Asian History Commons^™

Asian American Identity And Museum Collections, Natasha Wang

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

In June of 2022, the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act was passed in Congress (Commision to Study 2022, 117-140):

As part of the report, the Commission will need to address: (A) The availability and cost of collections to be acquired and housed in the Museum (B) The impact of the Museum on existing Asian Pacific American history-related museums. (Hirono 2022)

When Big Brother Blinks, Josh Eyre

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

When discussing modern Japanese literature, works of the late 1930s and early 1940s are largely left out of the discussion. Stories written during this time are ignored by scholars, forgotten by readers, and at times even excluded from an author’s “complete works” by publishers (Keene 1987, 906–907). These works are often thought to be devoid of literary merit or not worth studying due to the high levels of scrutiny and censorship that Japanese authors were subjected to by the far right and intensely nationalistic Japanese government of the time. I would argue, however, that the near total dismissal of Japanese …

Book Censorship In Post-Tiananmen China (1989-2019), Yuwu Song

Journal of East Asian Libraries

Abstract: Censorship has become more prevalent in Chinese cultural and social life since the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Modern commentary on Chinese censorship focuses on news media and Internet, but neglects print books, which is part of a broader crackdown on dissent. To fill this gap, the project aims to map the contours of book censorship in China during the past 30 years. The emphasis is on the Chinese authorities’ increasing attempts to dominate people’s minds under Xi Jinping, who ascended to power as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012. The project reveals different levels of …

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Concubines And Empresses, Emma Nymoen

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

In official Chinese history, women were the ultimate scapegoat. The downfall of dynasties was often blamed, not on the weak character of an emperor, but rather on the wife or concubine that seduced him and monopolized his attention away from the empire. The accomplishments and influence of women were often erased or downplayed, often twisted in order to paint the women in a dark and problematic light. Emperors were usually isolated in the inner court of the palace to protect them, but in turn this insulated them from the officials and advisors of the outer court and gave the women …

What In Chinese Culture And Political Philosophy Makes It Difficult To Share Power At The Top?, Natalie Lyman Shields

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

天高皇帝远, Tiān gāo, huángdì yuan, is an ancient Chinese proverb that translates to “Heaven is high and the emperor is far away.” Starting anciently in the Shang Dynasty, China typically had an emperor who ruled over his subjects, yet in a far away manner: “For two thousand years China had an emperor figure who was state power and spiritual authority rolled into one” (Wild Swans, 261–262). The most notable emperor was the first blazing Emperor Qin Shi Huang who unified the land around 247 B.C. Many emperors followed, claiming the Mandate of Heaven, until the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty …

Xinjiang: Uyghur Nationalism And Prc Economic Ambitions In The Region, Erin Kitchens Wong

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has maintained a long and strenuous history of relations with its western-most province of Xinjiang (Xīnjiāng, 新疆). Relations with ethnic minorities in the region have been significantly influenced by changes in both domestic and foreign policy. Since the founding of the new Chinese state under Mao Zedong, the Uyghur (Wéiwú’ěr, 维吾尔) population of Xinjiang have seen vicious swings to and from radical domestic policy.

Colonialism And Indigenous Peoples Of Taiwan, Sabrina Wong

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Taiwan can be found about 100 miles off the southeastern coast of China in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of a main island and many smaller surrounding islands. Before the arrival of the Dutch, the only inhabitants of the island were the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, also known as the Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese people, or Gaoshan people, who had been there for thousands of years. For consistency, throughout this paper, I will refer to them as Taiwanese indigenous peoples. The Taiwanese indigenous peoples are made up of different tribes, traditionally with over 26, 16 of which are recognized today by …

Economic Sanctions And The Future Of The North Korean Nuclear Program, Drew Horne

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, has proven to be a stumping issue for policymaker and academic alike. Dubbed “The Impossible State” by Victor Cha (2012) and the quintessential “Hard Target” by Haggard and Noland (2017), North Korea’s unique mix of autarkic authoritarianism, stubbornly resilient socialist system, and burgeoning nuclear capability, all situated in perhaps the most geopolitically fraught region in the modern world, has led journalists, academics, policymakers, and even thrill-seekers (think Dennis Rodman) to try to understand this enigmatic, what Lankov (2013) calls, “political fossil.” Within the myriad issues presented by North Korea, two …

The Female Experience With Nationalism, Feminism, And Han In Post-Choson Korea, Midori Raymond

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Women constitute roughly half of the population, yet in most patriarchal societies they are placed second to men. Throughout the course of history, there have been several attempts to improve the standing of women within the home and society to match that of their male counterparts. These attempts to achieve gender equality can be categorized as feminism. In South Korea (hereafter Korea), there have been many such attempts. Since the Japanese colonial period, many things have contributed to the rise of modern feminism in Korea; nationalism, speaking out against sexual assault, and the female experience with han can be considered …

The Effect Of Nationalistic Communism On The Sino-Soviet Split, Braeden Davis

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

In the early 1950s, the world communist movement seemed unstoppable. Without giving the liberal democracies time to catch their breath following World War II, the world’s socialist nations confronted the West in a dangerous Cold War standoff. In less than a decade, communist parties had consolidated power across most of the Eurasian continent, all under the powerful protection of the Soviet Union and its communist party (hereafter referred to as the CPSU). Most significantly, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had taken control of China, thus establishing the most populous communist nation on earth. The Chinese were close allies of the …

Warfare: The Test Of Human Nature, Paulee Fogleman

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

A common theme many Chinese philosophers explore and debate is the state of human nature and how one can best follow the Way. Bryan W. Van Norden, a scholar of Chinese philosophy, explains that the early Chinese thinkers were looking for the Dao, or the “right way to live one’s life and organize society,” also known as the “ultimate metaphysical entity that was responsible for the way the world is and the way that it ought to be.”1 As the philosophers of the “Hundred Schools of Thought” sought to explain the chaotic time that was the Warring States period (475–221 …

A Complicated Affair Of Twentieth Century Southeast Asia, Nhi Phan

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

January 7, 2021 marked the 42nd anniversary of the Vietnamese army and allied forces of Cambodian general Hun Sen overthrowing Pol Pot. Although this invasion took a mere two weeks, the consequences lasted for more than ten years with huge losses for both the Vietnamese and Cambodians. After 1975, Indochina has gone through many changes with different regimes; its geography, however, has remained the same. Even though both Vietnam and Cambodia became communist regimes after winning their independence from France in 1975, they experienced different changes in political ideology. The shift in regime also brought along border conflicts between the …

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

The Hong Kong Heritage Project: Preserving Corporate And Community History, Amelia L. Allsop

Journal of East Asian Libraries

The Hong Kong Heritage Project (HKHP), established by Sir Michael Kadoorie in 2007, is one of the first corporate archives to be founded in Hong Kong. It followed in the footsteps of HSBC’s Asia Pacific Archive which pioneered business archives in the city when opened in 2004. Today, more than a decade on, several more corporate archives have been established, although the total number of private archives in Hong Kong remains small.[1] In a city with no archival law - Hong Kong is one of the few jurisdictions in the world that has no archival legislation covering government records …

Collecting Oral History In An Academic Library: The Cr/10 Project, Sandi Ward

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Haldore Hanson In China, The 80th Anniversary: A Case Study Of A Digitization Project, Kristi Wermager, Hsianghui Liu-Spencer

Journal of East Asian Libraries

Carleton College is home to a collection of photographs, Haldore Hanson’s China Collection (1937-1938), that an alumnus took in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 2008 Carleton staff digitized the China Collection and made it available to researchers online. In our paper, we introduce the Collection and discuss its historical significance, in particular for the history of guerrilla warfare during the early days of the conflict. Following our introductory overview of the Collection, we report on our use of web usage mining to track use of the Collection over the last ten years. We also discuss the …

Praise And Prejudice: American Attitudes Toward Japan In Uncle Ben, Anna Nielsen, Rachel Baron, Emily Orton

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Uncle Ben in Japan is a 1933 geographical workbook intended to teach American schoolchildren about Japan. This text highlights both positive and negative American attitudes towards Japan in the 1930s. Although this work expresses certain views progressive for its time, it also contains evident assumptions of American national superiority.

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Half The Sky, Or Half A Lie? Unfulfilled Promises To Women In Republican China, Rachel Finlayson

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

When the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, Chinese nationalist and communist forces fought to gain power. Both groups looked to build their base of support among the socially repressed, which included women and peasants. Thus, women’s emancipation became a central issue, and it remained primary until 1924, during an era known as the May Fourth Movement (Lan and Fong 1999, p. ix). Nationalist and communist forces both promised women better lives, in terms of education, love in marriage, value in family life, a role in the revolution and social activism, and emancipation. Mao Zedong summarized the enthusiasm of the time …

Confucius Institutes: Expelling A Trojan Horse Or Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth?, Michael J. Swain

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

During the past ten years, China has actively promoted its Confucius Institute (CI), a program of instruction in Chinese language and culture for college students outside of China. The program’s stated purpose is to meet an existing demand for education in Chinese language and culture, with the intent of strengthening relationships between China and other countries in order to promote a more harmonious world. However, many have viewed the CI program as nothing more than an expansion of Beijing’s soft power. Some Western institutions have even expelled CIs from their campuses. The growing concern suggests that China’s offering of what …

China And The North Korean Refugee Crisis, Christina Ahn

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

On 8 May 2002, shocking images of five North Korean refugees at a Japanese consulate in northeast China were captured. Although two members of the party—both men—successfully made it inside the consulate, two women and a child were dragged away from the gate of their safe haven by Chinese police (Gittings 2002). All five individuals were eventually detained—and though their fates remain unknown, it is likely they were immediately deported to North Korea, possibly the worst outcome for any North Korean defector.

Ukiyo-E: How Patterns In Edo Culture Shaped "The Floating World", Vanessa Hall

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Until the seventeenth century, it was exceedingly rare to find art depicting everyday Japanese life. It was only when artists began painting scenes from the street life in Yoshiwara, the red light district in the capital city of the time, that the popular school of art known as “Ukiyo-e,” a highly fashionable style of Japanese woodblock prints, was formed (J.E.L. 1914, pp. 1–4). Emerging from an era of Chinese philosophy that was against anything Japanese, early examples of Ukiyo-e were rare until Hishikawa Moronobu discovered a way to mass-produce the art through woodblock engraving prints, which ultimately established Ukiyo-e as …

The Permanence Of The Shanghai Communiqué, David Whitesell

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Since 1949, the U.S. has had to face a major issue when interacting with China. This issue lies in the contest between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) based in mainland China and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the island of Taiwan for recognition as the legitimate government of China. Since 1979, U.S. policy has been to recognize formally the PRC as the official government of China. This recognition, which ended years of froideur between Beijing and Washington, was possible because of the previous decade of rapprochement, which was marked by the episode of “ping-pong diplomacy” in 1971, …

The Joss House As An Insight Into 19th Century Chinese Immigration, Joshua Bernhard

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

“From the theater we went to the principal church or joss-house,” an anonymous author wrote about the San Francisco Chinatown for the Christian Recorder in September 1875. “Up three flights of stairs, rickety, worn, and uneven, and through the dark passages full of sickening odors, I reached a dismal, dreary, mysterious, and silent worship-house of this mysterious and superstitious people. Here and there in the temple a dim taper burned, but there were no lights in the halls, stairs, and passages, and the flickering flames only added to the oppressive and, if I may so call it ghostly feeling that …

Making Japan Great Again: The Imperial Rescript On Education, Ayoung Kang, Alistor Skabelund, Matthew Stephenson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The Meiji government used the Imperial Rescript on Education in order to develop nationalism and respond against the dominating presence of Western Imperialism by standardizing Meiji education and interpreting it to justify militarism.

In Memoriam: Chester C. Wang 1920-2016

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Ramon Hawley Myers 1929-2015

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Oro?: Word Choice, Character, And Translation In Rurouni Kenshin, Tasha Layton

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Anime is one of the most common forms of entertainment in the United States. Its ubiquitous presence causes some Western viewers to forget that anime is, in fact, foreign film. One of the only things that reminds us of this fact is the strangeness of the scripts, particularly the grammar—a quirky grammar that is often a target for anime critics and comedic imitators. While it is true that the Japanese language used in anime is quite stylized, there are more important explanations for why the English versions sound unnatural. Audiences often think only of the denotations and semantic functions of …

On The Fringe: China's Disability Laws Through The Lens Of The Traditional Culture, Brandon Christensen

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Explosive economic growth over the last two decades has dramatically increased China’s standard of living and given rise to a rapidly growing middle class. Political reform, however, has been slow to follow with decades-old legal restrictions on civil liberties still firmly in place. Among China’s underdeveloped civil protections is the right for people with disabilities to enjoy freedom from popular and institutional prejudice in language or action, especially when seeking employment. Recent revisions of China’s disability laws provide increased employment protections, but latent prejudicial language and traditional stereotypes in the law suggest these revisions may not reach the core objective …