The Background and Significance of Renaming the Sea of Japan by Chinese Academia in 1940's

Dong-hu Sun r (Researcher, Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, )

r I, I ,. I Generally speaking, foreign geographical names are transfonned into I Chinese by using free translation or transliteration according to the relevant ; foreign maps and documents. Those names which are used in own national edition maps and documents have never been changed imitatively but a few I conventional names in Chinese academia. Therefore it is extraordinary that six ~ I academic associations proposed to rename the Sea of Japan in 1940's. Probing into the background and significance of hi s actively may offer some helpful I , historical reference to Republic of Korea scholars who are occupying themseJves with the efforts of renaming the Sea of Japan.

1. Brief review

The Qing Dynasty ceded territory of the north of Heiiong Jiang and the east of Wusuli Jiang to Russia from 1858 to 1860, giving rise to separation between China and maritime space of the Sea of j apan. Until then, The appeliations of sea area of the Sea of Japan appeared in Chinese maps and documents were Sea, Big Sea, Whale Sea, East Sea and so on. Among those appeliatious East Sea was universally employed in the historical records and geographical books from the Liao, jin, Yuan, Ming Dynasty to the early days Guang Xu(JI:;M) of the Qing Dynasty. The first appearance of the name, Sea of Japan, in current known Chinese maps was in Atlas of the Various Countries in the World(fII' !liUJIi!I:'i':[;I) compiled by Italian missionary Matteo Ricci in 1502. However, few used. Although Cao Tingue used the name of Sea of japan in Notes on the Trip to Eastern Siberio (i!§ fl':lf lJ~m~~~n in 1885, both the name East Sea and the name of Sea of japan are alternatively employed. Henceforth, the situation changed. The name of East Sea was replaced by the name Sea of Japan in Sino-Russia Border Map(rp~3(. Wtll) translated and compiled by Hong Jin in 1890. Since the Republic of China (1912- 1949) was established, under the influence of Japanese cultural infiltration, some well-known atlas of China

- 89- adopted the name Sea of Japan, such as the revised 4th edition New Districts Atlas 0{ the Republic 0{ auna(

2. Publication of Yu Youren's thesis and response from academia

It is Mr. Yu Youren(l879- 1964), senior of Chinese Guomiodang, head of Supervisory Department of Nation Government, well-known calligrapher and scholar, pay first attention to name of "Sea of Japan" in Chinese academia in 1940's. On March 15th, 1943, he published article of Taiping Sea (peace sea, X 'l'i!\i) on Central Daily ('1':11: fJ 1lI) and Dagong Bao(x ",*) in Chongqing, which gave the idea of cancelling the name of "Sea of Japan", confirming the name of "Taiping Sea", creating peace for ever. His idea received active response from academia. From July, 18 to 21 , 1943, over 300 members of Scientific Society _of China (cpIlllH!I!;tt), Botanical Society of China (cpllllli'i¥~f;!e) , Geographical Society of China, Zoological Society of China("',",lIJ1'

- 90- 1tts Yu Youren's viewjX)ing of renaming the Sea of Japan was adopted by

!ng Chinese academia in 1943. His papers in English, titled in South China Peninsula lied and Taping Sea ", ... A Study in Geographimi Nomenclature was published in per Geographica Shinca(jfu:@~¥R') No.2, vol.l4. He expatiated on notion of renaming

Ol. Indo'-China Peninsula and Sea of Japan. In this paper, he firstly explained the necessity of correcting geographlcaJ names. "The importance of paper geographical names 1rzs long been recognized by Chinese writers, for ConfuciusC¥.. *=r-) said as three thousand years ago his of classics t/rJt improper naming would result in incorrect thinking(~1"'lEft!J 1!f~ md iji). Therefore a proper rennming of certain geographirol areas is a in prerequisite to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and dangerous

;k implications. H kh With regard to the perniciousness by adopting geographical name of the of Sea of Japan in records, maps and books at that time, He lXlinted out om " The name, probably first u.~ed by the Japanese, is most misleading, for only 'a part at the sea is bordered by japan In the past fifty years, this .of improper name had directly or indirectly seconded is proposed toot in the ical interest of world peace the name oj the Sea of japan be eliminated forever ety from the publications of all peace- loving countries." j a Yu Yuren demonstrated that Lo- Iang SeaOfifttfiJ) in ancient Chinese books evidently represented the Sea of Japan. He thoughts, " In the Geographical Book of 'Han Shu'«<~i!I . J1!!J'l''E.») written in the 1st century, A.D., it was stated. Along the La- lang sea, there lived the the Ainus{ ~ !,) who formed more tmn one hundred states, and who came regularly the to pay tribute co China. Evidently. in the Han Dynasty, one of the seas J1Ig borden·ng japan must Jnve been calJed the Lo-lang sea, which. I think,

ere represents the so- called Sea of jaJXU1. H a As for the replacement of the name of the Sea of Japan, Yu Youren if indicated that it should be repl aced by Taiping Sea. The reasons were as ike follows: an, "In the Chinese classics, the wide sea to the east of China was or generally called Tai-ping or peace, Erh -· Yah«<~n: »), the earliest dictionary the ri the , said, "East to where the sun rises is called the lie Tai- ·ping("9;!f.. F.:I PJi"I±U~A4i'·). here Taj- pinR was used ro a synonym for rhe his east. Literally. the word Lo-lang means peacefuL of O1lm [vater. being the synonymous with Tai·-ping. A s the lasting peace of mankind is the main objective for which the United Nations have fought so bravely in the Second

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World War. it is proposed tml the Sea of japan be henceforth called the Tai-ping Sea in accrcxlance with both the ancient Chinese usage and the

common wish of mankind H Yu Yuren's paper express eagerness for peace and it is important thesis concerning correcting the name Sea of Japan. In the book, The Newest .. Geographical Names Dictionary of China and Foreign Countries(5:fiq:.7'f.:l&-ijrnJ JJ4.) compile by Ge Suicheng(China Publishing House, 1948), the words, "Sea of Japan is currently called Taiping Sea",appeared in the entry of "Japan". Revision of dictionary entry indicated that Mr. Yu's proposal brought about deep influence on Chiese academia because Ge Suicheng was a famous geographical dictionary compile in China

3. The background of renaming

'; Chinese scholars' protestation of renammg the Sea of Japan in 1940' s concentrates their thinking on history and reality. The Japanese aggression to China is direct cause of triggering off this process. Firstly, China lost territory to the north of Heilong Jiang and the east of Wusuli Jiang in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Although the tenitory of ,. China was not adjacent to the "Sea of Japan" waters, the historical connection is at least not dissociated on the mind of academia scholars, and Chinese government always has tight contact with Korea Peninsular through the ages. ,. Regarding the peace in the Asia and even throughout the World as mam • purpose in academia, the proposal of replacing "Sea of Japan" with "Taiping Sea" refl ects this hi storical relationship. Secondly, Chinese nation ardently loves peace. However Japan quickly • took the way of external extension since the late 19th century and set a "continental Po li cy (* Ifi'&j~O", aiming at sJX)iiating Korea Pern nsul a and China. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895", "the Inci dent of 9, 18, 193!()L-Jl.4> j W)"and "Lugouqiao Incident of 1.7, 1 937 (p mm$~)" are all serious in vasion and infringement upon the territory and sovereignty of China, resulting in • unprecedented and horri fy ing destruction for China. Over 3O,CXlO,OOO Chinese • people were killed by Japanese invaders during the Anti- Japanese War and Over • 3OO,COO,()(X) masses were killed only in " S l aughter(l¥ij~(*~~)"of Dec, • 1937. It is reasonable that outrage of Japanese invaders stirred up strong indignation of Chinese people. When six associations discussed on renaming the •+ Sea of Japan i 1943, Anti-Japanese War in China entered the 6th year and the •

- 92- I,.i people lived in three prOVInces of northeastern China had been as slaves of a Japanese power for 12 years. Chinese scholars and politicians required that the name of the Sea of Japan must be eliminated from [he publications because it is easily misunderstand as inner sea of Japan, which expressed both esteem for national feeling and vigilance and indignation to Japanese invaders. Thirdly, the map compiled by Japanese gave an impulse to usage of name of the Sea of Japan. 20th Century Atlas of China and Foreign Countries (::: +\!!:~"'?f * lI!!lI!I) compiled by Zhou Shitang and Sun Haihuan is an influential atlas in map-making history of China. In this atl as, The Whole Map " of China. The Map of jilin, The Map of japan, The Map of Korea and The Map c( Siberia In introductory remarks of the atlas compilers professed that ,I the maps of three provinces of northeastern China were designed according to the New Map of Manzhou(iIli ill,~ II;]) compiled by the general staff of Russia )! and Japan. Therefore, it was nothing surprising that the name, Sea of Japan, \' was employed in this atlas. The cartographers in the late years of the Qing I,:" Dynasty of China drawn foreign maps just by passively translating and compiling original foreign works. The case that the name of Japan was marked as "Big Japan" on The World Nation Map of the Worldf1!t Jil :!£III) reflected ignorance for calling themselves of Japanese. Osaka Lithographic Hou set*~15 ~ -ftfi~jJ:.) of Japan who was in charge of printing the atlas gladly laid eyes on this situation. During this period, appellation of the Sea of Japan had a wide prevalence. After that, it gave rise to antipathy under historical condition of mad japanese aggression, leading to the discussion of renaming it in Chinese academia.

4. Some historical references

By reviewing and analyzing above historical facts, the author reach the ideas as follow s, (1) The wide application of the geographical name Sea of japan in China closely relates with continuous military invasion and cultural infiltration to China ., , after the Meiji Relonnation 01 Japan('Jl It1l

- 93- history and nationality. La-lang Sea and East Sea in Chinese ancient books were named according their geographical lX)sition. The appellation of the Sea of japan maybe firstly was used on western maps, but recent external extension of Japan boosted its influence. The imperialists of japan aggressed against many Asia countries particularly China for many times and colonized ruled Korea Peninsula over decades, resulting in serious vulnerations in the mind for people I lived in above countries. There is something is common between the renaming advocacy of nongovernmental associations of Republic of Korea nowadays and renaming proposal of China scholars in 1940s. They express resentment for aggressive act of the imperialists of japan and attention to regional security. (3) The activity that Chinese academia attempted to rename the Sea of japan may offer some useful historical reference to Republic of Korea scholars. The free nongovernmental academic studies may go ahead of the government's decision-making. To unify usage of the name within whole nation and then let it internationalize under the impelling of government's action is a feasible way. It is significant that the name of "Sea of japan" and "East Sea" are respectively employed in Fishery Entense between japan and Republic of Korea. One of the main abortive reasons of replacing the name of the Sea of japan with the name of Taiping Sea over !50 years ago was that the government did not enact to come it into effect because political and social situation was unstable. (4) The complexity of the name of the Sea of japan and renammg arduousness should be taken into account all round. It is necessary to assess renaming difficulty because this name has long time international application. Owing to the historical reasons, the name of the Sea of japan has been employed over decades on the maps of Chinese edition. The Chinese government stands on consistent peaceful foreign policy of taking the future in view , good-neighbor and friendship. The principles of setting the problem between China and japan are that "past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future". Based on those polices and principles, Chinese government maintains and develops friendly relationship between China and japan. It is essential to research on the history of the Sea of japan and correcting its name for altering the resurrection of japanese militarism and it is accordant with fundamental benefits of Asian people including japanese people. The current focus of argument is on both Japan and Republic of Korea. To solve the problem an essential approach is that ooth sides intensify negotiation. However, for malefaction of aggressing against China, Korea Peninsula and Southeast Asia countries in 20th century, japanese government unwillingly so-called "search

- 94- ..,ks one's conscience" policy and obdwately does not apologize for its cnme to .. of people who were ravaged .What's more, the fact like "Nanjing Slaughter' also on of is tried to deny. Consequently, a series of hideous notions appeared recently in lIIlI1y Japan, such as distorting related records of textbook replacing "invasion" with torea "ingress(entrance)". and sugaring up notorious war criminals. Di stinctly, it is 8:>p(e impossible to count on Japanese government agreeing to renaming "Sea of Dring Japan" under this situation. At present guided by the convention of U.N . . and geographical name standardization, the short tenn goal of trying for the bi -noted ~- for of international adoption should come it.

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