Reference no: EM131420825

Essays should have a clear argument supported by evidence from the readings (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3D5tcB4swW_WmVTeXF4LVdWWVE?usp=sharing). While it is fine to state your personal opinion on these questions, please be sure that you support your opinion with historical evidence.  The best answers will have an argument and will be very detailed.  The answer should have a beginning, middle and an end, and will probably be 400 words.

1. What role does the West play in shaping modern East Asia?  How does this role change over time (if it does change).  In your opinion is the role of the West a net positive or a net negative?  Why?

2. What are the merits and demerits of the Champion of the East and the Gentleman of Western Learning's arguments in Discourse of Three Drunkards on Government? Which view do you support?  Why? 

3. What is the nature of nationalism in the Japanese and Chinese contexts?  What does it stem from?  How do nationalistic sentiments change in the first three decades of the twentieth century in East Asia? 

4. Describe the changes in Japan-Chinese relations over time beginning in 1895 up through 1937.  In what ways do relations change?  What factors force them to change?

5. By the 1920s, Japan had already become an important world power, while China remained mired in warlord politics and political factionalism.  How do you account for the differences in China and Japan?  What factors helped facilitate Japan's "rise"?

6. Evaluate the arguments made by Japanese leaders regarding Pan Asianism from the early 20th century up through the creation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.  What was attractive about these sentiments for many people in East Asia?  How do you yourself feel about the way the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was portrayed?

7. How did Chiang Kaishek rise to prominence in China in the 1920s?  What was the legitimacy of Chiang Kaishek's Nationalist government based upon?  How do the campaigns against the Chinese Communist Party fit into this?

8. How do you view Wang Jingwei?  Was he a collaborator as he is commonly portrayed in China or is he a patriot whose reputation has been slandered since the end of the war?  To answer this question, you must address the differences between collaborators and resisters in the wartime period.  What constitutes these two categories?  What problems are there in using these two turns of phrase? 

9. Scholars have suggested that the Pacific War between Japan and the United States was inevitable, but there is a considerable amount of disagreement about when it became inevitable.  What single point do you consider to be the "point of no return" for the outbreak of the war?  Please note in your response at least two other potential points and explain why you did not choose them.

Attachment:- Assignment.rar