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 * Dana's Asian Studies** **WikiPage**

**Sino-Japanese War**

View the wood block prints of the Sino-Japanese War 1.How are the Chinese soldiers portrayed in prints? The Japanese soldiers? 2.Look at the weapons used by each side, are they different? How? Does this tell us anything about Japanese technological advancement?

1. The Chinese soldiers are drawn small, and the are wearing traditional Chinese clothing, to represent that Chinese were not modernized enough. The Japanese are portrayed as heros, in a familiar pose, like the Kabuki actors playing the modern day warrior. The Japanese officer are wearing Western style uniforms and striking their brandished swords toward the enemy-Chinese. The Japanese seem as if they are always glorious. The prints illustrates that Japanese had high nationalism and thought that the Chinese were inferior. 2. The opposite sides are basically using similar kinds of weapons. In the print, the main, big Japanese officer always uses swords. But on some of the other printings, the Japanese changes to using from samurai swords to battleships or artillery wagons. There are some pictures that does show Japan’s technological advancement, which the Chinese are still using spears, while the Japanese are using rifle guns.

= Baseball for Japanese = Read the Ichiko's Baseball Club Rouser 1.Why do sports often become symbolic battlegrounds between nations? 2.Is imperialism/colonialism simply about militarily and politically controlling another nation, or is it also about proving one’s self-perceived cultural superiority over another? 1. It is because to some people, sports were a symbol of national strength. In Japan, the ruling elites tried to make themselves socially equal to foreigners by showing their mastery of Western social customs. Baseball was one of those Western custom. But as time went on, they wanted not only to be admitted by the Westerners, but to be ahead of them. So this made the competition between nations and sports soon became a symbolic battlegrounds. 2. Imperialism or colonialism is not only about controlling or colonizing another nation, but it is also about proving its superiority and boosting nationalism. They spread their culture and influence the nation to prove their superiority, rather than being influenced by them.

= = = **Russo-Japanese War** =

1.Do artistic renditions or photographs depict the heroics of war better? 2.Do artistic renditions or photographs depict the horrors of war better? (Consider all photographs of war that you have seen, both historical and contemporary) 3.How does the medium affect the message? Can we say that, "[T]he medium is the message"? 4.Why is 1905 such a turning point in Japanese and World history? How might history have been different had Japan lost the Russo-Japanese War?

1. The artistic renditions definitely depict the heroics of war better. The Chinese in those woodblock prints are portrayed as demonic creatures, mostly shown as goblins. The Japanese are the ones that are fighting against those demonic creatures, slashing them with swords and beating them down to death. Though some of the prints show the gory and gruesome details of the defeated Chinese, the artistic renditions makes that scene seem like it is okay to kill the Chinese because they are fighting against the evil.

2. The photographs depict the horrors of war better than artistic renditions. Since the woodblock artists had never even seen the actual battle, the artistic renditions were biased; they were created from the artists’ imaginations and depicted only the glorious events of the war. The photographs, though it was not in color, showed vividly what was really going on the war: the dying or dead soldiers of not only the enemies’ sides, but also of the Japanese, the destruction which the war caused and many other ‘real’ events.

3. The medium always affects the message. The medium always carries content and that content changes the public’s thoughts, thus it influences how the people perceives the message. For example, when the Japanese and the Russians fought for the influence over the Manchuria, the Japanese thought they annihilated the Russians when it was actually a close war, due to the exaggerated propagandas and news. Because of those mediums, the Japanese had their nationalism boosted and later led to riots when the some of their specific requirements from Russian was lacking. So it is okay to say that the medium is the message.

4. After the defeat, Russia lost its military esteem from European countries and led to their military reform to face Germany in World War I. Japan soon became recognized as the modern power. But despite their victory, their requirements, territorial gain and monetary gain, were not met and they were still treated as the defeated power during the peace conference. This led them to grow hostility toward the West, and fueled their military and imperialism ambitions. If Japan had lost the Russo-Japanese War, they might have been considered weak and would not have been colonized Korea. Rather, Japan might have been colonized by the Western power.

May 11, 2011

About Queen Min Questions of Reading #1 a. Who was Queen Min? b. Why was she chosen to be queen? It is because her father-in-law thought he could control Queen Min, since she was so young. c. Was this a wise choice? From whose viewpoint? Builiding infrastructure, balancing Russian, Japanese, and Chinese power against each other The countries, able to stay out of being imperialized, Japan and Thailand. Thailand managed to play two imperial powers. From the d. How did she try to maintain Korea's independence? Did she succeed? By building strong infrastructure,managing three imperialists to play against each other. She tries to buy time in order to modernize and build power. e. What can her death tell us about the measures imperialists will take to ensure their interests? It tells that the imperialist do what so ever to achieve their goal or ensure interest. Since they thought that they could not take control of Korea as long as Queen Min lived, they killed her. On October 8th, Military koo in 1882, Gapsin rebellion
 * married to Kojung at the age of fifteen

f. Do you admire her? Why or why not? Yes, because of her

Questions for Reading #2 a. Who was [|Isabella Bird]? Isabella Bird was born on October 15, 1831. She is an author and an explorer b. What were Ms. Bird's first impressions of Queen Min? She described her as good, graceful, described as "slender woman" with black hair. c. What might the clothes and jewelry worn by Queen Min tell us about her view of her place in Korean society? d. Which personal characteristics of the Queen tell us about what kind of woman she was? She was respectful and intelligent. She also had great conversation skills and had political influence. e. Which personal characteristic of the Queen's do you feel is the most revealing? Why? Having wisdom. f. Would you like to have met Queen Min? Why or why not? Yes, I would like to meet Queen Min becase her personality and courage is very inspiring and also motivating.
 * made her to respect Queen Min

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