Vortrag von Yang Jui-sung: Compatriots 同胞 and Sleeping Lion 睡獅 – Two Key Japanese Elements in the Construction of National Identity in Modern China
Alle Studierenden, Dozierenden und Interessierten sind herzlich eingeladen dem Vortrag von Herrn Yang Jui-sung (National Chengchi University, Taiwan) am 26. Juni 2025 um 18:00 Uhr im Raum 00.111 (EG) in der Artilleriestraße 70 beizuwohnen.
Thematisch geht es in seinem Vortrag um Folgendes:
The term tongbao (同胞), literally meaning “those of the same womb,” has been a prevalent expression in the discourse of modern Chinese national identity. Its ubiquity exemplifies what Michael Billig describes as “banal nationalism”—a form of nationalism embedded in the routines of everyday life. However, the emergence of tongbao as a key term in Chinese nationalist discourse was neither a natural outgrowth of traditional Chinese thought nor a product generated solely by modern Chinese intellectual culture. Rather, it represents a historical transformation with complex transnational and transcultural dimensions, particularly influenced by the nationalist discourse of Meiji Japan. Another significant Chinese nationalist metaphor, the “sleeping lion,” is also closely connected to discourses in Meiji Japan. Yang Jui-song’s research reveals evidence from Japanese journals indicating that during and after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the metaphor of China as a “sleeping lion” was widely used in Meiji Japan to underscore the significance of Japan’s military victory, which showed to the world that Qing China was actually a decaying and weak empire, yet bluffing to be a powerful force merely in slumber (a sleeping lion). Although Liang Qichao later introduced this metaphor into China —retaining its originally negative connotation—it has since undergone a dramatic transformation. Ironically, the phrase “China is a sleeping lion” has increasingly become a positive metaphor in modern China, symbolizing the nation’s latent power and serving as a rhetorical anchor for the narrative of a “rising” or “awakening” China.
In his talk Yang jui-sung will emphasize the importance of tracing both the origins and the transformations of the tongbao term and the “sleeping lion” metaphor across national and linguistic boundaries with the intention of shedding light on the crucial role that Japanese discourses played in shaping the construction of modern Chinese national identity.