thinking, pragmatic interests, and so on. In my view, the current cooperation of East Asian historians is an unofficial attempt to form a community that starts from a common ground of historical consciousness and seeks to achieve agreement and smooth the tensions and conflicts that have resulted from real politics. It is an attempt by intellectual groups to overcome the political reality.
