How Culture Shape Economic Progress

ABSTRACT
Name
: Yusy Widarahesty (yusy_widarahesty@uai.ac.id)

Rindu Ayu (rindu_ayu@uai.ac.id)
Study Program
: International Relations (Al Azhar Indonesia University)
Title : How Culture Can Shape Human Progress and Economic Progress In East Asia
(Study Case Japan And China)
This research is specifically conducted by Japans and Chinas efforts to gain human and
economic progress by culture tools. This Research includes qualitative research with descriptive
analysis. It also used cultural studies theory, ideology, and nationalism The Targets of this
research is to show how culture can shape human progress and economic progress in East Asia
specially Japan and China.
Japan and China represents a set of major economic actors in the region with similar
characteristics and at similar stages of development. Japan and china also seems to be unique
among the major industrialized powers. The metaphors and dynamics of both countries drew
attention to the complex nature of the economic challenge posed by Japan and China. The
Japanese way and China way of management, industrial policy, and economic development
viewed Japans rise and Chinas rise in a positive light.
For Japan, the embarkation upon the process of modernization in the Meiji era ( 1868-1912)
brought with it the national goals of catching up with the West in the military and economic
dimensions of power as embodied in the slogan of the time fukoku kyohei (rich country, strong
army). The experience of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (6 august 1945) and Nagasaki (9
August), followed by the surrender and defeat of August 15, 1945 however, effectively
eliminated any post-war ambition to match the other major industrialized powers militarily. And
finally the end of Cold War has challenged policy makers across the globe and in Japan, and
academics in the field of international relation to rethink their approach to security.
Next Japan focus upon the importance of economic power as an important component. Even
though the idea of the tradition in Japan of seeing economic power as the foundation of national
power and as an instrument of security policy is relatively old one, but in the 1946-1955 by the
Yoshida Doctrine Japan has succeed to concentrated upon economic recovery which laid down
the basic path of Japanese diplomacy in the post war period with maintaining the security
alliance with the US.
For China as a global player has become a global presence and more powerful in the
international stage. With the economic growth transformed Chinese society. The powerful
growth, technological change, and academic progress, fostered a new sense of confidence in
China. The idea that China had become a rising power swept through the domestic and foreign
media, partly replacing images of China as a week state preyed upon before 1949 by foreign
powers.
1
In the past, narratives about the Century of Humiliation frame the ways that Chinese interact
with the West today. This period begins with Chinas defeat in the first Opium War and the
British acquisition of Hong Kong in 1842. Furthermore, the Century is a traumatic and
foundational moment because it fundamentally challenged Chinese views of the World. After the
defeat, the humiliation, and Cultural Revolution, Chinas leaders began to stressing that China
must become stronger by focus on the economic strategy.
China and Japan had dealt with the complex of long journey in the great history. Both country
has built a global strategy and has developed more sophisticated especially in the progress of
economic power. China with the idea of peaceful development and Japan with the idea of
Heart to heart diplomacy has forming a positive image and gaining economic progress. But
beyond that, both countries have tools related to Chinese culture and Japanese Culture which
contribute as a major component to bring to the economic growth. The culture matter has
become the basic values to understand the consciousness of history and then become the spirit to
result the productivity culture. This research concern about how culture can shape the
economic progress in Japan and China. With regard to these cases of Japan and China using the
framework of theoretical work on the relation between Japan and Chinas economic power
related to the cultural aspects.
Key words: Culture, Human, Economic, Progress, Japan and China
HOW CULTURE CAN SHAPE HUMAN PROGRESS AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN

EAST ASIA (STUDY CASE JAPAN AND CHINA)
Introduction
Japan and China are examples of countries that have gone through the dynamics of length
in the formation of character and culture of his people. Both Japan and China both often serve as
examples of the Asian countries that have strong and sturdy national identity. Both also
performed with amazing as countries which are able to compete with Western countries in terms
of technological advances and the economy. Their ability to align his country with the West,
even not in spite of the controversy that led to the emergence of concern from Western countries
will be the presence of new competitors who actually comes from the Asian Region.
With the economic progress achieved by Japan and China, then the learners, thinkers and
Statesman from other country learn what the key to informing the success and progress of the
two countries. If the success of the European countries often associated with the presence of
period of Enlightenment, which give supremacy to the logic and sense of mind then translates
as the thing so-called freedom, and named it with the principle of modernity, then what
happened to Japan and China is certainly different to what was experienced and try to offered by
the West.
The influence of the influx of globalization has also been through since thousands of
years during the establishment of the two countries. China during the heyday of His dynasty and
Japan at the time of feudalism or known by the shogun period. When foreign influence in both
countries also experienced what is called with riot, which in the end will also affect the
formation of national character transformation from both Japan and China.
By looking at the success of the two countries at the moment, it will be very interesting to
explore and learn how two countries travel to face all kinds of challenges and shape the changes
offered by the dynamics of the world. Both country has built a global strategy and has developed
more sophisticated especially in the progress of economic power. China with the idea of
peaceful development and Japan with the idea of Heart to heart diplomacy has forming a
positive image and gaining economic progress. But beyond that, both countries have tools related
to Chinese culture and Japanese Culture which contribute as a major component to bring to the
economic growth. The culture matter has become the basic values to understand the
consciousness of history and then become the spirit to result the productivity culture. By
leaning on the progress and success of the economies of the two countries then this research
attempts to examine further how the culture instrumental and influential in the process of the
formation of Japan and China through a question How Culture Can Shape Human Progress
and Economic Progress in East Asia (Study Case Japan and China)
Approaches
To examines about How culture can shape human progress and economic progress
in east Asia (study case Japan and China). Researchers will use the approach of the study of
a culture or cultural studies. Then some of the main concepts that are used to prop up an
explanation of existing problems are use the concept of ideology and nationalism.
According to hall, cultural studies is a discursive formation, that is a bunch of ( or
formations ) initiative whose imagery and practices that provides ways to talk about, provide
forms of knowledge and comportment which is associated with a topic, social activity or area of
certain institutional in society.1
Meanwhile, Barker describes cultural studies as an interdisciplinary field of investigation
or multidisciplinary that studies the production and cultivation of the map meaning. A discursive
formation, or ways of speaking which is regulated, that paying attention to issues of power in
practice purport formations of human life.2
Since the beginning of its development, cultural studies are an area of multidisciplinary
study. This characteristic made the cultural studies having no limits disciplined that clearly
distinguish it with other disciplinary subject. Because of that Bannet offered a concept which he
said as elements definition (elements of definition) of cultural studies as follows:
(1)
cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field which selectively
taking different perspectives from other disciplines to examine the
relationships between culture and politics; (2) cultural studies is interested
in all sorts of forms, and classification system that allows implementations
the values, the beliefs, the competences, the routines of life and behavior
characteristic forms that become habits in a population; (3) cultural studies
exploring various kinds of power include gender, race, class, colonialism,
and others. Cultural studies aims to study how these forms of this power
are related, as well as develop ways to understand the culture and the
powers can be use by those who became an agent in an effort to make a
change; (4) the main institutional of cultural studies is an institution of
higher education, and in this case cultural studies have in common with
these areas of academic discipline. Nevertheless, cultural studies
attempting to establish a connection outside the academic realm with
socio-political movements, the workers in cultural institutions, as well as
cultural management.3
Based on the explanation of some of the elements of the definition in cultural studies
presented by Bannet above was clear that cultural studies is closely coupled with the various
disciplines in which the culture has its ideology charge, each of which represents a certain
1
S.Hall (ed.), Representation. (London & Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1997), Page 6.
Chris Barker, Cultural Studies: Teori dan Praktik, (PT. Bentang Pustaka, 2000), Page 515
3
Ibid., Page 8-9
2
viewpoints or perspectives. In this study, cultural studies used as the main approach because the
problem raised is closely related to concepts that are included in the scope of cultural studies,
such as the concept of nationalism and ideology. The creation of human progress and economic
progress cannot be separated from historical experience created by predominance of the authority
which led to all the values that is believed to be an ideology.
Storey (2009: 2-5) divide the ideological understanding into five parts, here is the
explanation:
First, ideology can refer to a systematic body of ideas articulated by a
particular group of people. For example, we could speak of professional
ideology to refer to the ideas which inform the practices of particular
professional groups. [...] Here we would be referring to the collection of
political, economic, and social ideas that inform the inspirations and
activities of the Party.
A second definition suggests a certain masking, distortion, or concealment.
Ideology as used here to indicate how some texts and practices present
distorted images of reality. They produce what is sometimes called false
consciousnesses.
A third definition of ideology (closely related to, and in some ways
dependent on the second definition) uses the term to refer to ideological
forms. This usage is intended to draw attention to the way in which texts
(television, fictions, pop songs, novels, feature films, etc.) always present
a particular image of the world. This definition depends on a notion of
society as Conflictual rather than consensual, structured around inequality,
exploitation and oppression.
A fourth definition of ideology is one associated with the early work of
Roland Barthes. Barthes argues that ideology (or myth as Barthes
himself calls it) operates mainly at the level of connotations, the secondary,
often meanings that texts and practices carry, or can be made to carry.
A fifth definition is the definition developed by Louis Althusser.
Althussers main contention is to see ideology not simply as a body of
ideas, but as a material practice. [...]4
In the Gramscian analysis, ideology is understood as meaning, ideas, and practices which,
even though it looks like universal truths, is in fact the meaning of maps that supported authority
of certain social groups. The most important ideology is not something separate from practical
life activities, but rather a material phenomenon that has its roots in everyday conditions.
Ideology provides the practical conduct and moral behaviors that can be aligned with a religion
4
John Storey, Cultural Theory And Popular Culture (Fifth Edition), (London: PEARSON Longman, 2009), 2-5
in the secular sense, i.e. A Union is believed to be between a particular conception of the world
with the appropriate behavioral norms.5
Through some ideological explanation above, it can be seen that in some chance culture
always anything conceived of as having attachment closely to a practice power. However, the
most important in understanding cultural studies is a shift from an understanding of culture as art
towards the view that culture as something that is everyday life, which includes "a whole way of
life". In other words, a shift from the literal definition of culture is widely toward the
anthropological definition. Then the second, cultural studies are about the place of culture in a
social formation, or the relationship between culture with social practices such as political and
economic practices.6
Like a spirit of nationalism and patriotism which is also the result of the exercise of
power which was formed to create a sense of unity and equality, then translated into social
practices of the community. According to Erica Banner nationalism has meaning as a national
identity that is owned in common by all members of society, so that awareness of the value of
loyalty arises because of the sense of similarity to one another. Furthermore Erica Banner also
claimed that a sense of nationalism not only united by the government, the characters who
became a symbol of the country, which led her kingdom but nationalism puts a much higher, it's
a good value equation of geography, ethnicity, ideology and so on raises a strong identity.7
In Europe nationalism occurred during the transition from feudal society to industrial
society. The feudal power was diminished and replaced by the bourgeoisie of the city. They do
not want to be bound by the provisions of the agricultural societies, but they want to be free to do
business, compete and profit as much as possible. In the midst of such circumstances that
Western European nationalism was born. Nationalism is growing into a stream full of emotion
and sentiment that Western nationalism gave birth to colonialism, which is looking for its own
colonies outside the continent.8
According to Hans Kohn, who are more likely to define nationalism on national
sentiment said that:
a state of mind, permeating the large majority of a people, and claiming
to permeate all its members; it recognises the nation state as the ideal
form of political organisation and the nationality as the source of all
creative cultural energy and economic well being. The supreme loyality of
man is therefore due to his nationality, as his own life is supposedly rooted
in and made possible by its welfare.9
Based on the explanation of some of the elements of the definition in cultural studies,
such as ideology and nationalism theories above, are expected could answer how the culture
contained in Japan and China which is used by the authority, may serve to mobilize the
community in creating a national consciousness through quality improvement and ultimately
achieved economic progress.
5
Op. Cit., Page. 79

Ibid., Page. 87
7
Erica Banner, Nationalism in Japan, (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2006), page. 11
8
Prof. Dr. Suhartono, Sejarah Pergerakan Nasional, (Pustaka Pelajar Offset, Yogyakarta, 2001), page. 6
9
Ibid., Page.7 - 8
6
Structure
The research is divided into two parts, the Part I examines how the Japanese culture plays
a role in influencing human progress and economic progress by using historical approach, this
theme will describe the history of a short history of Japan, Japanese cultural values and the
development of Japan economy. Part 2 examines how culture plays a role in influencing human
progress and economic progress through the history of the formation of china, The Essence of
china values, and china today. The Conclusion draws together the arguments of the question in
the introduction on (How Culture Can Shape Human Progress And Economic Progress In East
Asia: Study Case Japan and China) which concerned with the role of theory on ideology and
nationalism based on the cultural studies approach.
1
HOW CULTURE CAN SHAPE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN JAPAN
Japan In Historical Perspective
Histories played an important role in stimulating national thinking in Japan. The history
of Japan has built the basic values to guide the people of Japan and the government of Japan. The
basic values that inspire by the Chinese traditional philosophy have created Japan national
identity into Japan nationalism.
In the course of its history the country of Japan merged and formed by the Yamato
Empire ideology sourced from the teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism. Regularity and
compliance people of Japan at that time was formed by a law containing moral values. The law,
known as article 17 or Jyuu nana Kenpou10. Judging from the content of the laws that govern the
lives of the community at that time, it looks very reflective of the needs and the interests of
power relations that reigned at the time. The result is spectacular and can be seen in AsukaHakuho to the Heian (794-1185) period the construction of massive Buddhist temples in major
cities in Japan made its very lovely.
When Japan entered a period of feudalism, the strength of the values were also applied
during the last monarchy maintained, even some joints made national philosophy. Those values
include Bushido (The way of the warrior) that inside many governing all aspects of Japanese
society both from the government to everyday life. In this example the value of loyalty,
reciprocation, cultural shame, hard-working and hard study required to be invested and run by all
levels of Japanese society.
Again the results are visible from the compliance people were not disturbed during the
250 years of the Tokugawa Edo period. The values are uniform, made national philosophy has
created a spirit of nationalism, and a strong national identity in Japanese society conscience. The
golden age of local culture born and breed in the feudal days. All is not separated from the role
10
About 17 articles, See Andrew Gordon, Edward Kidder, Jr., The Cambridge History of Japan Volume I,
(Cambridge University Press, 2008), Page. 20
of power relations in shaping the discourse, systems and values that will have to serve as a guide
in conducting community life.
Compliance occurs in the Edo period is also illustrated by Michael Yoshino (1971),
which has been cited again by Iwan Setiawan S (2004: 99) in a statement explained that:
Tokugawa feudalism was known as central feudalism in that the regime
ruled the nation through nearly three hundred regional lords who in turn,
commanded their own retainers and commoners. The Tokugawa regime
firmly controlled these feudal fiefdoms through a skill full doling out of
awards and punishments and a clever application of rigid, detailed and
elaborate devices for control. Of all the ingenious devices employed by the
Shogunate perhaps none was more important than its attempt to freeze the
society into a legally immutable class structure by classifying the entire
populace into the rigid heredity hierarchy of statuses. Below the imperial
household and court nobles, four classes were established in the following
status order; warriors, farmers, artisan, merchants.
Nationalist spirit were organized in a variety of formats, ranging from political parties,
and societies to the more traditional school, corps or band, and unit or squad, which were
redolent of various nationalist groups like in late Tokugawa and Meiji Japan. They were
typically small in scale and led by a commanding personality who was greatly respected for his
alleged charismatic authority, strength of moral character and political courage. This spirit then
played a role in creating compliance and a strong spirit of loyalty among classes of Japanese
society in the Edo and Meiji period.
Nationalist forms in Japan at Edo period are pursued self discipline through the study of
Confucian and Buddhist teaching, training in the material arts, chanting the lotus Sutra every day.
Their collective self discipline by meditating together, chanting the lotus Sutra together and by
fasting together for days at a time and cultivate a spirit of humility. This shared life of discipline
austerity bound them closely together as brothers who would one day act politically on behalf of
the poor and powerless in Japan.11
The spirit of nationalism in Japan which had been awaken since the Yamato kingdom
also is on its way and has ever had a spirit of nationalism that is spatially sentimental as ever
experienced by European countries during the expansion. Originally starts as the opening of the
state ( kaikoku ) that is done with force by countries such as Britain, the United States and Russia.
Motto like a sonno joi12 is an example of anti-foreign movement in confronting the influence,
ideology and hegemony of Foreign Countries. Patriotism spirit does not grow in a matter of
months or years, but it's been long established.
However, a growing nationalist movement in the era of 'Sonno Joi' (Revere the Emperor,
Expel the Barbarians) was challenged by a group of intellectuals who are thirsty for knowledge
by naming their group as a progressive group known as the 'Ranggaku (Western Learning)'13.
11
Stephen S. Large, Japanese Nationalist Extremism, 1921-41, In Historical Perspective; Nationalism In Japan,
(Routledge Francis &Taylor, New York, 2006), page. 92
12
About Sonno Joi, See Andrew Gordon, A Modern History Of Japan; From Tokugawa Times to The Present,
(Oxford University New York Press, 2003), Page. 16
13
Ibid.,
This group actually declined form of restriction of the entry of foreign values, which according
to the understanding of this group is the cause of the Miss Japan from Western nations. This is
where the conflict between the nationalism conservative group and the nationalism progressive
group happen. The impact caused a huge change in all aspects of life in Japan, the event was
known as the "Meiji restoration".
Then the challenge is how Japan should deal with change and the next wave of
globalization which can no longer be containable. Meiji era is the age of the re-establishment
values, ideology, and the system both from the economic, cultural, lifestyle and all aspects of life
in Japan. Indeed, a many nationalist extremist blamed what they termed the 'decline of culture' in
the 1920's and 1930's on the destructive influences of Western rationalism. However, what
happened next 'cultural decline' carried from generation to generation has formed Japan today
which still is connected with the values of his predecessors.
Alongside the "cultural stuff", building a nation entails the construction and articulation
of historical narratives. The past, immediate or distant, takes on a new significance as a resource
for reinterpretation or outright invention of an idealized history, national heroes, and national
tradition. It can be used to assert, often simultaneously, both the differences and the continuities
with the present. The conscious recreation of the emperor as a 'modern monarch' during Japan's
troubled transition to modernity, to provide both continuity with the past and a new modern
future, provides a fascinating example.
Japans Cultural Values
Japans history defines its people and their actions today. As with any nation, there are
certain key events in their history that still exert a significant effect on the national psyche. The
old values continue to be applied by the authority to maintain the continuity of the triumph of the
Japanese such as the harmony concept, bushido, and etc. Japans ancient myths were first
recorded in the late seventh century, eventually appearing as the Kojiki (Record of Ancient
Things) in712 and the Nihongi or Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) in720. They were initiated
by Emperor Temmu (673-86), who want to legitimize the supremacy of the imperial family by
giving it divine origins.14
Japans emulation of China was particularly seen in the activities Prince Shotoku
(Shootoku Taishi, 574-622); probably the best known figure of those times, from 594 till his
death in 622 Shotoku was regent under Empress Suiko (593-628). He greatly contributed not
only to the promotion of Buddhism by the building of numerous temples but to the promotion of
all things Chinese. Shotoku also credited with drawing up the so-called Seventeen article
Constitution 604 (Jyuu nana Kenpou), which was intended to strengthen central government. It
had strong Chinese flavor, particularly in its Confucianism. Though deemed a constitution it was,
however, largely a set of guidelines for officials, with a particular emphasis on harmony (wa)
and loyalty to the divine and therefore legitimate authority of the imperial line. Something of its
nature can be seen from the opening words of Article One, which quote Confucius and State that
harmony is to be valued, and from the opening words of Article Eight, which are of a less
grand and more specific character: Let the Minister and functionaries attend the court early in
the morning , and retire late. 15
14
15
Kenneth G. Henshall, A history of Japan; From Stone Age to Super Power, 2nd Edition, (Palgrave, 2004), page. 6
Ibid., page. 18
From the provisions of article 17, it can be seen many of which regulate the norms and
values of everyday life. And also arrange them on the work ethics. Having someone to work
selfless ruler at the time it was made to achieve the targets of the government's interest at the
time it requires a lot of effort in building temples in major cities in Japan.
Entering a feudalism period, Ieyasu Tokugawa who received the title of Shogun after the
great war of Sekigahara, clearly believe that enforced stability and orthodoxy were important to
continued control. Tokugawa used the punishment for any rebellion, and the result Japan entered
an enduring phase of stability and peace, without any real rebellion and foreign threat, and the
warriors become superfluous. The Bushido (way of the warrior) becomes a comprehensive
philosophy who stressing in the aspects of loyalty and self discipline.
Bushido literally means something like military fighting way, but it is more commonly
translated as the ways of the warrior. (de mente (2004:47),. Inazo Nitobe explain on his book
Bushido the Soul of Japan:16
Bushido was the code of conduct of the Samurai, the aristocratic warrior
class which arose during the wars of the 12th century between the Taira
and Minamoto clans-and came to the glorious fruition in the Tokugawa
period
Then Nitobe explain that:17
Bushido, then is the code of moral principles which the knight were
required or instructed to observe. It is not a written code; at the best it
consists of a few maxims handed down from mouth to mouth or coming
from the pen of some well-known warrior or savant. More frequently it is
a code unuttered and unwritten, possessing all the more the powerful
sanction of veritable deed, and of a law written on the fleshly tablets of
heart. It was founded not on the creation of one brain, however able, or on
the life of single personage, however renowned. It was an organic growth
of decades and centuries of military career.
16
17
Inazo Nitobe, Bushido the Soul of Japan, 1969, Page. x

Ibid., Page. 4-5
10
Bushido values are then used as the foundation and philosophy of the Japanese people.
Bushido which is the ethical guidelines and initially only apply to the Samurai, and then in the
days of feudal values apply to all society group from samurai, farmers, to traders and Bushido as
a code of conduct has an underlying sources among which the influence of Confucius and
Buddha.
Over the following centuries, certain aspect of Zen and NeoConfucianism were espoused by the Samurai, influencing the development
of Bushido and Japanese ethics. Bushido as the way of the warrior, that is
true not only in education & fine art, but also in characteristic attitudes &
conduct marking the course of political, professional, & personal
relation. 18
The idealization of the way of the samurai, the revival of Confucianism, the spread of
education, and the emergence of nationalism were all to play a part in the formation of modern
Japan. So too, of course, did the conformism and orthodoxy that formed their setting. 19 On the
other hand beside the stability and compliance of the society improved living standards indicated
a healthy economy. The high rate of literacy and numeracy helped the spread of a new
technology, and national stability in terms of peace and political structure provided a helpful
environment.
Japan entered the Meiji period, early reforms undertaken by the new government by
mixing the old and new values by constructive slogan such as wakon yosai20 (Japanese Spirit,
Western Technology). To pursue the education the government lying on the philosophy of
Confucianism in order to encourage the improvement of self quality. The Meiji period then
revealed many values and practices of great relevance to present of Japan, usually at the same
time showing a continuity with Japans past.
The key values and practices from the Tokugawa regime and till the modern era was
inspired by the old values of Japan like the philosophy of Confucianism, Buddhism, and the
essence of Bushido, The example of the key values and practices such as; willingness to learn,
high regard for education, strengthening nationalism, loyalty, obedience, and etc.
The Development of Japan Economy
By the late 1990s, the idea of placing Japan in the context of the study of economic
development had increased. By becoming the second largest economy in the world and important
player in the international economy, Japan could no longer achieved industrial country status
and become the other miracle economies 21 in East Asia. Many elements of its economic
structure appeared to be, the accumulation of human and capital resources, of technological
knowledge and the organizational culture. Therefore, Japan represented a relevant example of a
developing country, as it had come to be defined by the 1960s, that is, as an economy changing
within a world in which industrialized countries already existed, with all that that implied as the
18
Clearly, Thomas. The Japanese Art Of War. (Boston & London: Shambala 1992), Page. 2
Kenneth, Op. Cit., page.63
20
Ibid., Page. 75
21
Ibid., Page. 63
19
11
function of the state, the potential of imported industrial technology, the role of human capital
resources, and so on.
As an Asian nation it was the first, and for a long time the only, country to break the
Western monopoly on successful long term industrialization, the first rice-cultivating society to
become industrialized, and of course a nation with Chinese-based cultural, philosophical and
social traditions which apparently bore much closer resemblance to those prevailing elsewhere in
Asia than did those of Europe.22 Then Japans industrialization characteristics began to receive
much more attention.
Japans modernization has traditionally been said to begin with the event known as the
Meiji Restoration which took place in 1868. Although couched in terms of restoration of the
power of the emperor, what took place in practice a kind of coup dtat, whereby the Tokugawa
family, who had held the reins of central government for over 200 years previously, was
overthrown by coalition of rival feudal lords and their retainers? What made these events of such
profound significance, however, and more than a simple change of ruling group, was the fact that
they took place within the context of, on the one hand, the forced opening up the country to the
influence of the Western industrial power and, on the other, the increasing inability of the old
regime to control internal economy and social change. The restoration represents a highly
significant break in that brought to power a government which had to cope with these new forces
and which, willingly or not, comes to define and adopt new goals clearly aimed at the
modernization and industrialization of the country.23
Because of Their lack of knowledge of the outside world, in the first modern Era of Japan
the new leaders were not always able to define these goals very specifically. Essentially nonindustrial thought and agriculture country of the Tokugawa period had been substantially
changed by the growth and spread of factory industry. Then to encourage the spirit to the people
of Japan to adapt quickly, the government of Japan used the previous ideological basis of the
system was provided by Chinese political ideas, in particular those of Confucianism, and the aim
of the Tokugawa rulers was to create a society in which everyone had their duties and
responsibilities. The modernization in Japan underlying basis of the bureaucrats role in the
developmental state lies in a Confucian heritage of ideas concerning the responsibility of the
official for the welfare of the people.
Faced with the sudden opening up the country to develop country competition, and
denied, by the superior military capacity of the Western powers, the option of protection behind
trade barriers, the establishment of new industries which could compete with import and raise
export revenue appeared the only means of trying to deal with the emerging balance-of-payments
and employment problems. Thus, just as the anti-Shogun forces had used slogans, notably
honors the emperor, expel the barbarians, to focus their goals, so that time the decision was
taken to try to mobilize the nation as a whole towards a new goal, characterized by a new slogan,
enrich the country, strengthen the army. The first requirement of the development state, a
clearly defined goal, was thereby met.24
The opening up to the West had immediately exposed the shortage in Japan of the
technological knowledge and skills on which modern industry depended, but in short term there
was little alternative to importing such knowledge in one from another. Many Japanese, from
22
Penelope Francks. Japanese Economy Development; Theory and Practice, (Routledge, New York, 1999), Page.5
Ibid., Page.19
24
Ibid., Page. 28
23
12
their leading Meiji oligarchs themselves downwards, went abroad at government expense to
study Western institutions and technology and a substantial number of foreigners were also hired
by the government to go to Japan to teach. But in the long run the Japanese educational system
itself had to be able to generate a supply of suitably trained recruits for the public and private
sectors. By the mid 1880s, almost half of school age children were attending school for at least
4-year period then lay down as compulsory. More and more middle and higher school were set
up, along with local and national colleges to provide technical training, and at the top of the
educational pyramid stood Tokyo Imperial University, officially created in 1886 out of the
amalgamation and reorganization of earlier higher education establishment.25
During the 1950s the agreed priority of Japan was the development of heavy industry,
particularly iron and steel and including products such as ships and heavy machinery. The
catchphrase was ju-ko-choo-dai (heavy, thick, long, big). It was to be followed in 1960s by a
new focus on lighter, more knowledge and technology-industries such as electrical goods and
cameras. The catchphrase now was kei-haku-tan-shoo (light, thin, short, small).26Then Japans
remarkable postwar economic growth is often referred to as an economic miracle.
In 1961 the Shinkansen (Bullet train) started operating, at the time the most
technologically advanced train in the world. The praise at home and abroad continued during
1970s, a decade that was the high point in world for Japan as an economic super power. Then
Japans economy continued to grow at around 4 percent during the early 1980s. Its trade surplus
with America, which had started to develop since the late 1970s, became massive, typically in
the order of US $40-50 billion. Japanese products were everywhere.27
According to Eiji Oguma professor at Keio University in Japan28, explains that Japan
after World War II had three developmental periods. That is the period after World War II first
called (First Post War) from 1945 until 1954, where the state of the Japanese economy
experienced a downturn as a result of losing the war whose condition was far worse than the
previous state. Farm life, labor, and populations have changed since the Meiji era began. And in
1954 the number of workers from the Japanese famous graduate of the University such as the
Kyoto University was only 13% only. This means that during this time Japan was growing into
development countries in Asia.
The second period is the period after World War II, the second (Second Post War),
from 1955 until 1991. Japan during this period very quickly promotes economic growth both for
domestic and foreign policy. This is evidenced by the merger of Japan became members of the
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 1963, and Japan's entry
into the top three countries that derive GNP (Gross National Product) is the highest. At this time
the Japanese experience changes dramatically from state to state agriculture industry, and from
rural to urban communities. Oguma explained that urban Japan in the period from 1945 only
around 28%, but in 1970 the population of the city of Japan increased to 72%.
Through a mix of the old values and the new values, good tactics, and traditional
strengths, Japan becomes one of the worlds greatest-ever economic superpowers. By the key
values and practices from the Tokugawa, Meiji till the End of War to early 2000s, determination
to succeed, willingness to learn from stronger powers, the idealization of the way of the samurai
25
Ibid., Page. 33
Kenneth, Op. Cit., Page. 157
27
Ibid., Page. 168
26
28
Eiji Oguma, Contemporary Japan from The Perspective of Post-War Japanese History, 2008, Page. 1
13
into the work ethic, resilience, obedience to authority, awareness of importance of education to
shape worldview, awareness of importance economy, was the aspects to make a strong nation by
encourage the people to become strong and able to achieve aims.
2
HOW CULTURE CAN SHAPE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN CHINA
History proved that china is a source of civilization for many people who live in breastfed East Asia such as Korea and Japan. The cultural influence of China also reached Tibet,
Mongolia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.29
A significant aspect of China is its long cultural and national history. The Chinese people
have shared a common culture longer than any other group on Earth. The Chinese writing system,
for example, dates back almost 4,000 years. The imperial dynastic system of government, which
continued for centuries, was established as early as 221 BC. Although specific dynasties were
overturned, the dynastic system survived. China was even ruled at times by foreign invaders,
such as the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty, from AD 1279 to 1368, and the Manchus during
the Ch'ing Dynasty, from AD 1644 to 1911, but the foreigners were largely absorbed into the
culture they governed. It is as if the Roman Empire had lasted from the time of the Caesars to the
20th century, and during that time had evolved a cultural system and written language shared by
all the peoples of Europe.30
HISTORY OF CHINA
The proper name of China in Mandarin Chinese is Zhong Guo (Johhng Gwah), usually
written in Roman letters as one word: Zhongguo. Zhong means central or middle and guo
means kingdom-thus the English language references to China as the Central Kingdom or
Middle Kingdom. The origin of the name China is not clear, but there are several stories.
Marcopolo, the famed Italian adventurer who spent several years in China (1275-1292 A.D.)
called the country Chin-apparently a reference to the Chin or Qin (Chenn) empire of the 3rd
century B.C. Shinah (She-nah) was another ancient reference to at least a part of the huge area
now known as China. It seems that two early Portuguese visitors to the country-Barbosa in 1516
and Garcia de Orta in 1563-may have been the first ones to refer to the country as China in
their writing about the Middle Kingdom. The official English name of the country is the
Peoples Republic of China (PRC).31
Archaeological evidence suggests that China is one of the cradles of the human race. The
earliest known human in China, whose fossilized skull was unearthed in Shanxi Province in 1963,
is believed to date back to 600,000 BC. The remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis, known as
Peking man and dating back to 400,000 BC, were excavated in 1923 at Zhoukoudianzhen near
29
Ivan Taniputera, History of China. (Yogyakarta: Ar-ruzz Media, 2008), page. 21

Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinhist.html. (Accessed on 3 October 2012).
31
Boye Lafayette De Mente, The Chinese Mind: Understanding Traditional Chinese Beliefs And Their Influence On
Contemporary Culture. (USA: Tuttle Publishing, 2009), page.11
30
14
Peking. Peking man was closely related to Pithecanthropus of Java and lived during the Old
Stone Age. In the upper caves of Zhoukoudianzhen are found artifacts of a late Old Stone Age
man (50,000-35,000 BC), who ranks in age with the Cro-Magnon of Europe. This was an early
form of Homo sapiens, or modern man, who made tools out of bones as well as stones, made
clothes out of animal hides, and knew how to make fire.32
The Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) is the first documented era of ancient China. The
highly developed hierarchy consisted of a king, nobles, commoners, and slaves. The capital city
was Anyang, in north Henan Province. Some scholars have suggested that travelers from
Mesopotamia and from Southeast Asia brought agricultural methods to China, which stimulated
the growth of ancient Chinese civilization. The Shang peoples were known for their use of jade,
bronze, horse-drawn chariots, ancestor worship, and highly organized armies. Like other ancient
peoples, the Chinese developed unique attributes. Their form of writing, developed by 2000 BC,
was a complex system of picture writing using forms called ideograms, pictograms, and
phonograms. Such early forms of Chinese became known through the discovery by
archaeologists of oracle bones, which were bones with writings inscribed on them. They were
used for fortune-telling and record keeping in ancient China. 33
The Chou Dynasty (1122-221 BC) saw the full flowering of ancient civilization in
China. During this period the empire was unified, a middle class arose, and iron was introduced.
The sage Confucius (551-479 BC) developed the code of ethics that dominated Chinese thought
and culture for the next 25 centuries (See Confucius). The Chou conquest of the Shang was
given an important meaning by later moralistic interpretations of the event. The Chou kings,
whose chief deity was heaven, called themselves "Sons of Heaven," and their success in
overcoming the Shang was seen as the "mandate of heaven." From this time on, Chinese rulers
were called "Sons of Heaven" and the Chinese Empire, the "Celestial Empire." The transfer of
power from one dynasty to the next was based on the mandate of heaven. 34
After nearly 900 years, the Chou Dynasty came to an end when the state of Ch'in
Empire (221-206 BC), the strongest of the seven surviving states, unified China and established
the first empire in 221 BC. The Ch'in empire did not last long, but it left two enduring legacies:
the name China and the idea and structure of the empire. This heritage outlasted the Ch'in
Dynasty itself by more than 2,000 years.35
The Han Empire (202 BC-AD 220) .The Chinese show their pride in Han
accomplishments by calling themselves the Han people. Philosophies and institutions that began
in the Chou and Ch'in periods reached maturity under the Han. During Han times, the Chinese
distinguished themselves in making scientific discoveries, many of which were not known to
Westerners until centuries later. The Chinese were most advanced in astronomy. They invented
sundials and water clocks, divided the day equally into ten and then into 12 periods, devised the
lunar calendar that continued to be used until 1912, and recorded sunspots regularly. In
mathematics, the Chinese were the first to use the place value system, whereby the value of a
32

33
34
35
15
component of a number is indicated by its placement. Other innovations were of a more practical
nature: wheelbarrows, locks to control water levels in streams and canals, and compasses.36
After the fall of the Later Han, the Chinese Empire remained divided for three and a half
centuries. The first half-century began with the domination of the Three Kingdoms: Wei under
the Ts'ao family in the north, Shu Han under Liu Pei in the southwest, and Wu under Sun Ch'uan
in the southeast. Invaders from the north soon overran the kingdoms and set up their own states,
but the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), established by one of the barbarian tribes, the Toba,
was the only one to last. Four dynasties established by the Chinese ruled in the south during the
4th and 5th centuries. The Three Kingdoms period was made famous by the novel `Romance of
the Three Kingdoms', which glamorized the period as an age of chivalry.37
The Sui Dynasty (581-618). The prolonged period of disunity finally ended when a
general from the northwest united China by establishing the new dynasty of Sui. A second great
period of imperial unity was begun. The relationship of the Sui to the succeeding T'ang Dynasty
was much like that of the Ch'in to the Han. It served as the unifying foundation on which its
successor could build. The first Sui emperor, Wen Ti, introduced a series of economic reforms,
such as reduction of the peasants' taxes, a careful census for equitable tax collection, and
restoration of the equal allocation system used in the Northern Wei. Every taxable male received
a grant of land, part of which was returnable when he ceased to be a taxpayer at age 60 and part
of which he could pass on to his heirs. He also revived the Han system of examinations based on
Confucian classics. 38
The T'ang emperors (618-907) set up a political system in which the emperor was
supreme and government officials were selected on the bases of merit and education. The early
T'ang rulers applied the equal allocation system rigorously to bring about a greater equity in
taxation and to insure the flow of taxes to the government. A census was taken every three years
to enforce the system, which also involved drafting people to do labor. These measures led to an
agricultural surplus and the development of units of uniform value for the principal commodities,
two of the most important prerequisites for the growth of commerce and cities. 39
Buddhist influence in art, especially in sculpture, was strong during the T'ang period.
Fine examples of Buddhist sculpture are preserved in rock temples, such as those at Yongang
and Longmen in northwest China. The invention of printing and improvements in papermaking
led to the printing of a whole set of Buddhist sutras (discourses of the Buddha) by 868. By the
beginning of the 11th century all of the Confucian classics and the Taoist canon had been printed.
In secular literature, the T'ang is especially well known for poetry. The great T'ang poets such as
Li Po and Tu Fu were nearly all disillusioned officials.40
36

37
38
39
40
16
The Sung Dinasty period (960-1279) was noted for landscape painting, which in time
came to be considered the highest form of classical art. The city-dwelling people of the Sung
period romanticized nature. This romanticism, combined with a mystical, Taoist approach to
nature and a Buddhist-inspired contemplative mood, was reflected in landscape paintings
showing people dwarfed by nature. In philosophy, the trend away from Buddhism and back to
Confucianism, which had begun in the late T'ang, continued. Pure and simple restoration of the
ancient teaching was impossible, however, because Confucianism had been challenged by
Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism needed to explain humanity and the universe as well as to
regulate human relations within society. In the late T'ang and early Sung, several strands of
Confucianism emerged. The great scholar Chu Hsi synthesized elements of Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism. This reconstituted philosophy became known as Neo-Confucianism, and
it was the orthodox state doctrine until the end of the imperial system. Chu Hsi's philosophy was
one that stressed dualism, the goodness of human nature, and self-cultivation by education
through the continuing "investigation of things." 41
The Yuan (Mongols) Dynasty (1279-1368) were the first of the northern barbarians to
rule all of China. After creating an empire that stretched across the Eurasian continent and
occupying northern China and Korea in the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols continued
their assault on the Southern Sung. By 1276 the Southern Sung capital of Hangzhou had fallen,
and in 1279 the last of the Sung loyalists perished. Before this, Kublai Khan, the fifth "great
khan" and grandson of Genghis Khan, had moved the Mongol capital from Karakorum to Peking.
In 1271 he declared himself emperor of China and named the dynasty Yuan, meaning
"beginning," to signify that this was the beginning of a long era of Mongol rule. In Asia, Kublai
Khan continued his grandfather's dream of world conquest. Two unsuccessful naval expeditions
were launched against Japan in 1274 and 1281. Four land expeditions were sent against Annam
and five against Burma. However, the Mongol conquests overseas and in Southeast Asia were
neither spectacular nor were they long enduring. Mongol rule in China lasted less than a century.
The Mongols became the most hated of the barbarian rulers because they did not allow the
Chinese ruling class to govern. Instead, they gave the task of governing to foreigners. Distrusting
the Chinese, the Mongol rulers placed the southern Chinese at the lowest level of the four classes
they created. The extent of this distrust was reflected in their provincial administration. As
conquerers, they followed the Ch'in example and made the provincial governments into direct
extensions of the central chancellery. This practice was continued by succeeding dynasties,
resulting in a further concentration of power in the central imperial government. The Chinese
despised the Mongols for refusing to adapt to Chinese culture. The Mongols kept their own
language and customs. The Mongol rulers were tolerant about religions, however. Kublai Khan
reportedly dabbled in many religions. 42
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Having restored Chinese rule to China, the first Ming
emperor tried to model his rule after that of the Han, but the Ming fell far short of the Han's
accomplishments. The land under Ming domination was less than under either the Han or the
T'ang. The Ming dominion changed little after the first two decades. It was confined mostly to
what is known as China proper, south of the Great Wall and east of Xinjiang and Tibet. In
41

42
17
culture, as well, the Ming lacked the Han's creativity and brilliance. Coming after almost a
century of foreign domination, the Ming was a period of restoration and reorganization rather
than a time of new discovery. In a sense, the Ming followed a typical dynastic cycle: initial
rehabilitation of the economy and restoration of efficient government, followed by a time of
stability and then a gradual decline and fall. The emperor Hung-wu modeled his government on
the T'ang system, restoring the doctrine and practices of Confucianism and continuing the trend
toward concentration of power in the imperial government, especially in the hands of the
emperor himself. He tried to conduct state affairs singlehandedly, but the work load proved
overwhelming. To assist him, he gathered around him several loyal middle-level officials, thus
creating an extra-governmental organization, the Grand Secretariat. The central bureaucracy was
restored and filled by officials selected by the examination system. That system was further
formalized by the introduction of a special essay style called the eight-legged essay, to be used in
writing the examination. In addition, the subject matter of the examinations was restricted to the
Five Classics, said to have been compiled, edited, or written by Confucius, and the Four Books,
published by Chu Hsi. 43
The Ching Dynasty (1644-1911). Like the Mongols in the 13th century, the Manchus
(formerly the Juchen) were barbarians who succeeded in ruling the whole of China, but, unlike
the 13th-century conquerers, the sinicized Manchus made their rule more acceptable to the
Chinese. As a result, Ch'ing rule lasted 267 years, compared with 89 years for the Yuan. China in
the 19th century was beset by internal turmoil. It was easy prey to more powerful nations that
wanted to exploit every advantage to profit from trade. Chief among these advantages was the
opium trade. Official Chinese resistance to opium resulted in two trade wars in which Great
Britain, France, the United States, and Russia gained significant commercial privileges. These
conflicts were the first Opium War from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain and the second
Opium War (1856-60) fought by China against Britain and France.44
Late 19th Century Revolutionary ideas and organizations in China. One such leader was
Sun Yat-sen, who is now revered as the father of modern China by Nationalists and Communists
alike. Born into a peasant family near Canton, the traditional stronghold of anti-Manchu rebels,
Sun followed a traditional Chinese path during his early years. He was educated in Hawaii,
converted to Christianity, and had a short-lived medical career before switching to politics and
attempting to propose a reform program to Li Hung-chang in 1894. After forming a secret
revolutionary society and plotting an unsuccessful uprising in Canton in 1894, Sun began a long
period of exile outside China. He gained wide recognition as a revolutionary leader in 1896,
when his arrest in the Chinese legation in London and subsequent rescue were reported
sensationally in newspaper articles. In 1911 the Ch'ing Dynasty collapsed. Revolutionaries led
by Dr. Sun Yat-sen then took over the Chinese government, ending more than 2,000 years of
monarchy. 45
43

44
45
18
Republican China (1911-1949). During World War I, the Chinese Government, such as it
was, sided with the Allies. In return, they were promised that the German concessions in
Shangdong province would be handed back over to the Chinese Government at the end of the
war. They weren't, and to add insult to injury, the Treaty of Versailles handed them over to Japan.
On May 4, 1919, about 3,000 students from various Beijing universities got together in
Tiananmen Square and held a mass protest. The movement that was born at that rally (called, not
unsurprisingly, the May Fourth Movement) was the first true nationalist movement in China and
has consequently served as an inspiration for Chinese patriots of all shades, stripes, and
ideologies since. The students of the "Beijing Spring" of 1989 intentionally drew parallels with
the May Fourth Movement; it is all the more ironic and tragic that June Fourth will now live on
in infamy as the day that the tanks rolled in Tiananmen Square. In the early 1920s, Dr. Sun
Yatsen, as the leader of the (up-to-then unsuccessful) Nationalist Party (KMT), accepted Soviet
aid. With the Communist help, Sun Yatsen was able to forge a alliance with the fledgling
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and started the task of re-unifying a China beset with warlords.
Unfortunately, Sun died of cancer in 1925. The leadership of the KMT was then taken over by
Chiang Kaishek. 46
The People's Republic of China (1949- ). In 1950, China intervened in the Korean War to
save the North Koreans from being wiped off the map, and by 1953, the Korean War was over
(actually, South Korea and North Korea are still technically at war with each other, even though
the fighting stopped in 1953). In 1958, Mao, who was growing increasingly distant from
Moscow, launched the Great Leap Forward. The idea was to mobilize the peasant masses to
increase crop production by collectivizing the farms and use the excess labor to produce steel.
What ended up happening was the greatest man-made famine in human history. From 1958 to
1960, poor planning and bad management managed to starve 30 million people to death.
Officially, the government blamed it on "bad weather." 47
By 1962, the break with the Soviets was complete, and China started to position itself as
the 'other' superpower while it recovered from the Great Leap Forward. Unfortunately in 1966,
Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The origins of the Cultural Revolution
are vague, but probably stem, in part, from a growing separation between Mao's clique and the
rest of the CCP. Mao called upon students to rebel against authority, and they did, forming units
of Red Guards. China promptly collapsed into anarchy. Schools shut down, offices closed,
transportation was disrupted -- it was so bad that even today, the full history is still far from
known. In terms of the chaos, blood, and destruction, it was comparable to the French
Revolution, though it lacked the same political impact. At one point, Red Guards were fighting
pitched battles with Government troops outside of the Foreign Ministry building. Later on in the
Cultural Revolution, Red Guard units ended up fighting each other for supremacy. In the summer
of 1967, there were massive riots in both Hong Kong and Macau. 48
While the Cultural Revolution 'officially' ended in 1969, and the worst abuses stopped
then, the politically charged atmosphere was maintained until Mao's death in 1976. Deng
Xiaoping, who was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution (once at the beginning; once
again right before Mao died); eventually emerged as the paramount leader in 1978, and promptly
launched his economic reform program. Deng's actions, initially limited to agricultural reforms,
46
http://condensedchina.com/china4.html. (Accessed on 8 october 2011)

48
47
19
gradually started to spread to the rest of the country. One of his favorite sayings is "It doesn't
matter if the cat is black or white; what matters is how well it catches mice." This is in direct
contrast to the ideology of the Maoist years, where a favored slogan was "Better Red than
Expert," which meant, in practice, that totally unqualified ideologues were put in charge of
projects that really needed technical expertise. As the economic reforms on the mainland spread,
the question of political reform started to come to the surface, propelled by events in the Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe. This came to a head in Tiananmen Square in May, 1989. The leaders
of the Communist Party saw this as an attack on their power, and proceeded to destroy it.
Officially, 200 unarmed demonstrators died. The actual figure is far higher, and it is doubtful that
there will ever be an accurate roll call of those who died on June 4. 49
After June 4, progress and reform in China stopped for three years. But in 1993, Deng
Xiaoping, in one of his last major public appearances, toured the Shenzhen Special Economic
Zone and emphatically voiced his approval. After that, the Chinese economy exploded, and it has
only been recently that the economy has cooled off to more reasonable levels. One of the most
significant developments in recent history was the death of Deng, on February 19, 1997. While
he has not been active in politics for some time and has not appeared in public for more than
three years, the deaths of senior leaders has always had an unsettling impact on Chinese politics.
Given Deng's former position as the paramount leader of the country, the political shockwaves
will not only be substantial, but unpredictable. 50
On the other hand, given that Deng had apparently handed over power to Jiang Zemin
several years ago and 'retired,' we may be witnessing a new epoch in Chinese politics, one where
the death of a senior leader does not automatically result in a scramble for power. It will be
several years before we are able to look back and accurately assess the events of this period; after
all, Mao died in 1976 but it was not until two years later that Deng was able to fully consolidate
his grqip on power. 51
THE ESSENSE OF CHINA CULTURE
The Chinese terms yin and yang are generally known as relating to such opposites as hotcold, sweet-sour, male-female, and positive-negative. The yin-yang concept is, in fact, the
foundation of all cultures and an explanation of the behavior of all organic and inorganic things
in the universe, as well as the invisible energy that infuses the cosmos down to the level of
quantum physics. The concept incorporates the creation, interaction, and extinction of all things
in an unending cycle. Several of the most basic elements of the culture of China (as well as the
cultures of Japanese and Korean)-including all personal and business relationships-are precise
manifestations of the yin-yang principle.52
Several fundamental and well-known sources that contributed to the traditional mindset
of the China-beginning with primitive folk beliefs were eventually followed by the sophisticated
philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen. These sources impregnated the
Chinese mind with the values, ethics, and etiquette that became the foundation of their national
49

51
52
Boye Lafayette De Mente, Op.Cit., Page. 19
50
20
character, which more than three thousand years ago contributed to their creation of a civilization
that in many ways the most advanced in the world.53
From different interpretations of the Buddhist teachings there sprouted various Buddhist
sects, each with its own theoretical doctrine as well as with its clerical properties. The most
prominent among them were the Tiantai Sect, the Dharmalaksana Sect (ideation), the Huayan (or
Garland) Sect, and the Zen (or Chan) sect.54
The Tiantai Sect was founded by Zhi Kai (538-597) and the essential teaching of the
Tiantai Sect based on the Mahayana theory of the Pradjna of the Emptiness Sect, emphasizing
the complete repudiation of the reality of the objective world. In other words, all existences and
happening in the world were but derivatives of the mind.55
The Dharmalaksana Sect, or the ideation Sect or the Faxiang Sect , was founded by Xuan
Zhuang (600-664) and his disciple Kui Ji (632-682). They claimed that only the ideation
(consciousness) was real while in the objective world were but illusions of that ideation.56
The Huayan Sect (or the Garland Sect) founded by Fa Zang (643-712). According to
Huayan Sect all phenomena have no quality by itself, meaning that all phenomena were but the
embodiment or manifestation of the subjective spirit and therefore had no independent existences
of their own.57
The Zen Sect (or the Chan Sect) and the great master of the Zen Sect was Hui Neng (638713, who taught that whenever ones mind was so purified as to be capable of attaining and
instantaneous enlightenment, the Buddha-nature was already them in him. This was the doctrine
originally initiated by Zhu Daosheng who preached that the Buddha-nature was within everyone
and might be acquired by mere internal consciousness.58
Confucius (551-479 BCE), according to Chinese tradition, was a thinker, political figure,
educator, and founder of the Ru School of Chinese thought. His teachings, preserved in the
Lunyu or Analects, form the foundation of much of subsequent Chinese speculation on the
education and comportment of the ideal man, how such an individual should live his life and
interact with others, and the forms of society and government in which he should participate.
Fung Yu-lan, one of the great 20th century authorities on the history of Chinese thought,
compares Confucius' influence in Chinese history with that of Socrates in the West.59
Confucius' teachings and his conversations and exchanges with his disciples are recorded
in the Lunyu or Analects, a collection that probably achieved something like its present form
around the second century BCE. While Confucius believes that people live their lives within
parameters firmly established by Heavenwhich, often, for him means a purposeful Supreme
Being as well as nature and its fixed cycles and patternshe argues that men are responsible
for their actions and especially for their treatment of others. We can do little or nothing to alter
53
Ibid., Page. 33-34

He Zhaowu, Bu Jinzhi, Tang Yuyuan and Sun Kaitai, An Intellectual History of China. (China: Foreign
Languanges Press, 1991), Page. 248
55
Ibid., Page. 248-249
56
Ibid., Page. 249-250
57
Ibid., Page. 250
58
Ibid., Page. 252
59
Jefrrey Riegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/, 2006
(Accessed on 1 october 2012).
54
21
our fated span of existence but we determine what we accomplish and what we are remembered
for.60
Confucius also claimed that he enjoyed a special and privileged relationship with Heaven
and that, by the age of fifty, he had come to understand what Heaven had mandated for him and
for monk. Confucius was also careful to instruct his followers that they should never neglect the
offerings due Heaven. Some scholars have seen a contradiction between Confucius' reverence
for Heaven and what they believe to be his skepticism with regard to the existence of the
spirits. But the Analects passages that reveal Confucius's attitudes toward spiritual forces do not
suggest that he was skeptical. Rather they show that Confucius revered and respected the spirits,
thought that they should be worshipped with utmost sincerity, and taught that serving the spirits
was a far more difficult and complicated matter than serving mere mortals.61
Confucius' political philosophy is also rooted in his belief that a ruler should learn selfdiscipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and
concern. If the people are led by laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments,
they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, and
uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense
of shame and come to you of their own accord. It seems apparent that in his own day, however,
advocates of more legalistic methods were winning a large following among the ruling elite.
Thus Confucius' warning about the ill consequences of promulgating law codes should not be
interpreted as an attempt to prevent their adoption but instead as his lament that his ideas about
the moral suasion of the ruler were not proving popular.62
Confucius was concerned about the constant chaotic warfare among the clans of his day,
and he searched the old rituals for ethical human guidelines and moral principles to help see
people through that turbulent era. In the process, he founded the first recorded Chinese wisdom
tradition, predating recorded Taoism by more than a century. Although many Westerners do not
think of Confucianism as a viable spiritual path along the lines of Taoism, yet most Chinese have
traditionally practiced Confucian principles alongside both Taoism and Buddhism for many
centuries. (The Communist and Cultural Revolutions suppressed and distorted these teachings in
the 20th century, yet many observers claim that the principles are still adhered to by vast
numbers of Chinese.) Confucius built his principles on an ancient religious foundation to
establish the social values and ideals of traditional Chinese society -- not as a separate church,
but established within social, familial, school and state institutions so that parents, teachers, and
even bureaucratic officials served as its "priests." This wove Confucianism into the Chinese
social fabric to such an extent that Confucianism part of everyday life. Consciously or not,
Confucius expanded the idea of religious ritual to comprise social rituals such as common
courtesy and accepted standards of behavior -- so-called social mores. These civilizing mores, he
believed, would ultimately lead to well-governed states and peace between nations.63
60

61
62
63
http://www.joyofsects.com/world/confucianism.shtml. (Accessed on 2 october 2012)
22
Taoism has no founder and no founding date. It grew out of various religious and
philosophical traditions in ancient China, including shamanism and nature religion. Zhang
Daoling became the first Celestial Master and founder of the first organized Taoist school of
thought. This tradition continues to the present day, with the current Celestial Master living in
Taiwan. Early religious Taoism was rooted in the ideas of the Taoist thinkers, to which were
added local religious rituals and beliefs, both to provide examples of Taoist philosophy, and
integrate Taoism into the existing world views of all levels of the Chinese people.64
Taoism was first recognised as a religious system during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE.
The publication of the Tao Te Ching and other works provided a focus for Taoist thinking.
Taoism became a semi-official Chinese religion during the Tang dynasty and continued during
the Song dynasty. As Confucianism gained popularity Taoism gradually fell from favour, and
changed from an official religion to a popular religious tradition.65
Concepts within Taoism are, First, The One is the essence of Tao, the
essential energy of life, the possession of which enables things and beings
to be truly themselves and in accord with the Tao. Second, Wu and Yu,
Wu and Yu are non-being and being, or not-having and having. Wu also
implies inexhaustibility or limitlessness. Some writers suggest that Wu can
be directly experienced by human beings. Third, Te, Te is usually
translated as virtue, but this translation uses some Confucian ideas and can
be confusing. Another way of looking at te is an awareness of the Tao
together with the capabilities that enable a person to follow the Tao.
Fourth, Tzu Jan,Tzu Jan is usually translated naturalness or spontaneity,
but this is rather misleading.One writer suggests using the phrase 'that
which is naturally so', meaning the condition that something will be in if it
is permitted to exist and develop naturally and without interference or
conflict.The Taoist ideal is to fulfil that which is naturally so, and the way
to do this is Wu Wei. Fithth, Wu Wei, the method of following the Tao is
called Wu Wei. This can be translated as uncontrived action or natural
non-intervention.Wu Wei is sometimes translated as non-action, but this
wrongly implies that nothing at all gets done. Sixth, Yin YangYin Yang is
the principle of natural and complementary forces, patterns and things that
depend on one another and do not make sense on their own.These may be
masculine and feminine, but they could be darkness and light (which is
closer to the original meaning of the dark and light sides of a hill), wet and
dry or action and inaction.These are opposites that fit together seamlessly
and work in perfect harmony. You can see this by looking at the yin yang
symbol.The yin yang concept is not the same as Western dualism, because
the two opposites are not at war, but in harmony.This can be seen very
clearly in the symbol: the dark area contains a spot of light, and vice versa,
and the two opposites are intertwined and bound together within the
64
BBC Religions, The Origins of Taoism, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml.

2009.(Accessed on 2 October 2012)
65
BBC Religions, The Origins of Taoism, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml.
2009.(Accessed on 2 October 2012)
23
unifying circle.Yin and yang are not static, the balance ebbs and flows
between them - this is implied in the flowing curve where they
meet.Seventh, Ch'i, Ch'i or qi is the cosmic vital energy that enables beings
to survive and links them to the universe as a whole. Eighth, Immortality,
Immortality doesn't mean living for ever in the present physical body.The
idea is that as the Taoist draws closer and closer to nature throughout their
life, death is just the final step in achieving complete unity with the
universe. Nineth, Knowledge and relativity.Human knowledge is always
partial and affected by the standpoint of the person claiming that
knowledge. There can never be a single true knowledge, merely the
aggregate of uncountable different viewpoints.Because the universe is
always changing, so knowledge is always changing.The closest a human
being can get to this is knowledge that is consistent with the Tao. But this
is a trap because the Tao that can be known is not the Tao. True
knowledge cannot be known - but perhaps it can be understood or lived.66
After the communist takeover of China, Taoism was banned and its followers re-educated,
with the result that the number of practicing Taoists fell by 99% in 10 years.At this time Taoism
began to flourish in the greater freedom on offer in Taiwan.
After the end of the Cultural Revolution the Chinese government began to allow a small
measure of religious freedom. Taoism began to revive in China, and Taoist temples and
practitioners can now be found throughout the country.67
'Zen' is the way the Chinese word Ch'an is pronounced in Japan. 'Ch'an' is the Chinese
pronunciation of the Sanskrit word Dhyana, which means (more or less) meditation. Zen
Buddhism is a mixture of Indian Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. It began in China, spread to
Korea and Japan, and became very popular in the West from the mid 20th century. The essence
of Zen is attempting to understand the meaning of life directly, without being misled by logical
thought or language. Zen techniques are compatible with other faiths and are often used, for
example, by Christians seeking a mystical understanding of their faith. Zen often seems
paradoxical - it requires an intense discipline which, when practised properly, results in total
spontaneity and ultimate freedom. This natural spontaneity should not be confused with
impulsiveness. 68 The essence of Zen Buddhism is achieving enlightenment by seeing one's
original mind (or original nature) directly; without the intervention of the intellect.69
Zen Buddhism was brought to China by the Indian monk Bodhidharma in the 6th century
CE. It was called Ch'an in China. Zen's golden age began with the Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng
(638-713), and ended with the persecution of Buddhism in China in the middle of the 9th century
CE. Most of those we think of today as the great Zen masters came from this period. Zen
Buddhism survived the persecution though it was never the same again in China. Zen spread to
66
BBC Religions, Concepts within Taoism,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/beliefs/concepts.shtml.2009 (Accessed, 2 October 2012)
67
BBC Religions, The Origins of Taoism,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml. 2009.(Accessed on 2 October 2012)
68
BBC Religions. Zen Buddhism, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/zen_1.shtml.2002.
(Accesable on 2 October 2012)
69
24
Korea in the 7th century CE and to Japan in the 12th century CE. It was popularised in the West
by the Japanese scholar Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870 - 1966); although it was found in the West
before that.70
Christmas Humphreys, one of the leading pioneers in the history of Buddhism in Britain,
wrote that "Zen is a subject extremely easy to misunderstand." He was right. Zen is something a
person does. It's not a concept that can be described in words. Despite that, words on this site
will help you get some idea of what Zen is about. But remember, Zen does not depend on words
- it has to be experienced in order to 'understand'.71
CHINA TODAY
Chinas rapid rise to economic and political super-powerdom following the death of Mao
Zedong in 1976 was a seminal event in the lives of the Chinese. For the first time in the history
of the country ordinary people were freed from most of the cultural and political shackles that
had prevented them from using their abilities to help themselves.72
The imposition of a communist style government on China 1n 1949, the so-called
Cultural Revolution that occurred between 1966 and 1976, and the gradual adoption of a
capitalistic market economy following the destructive debacle of the cultural revolution led to
fundamental changes in the culture of China, and it is still a work in progress-part traditional
Chinese, part modern Chinese and part western.73
During the Mao Regime (1949-1976) the independent and entrepreneurial efforts of the
Chinese were generally limited to small-scale activities, many of them underground, because the
government attempted to control every aspect and element of the economy. With the death of
Mao and significant switch to a market economy all of the long-repressed talents and ambitions
of vast number of Chinese were quickly channeled into entrepreneurial enterprise.74
Mao died on September 9, 1976. The era of Cultural Revolution considered ends along
with the death of Mao. We can conclude that actually Cultural Revolution triggered by
contradiction between stronghold radical and moderate in the Communist Party of china.75
The economic success of China following the fall of the barriers against private
enterprise became a stake in the heart of the communist ideology, and speaks for itself. But
despite the American and Western facade that now blankets much of China many of the elements
that made up the traditional character of the people continue to exist and to thrive. There were, of
course, several fundamental and well-known sources that contributed to the traditional mindset
of the Chinese-beginning with primitive folk beliefs that were eventually followed by the
sophisticated philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen.76
Philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen also are seen in the social life
of the people of china, where discipline, hard work and unyielding are the character of having
70

71
72
Boye Lafayette De Mente, Op.Cit., Page. 33
73
Ibid.,18
74
Ibid.,33
75
Taniputera, Op.Cit., Page. 589
76
Boye Lafayette De Mente, Op.Cit., Page. 33-34
25
been waked up in china, long on the society and this is what makes human resources in china
highly developed and gave impacts on the progress of nations. We could see that china has
become one of the world economic powers. This can be achieved with the history of very long
and development character nations strong.
Conclusion
The essence of Japanese values and Chinese values such as Confucianism, Buddhism,
Bushido ,Wa (Harmony) and so on, with its ideals of harmony and order and knowing ones
place, has played a significant part in shaping Japanese and Chinese attitudes. It seems a basic
part of human nature- at least in the historical perspective- make the people of Japan and China
to be ambitious and competitive and enjoy status.
The enthusiasm to learn from others is part of a broader respect for the power of learning
and education in general. If you are educated, you can achieve things better than you are not.
These values are beneficial both individually and for the nation. Throughout the history they
built the consciences of their long journey of their history to enforced equality among unequal.
Through the slogan the government encourages their people from the national crisis soon
turned to a sense of national pride.
The forms and practices of culture which are constructed by the power potentially could
produce the strong ideology and belief to become accustomed by the people to obey authority
and responsibilities. And finally that ideology becomes the important part to play role in guiding
the way of life the society.
Through the strength values such as; flexibility and ability to compromise and adapt, the
respect to the power of learning, the respect of ambition and achievement (including hard
worker), a strong sense of nationalism, and awareness of the importance of having limits on
individual rights and freedom, created the basic values as we known as a Japanese way and
Chinese way. Then the economic rise of East Asia and of the Asia Pacific region more widely
has placed Japan and China in historical experience in a new perspective.
Japan and Chinas story are fascinating, its has elements of adventure, of mystery and
intrigue, and of controversy. How Japan and China became a superpower, can not be separated
from the achievement from both countries. Japan and Chinas achievements are the results of
both circumstance itself and also the response to circumstance, a response pattern often based on
deep rooted values and practices. That is why to understand the making of an economic
superpower it is not enough just to examine its economic development. Certainly the progression
through history, values and practices of any nation owes much to change the circumstance.
Nationalism was an ideal cause. It tapped nicely into the revived sense of national
identity and crisis triggered by the return of the foreign threat. Nationalism needed symbols as
well as catchphrases, and it was easy to spread among the public, by methods such as
catchphrases. In an age when so many different ideologies were competing with each other, it
was not necessarily an easy task to bring all public thinking into line.
However, the true miracles from Japan and china in particular, there has been a readiness
to try out different things, mixing old and new till the best mix is achieved and have a great
ability from the power to blend the traditional values to be more acceptable. The enthusiasm to
learn is part of a broader respect for the power of learning and education in general. Education as
26
a means of achieving success is a reflection of general wish to achieve, when success that
combined both individual and national interests was greatly encouraged of the success itself.
For Japan and china, its rulers have not found it too difficult to merge individual and national
interest, for the national cause has always been a strong one. The people in Japan and China can
committed to making their nation great and powerful. Through the Japan and China's values, the
rulers mobilize the people to achieve their goals as the nation goals. And the result the "miracle
of Japan" and the miracle of china can be seen in the progress of human and economic.
Appreciatin addressed to LP2M Univrsitas Al azhar Indonesia (Institute For Research and
Community Services Al Azhar Indonesia University) and Biro Kemahasiswaan Universitas Al
Azhar Indonesia (Bureau of Student Affair Al Azhar Indonesia University due to their
financial support
References
[1] Banner, Erica. 2006. Nationalism in Japan, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
[2] Barker, Chris. 2000. Cultural Studies: Teori dan Praktik, PT. Bentang Pustaka.
[3] Clearly, Thomas. 1992. The Japanese Art Of War. Boston & London: Shambala.
[4] De Mente, Boye Lafayette, 2009. The Chinese Mind: Understanding Traditional Chinese
Beliefs And Their Influence On Contemporary Culture. USA: Tuttle Publishing.
[5] Gordon, Andrew. Edward Kidder, Jr., 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume I,
Cambridge University Press.
[6] Gordon, Andrew. 2003. A Modern History Of Japan; From Tokugawa Times to The Present,
Oxford University New York Press.
[7] He Zhaowu, Bu Jinzhi, Tang Yuyuan and Sun Kaitai, 1991. An Intellectual History of China.
China: Foreign Languanges Press.
[8] Henshall, Kenneth G. 2004, A history of Japan; From Stone Age to Super Power, 2nd Edition,
Palgrave
[9] Large, Stephen S.2006. Japanese Nationalist Extremism, 1921-41, In Historical Perspective;
Nationalism In Japan, Routledge Francis &Taylor, New York.
[10] Nitobe, Inazo. 1969 Bushido the Soul of Japan,
[11]Oguma, Eiji. 2008. Contemporary Japan from The Perspective of Post-War Japanese
History.
[12] Penelope Francks, Penelope. 1999. Japanese Economy Development; Theory and Practice,
Routledge, New York.
[13] S.Hall (ed.), 1997. Representation. London & Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
[14]Storey, John. 2009 Cultural Theory And Popular Culture (Fifth Edition), London:
PEARSON Longman.
[15] Suhartono, 2001. Sejarah Pergerakan Nasional, Pustaka Pelajar Offset, Yogyakarta.
[16] Taniputera, Ivan. 2008. History of China. Yogyakarta: Ar-ruzz Media, 2008
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Websites
[1] BBC Religions, The Origins of Taoism,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml. 2009. (Accessed on 2
October 2012)
[2] BBC Religions. Zen Buddhism,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/zen_1.shtml. 2002. (Accessed
on 2 October 2012)
[3] Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,
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[5] http://www.joyofsects.com/world/confucianism.shtml. (Accessed on 2 October 2012)
[6] Riegel, Jefrrey. 2006. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/. 2006 (Accessed on 1 October 2012).
28

How Culture Shape Economic Progress

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ABSTRACT

: Yusy Widarahesty (yusy_widarahesty@uai.ac.id)

: International Relations (Al Azhar Indonesia University)

Key words: Culture, Human, Economic, Progress, Japan and China

HOW CULTURE CAN SHAPE HUMAN PROGRESS AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN

Op. Cit., Page. 79

Inazo Nitobe, Bushido the Soul of Japan, 1969, Page. x

Ivan Taniputera, History of China. (Yogyakarta: Ar-ruzz Media, 2008), page. 21

Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,

Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,

Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,

Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China,

http://condensedchina.com/china4.html. (Accessed on 8 october 2011)

http://condensedchina.com/china4.html. (Accessed on 8 october 2011)

Ibid., Page. 33-34

Jefrrey Riegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/, 2006

BBC Religions, The Origins of Taoism, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml.

BBC Religions, Concepts within Taoism,

BBC Religions. Zen Buddhism, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/zen_1.shtml.2002.

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