CONTENTS

FormationofTsudaSauyoshi’sHistoricalViewofOrientCulture

Xu Xingqing

This article aims at exploring three perspectives of Tsuda Sokichi (1873—1961)， the modern historian and thinker who was active in the Meiji， Taisho， and Showa periods of Japan. These three perspectives are (1) the “history of the national ideology”， (2) the “history of Japanese culture” and (3) the “history of oriental culture”. Then the article analyzes Tsuda Sokichi’s influence on the formation of “oneness” consciousness in the modern Japanese culture， and on the “national ideology” of Japanese society. It further explores the development of Sokichi’s perspectives on “the history of oriental culture” and on the issue of knowledge transformation.

DespotismRegimeofModernJapanandCivilUniversalSuffrageMovements——OntheModernJapaneseViewoftheEasternMiscellany

Tao Haiyang

Although modern Japan had political reform in the meiji reformation and implemented nominal constitutionalism system， the basic of modern social politics mission had not been accomplished. Articles in the Eastern Miscellany reviewed modern Japanese universal suffrage movements having been quelled under the limit elections， people’s life was caught in trouble and fundamental rights could not been guaranteed on account of long-term expansionary policy， people’s political rights were deprived by means of authoritarian facilities. The autocratic rule brought on the deterioration of political environment and missed the national development road for the modern Japanese society.

TheRyukyu’sStatusintheInternationalTrusteeship

Li Chao

The international attitude towards the Ryukyu’s status is Putting it under the international trusteeship. The United States’ readjustment of its policy towards Ryukyu on the basis of national interests and reality， which didn’t stick religiously to the regulations.Even if the Ryukyu’s status was truly achieved， it does not mean that subject of sovereignty was explicitly defined. To solve these problems， it is necessary for international community to re-know the international trusteeship and its purpose of the anti-colonialism.

Murong’s“MarginalFarmingSociety”undertheTheoryofLattimore’sFrontierTheory

Li Lu

In the framework of the Owen Lattimore’s frontier theory，corresponds to the marginal nomadic society， the farming nomadic mixed society established by the Murong regime in western Liaoning is a typical marginal farming society. Western Liaoning has also become the “reservoir” of Murong regime. This conclusion is based on the theory of grassland society and marginal zone of farming society centered around the the Great Wall with Owen Lattimore， and it provides a new perspective for us to study the evolution of the Murong regime. However， in Lattimore’s frontier theory， the discourse core of “national-state” and the malpractice that does not pay attention to the influence of human factors also have their limitations.

AncientProphecy，Divinationand“History”

Shi Haibo

Although prophecy and divination predict the future， they are closely related to “history”. Ancient prophecies and divination activities were varied in form， including astrology， oneiromancy， extispicy， Gods’ oracle， and literary work. These prophecies and divinations require certain historical experience as the basis for predicting the future， and are often dominated by political or religious power behind them. Some of them are pseudepigraphas， and some just predicate the past. The cognition to prophecy and divination in different ancient civilizations also reflects the difference historical consciousness.

CulturalInvestigationoftheNameoftheTempleofAncientMesopotamia

Zhang Wenan

The name of the temple of ancient Mesopotamia is the Sumerian language， which refers to all the religious buildings including the temple， widely used in the Sumerian hymns， prayers and royal inscriptions， and has been used by the later generations. The naming of the temple follows certain principles and basis， provides the cosmology importance and geographical location of the temple and rich information of the deity， function and life prospect of the gods， which is of great significance to study the religion of ancient Mesopotamia.

ResearchonPoliticalSystemandPoliticalStabilityinSyria

Wang Xingang and Zhang Wentao

Political system and political stability are appealing issues of political development in the progress of modernization. Since the 20thcentury， Syrian party politics has experienced a very complex process of evolution. Factors concerning political stability were seen through the whole process of development. These factors caused deep effects on the progress of modernization and internal situation. The rise of Baath Party was in the demand of establishment of Syrian nation-state. After a military coup， Baath Party set up a political system characterized with mono-party state and combination of party and government. After Hafiz Assad stepped to power， his supreme personal authority was above the party and the Baath became the ruling instrument of Assad’s family. The mono-party situation in Syria was attributed with such characters as power seized by the army， autocracy taken by the ruler， state ruled by one family and chaos caused by religious sects. After Bashar Assad came to power and dramatic changes took place in the world in the early 21stcentury， contradictions in politics， economy， society and between nations， religions became further protruding under the ruling suppression. Bashar could neither rebuilt the “Charisma” authority like his father nor could he settle the contradictions in the party system with authoritarianism. Chaos in Arab world and intervenes from external powers are out of question the important reasons for the crisis of Syrian Baath Party in power， but the fundamental reason is the double failures both in development of its party politics and construction of its nation-state.

TheDevelopmentandFutureofContemporaryJapan-GCCRelations

Niu Song and Gao Zijing

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf， also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)， established against the backdrop of Iranian Islamic Revolution and later on the escalating Iran-Iraq War， is now the most significant political and economical organization in the Gulf area， playing a major role in regional affairs. Recently， with the accelerating integration process of the Gulf region， GCC’s decision to set up a common market may boost its overall economy to catch up with Japan in coming years. The slowly-evolving relations between Japan and Middle Eastern countries date back to 1950s， while the 1973 oil crisis caused Japan great panic. Afterwards， Japan began to seek independence from US influence in terms of its Middle East policy. Maintaining good relations with GCC serves as an important part of Japan’s Middle East strategies， as it economically guarantees Japan stable energy supplies， and politically assists Japan in pursuing independent military and diplomatic policies， helping Japan become a major player in international community. As for Islamic cultural communication， Japan is also putting on promotion with great enthusiasm. This article provides a preliminary analysis of the Japan-GCC relations， giving an overview of changes， development and dilemma of relations between Japan and GCC， in aspect of politics， economics， culture， etc.

TheEvolutionoftheNixonAdministration’sBMDDeploymentPolicyandItsSignificance

Liu Lei

When the nuclear parity came in the late 1960s， the Nixon Administration planned to adjust U.S. defense and foreign policy. On the two issues inherited the Johnson Administration， which were the ABM deployment and the SALT， the Nixon Administration connected the two issues together and made plans of ABM deployment based on the consideration of arms control negotiation. The ABM deployment and the SALT negotiation interacted with each other， leading to the U.S.-Soviet compromise on the ABM Treaty， which brought great influence to the U.S. BMD policy afterwards.

Soviet’sEconomicOffensivetoIndiaandtheResponseoftheUnitedStates(1953—1961)

Guo Huadong

In the 1950s， Soviet’s foreign policy underwent a major adjustment， and the countries that had not been paid enough attention became the focus of Soviet’s attention. At the same time， the Soviet Union abandoned its diplomatic model； it paid more attention to economic assistance to the third world countries. The Soviet Union carried out a variety of economic assistance to Asian countries， including technical assistance and loans. The Soviet Union’s economic activity in India alarmed the American government. In response to Soviet’s economic offensive， the Eisenhower administration changed its pattern， providing significant economic assistance to India. India became the largest recipient of U.S. foreign economic aid at the time. The analysis of Soviet’s activities in India and the responses of U.S. government contribute to deepening our understanding of the game situation during the war between the two countries. And it helps us to understand the Soviet Union as an important factor in the Eisenhower administration’s policies toward India.

AReviewofBertrandRussell’sHistoricalThoughts

Hu Shuheng

Russell was one of the most important contemporary thinkers， he wrote a lot of historical works， and intervened in the historical debate from non-professional perspective. Influenced by some factors such as mathematical logic， humanism and liberalism， Russell believed that history should be promoted by many forces， it has no inevitability. From historical progress， we could not found the law of history. Therefore， history differs from science， it should paid attention to individuals， demonstrated morality. Based on his own view of history and historiography， Russell liked to collect legends and stories when he was writing history. He was accustomed to use irony， paid attention to the historical significance of fiction. Russell’s historical thought based on ‘common sense’， faced the public. It has great significance to the construction of the concept of public history.

AStudyontheHerioisminDigenisAkrites

Li Weiyu and Liu Jianjun

The Byzantine epicDigenisAkritasembodies the heroic qualities of the two protagonists——father and son. All of them have the general characteristics of being noble， wise and brave， invincible and heroic， yet each reflects his own feature that values the spiritual power. In particular， Digenis’s growth experience shows the influence of the dual cultural identity of the Byzantine hero on him and it also shows that Christian culture has played a major role in his formation of a medieval hero.

SomeReasonsThattheNameofJilinDoesNotComefromGyeriminEastAsiaHorizon

Ouyang Lin

The name of Jilin doesn’t come from Gyerim， which were considered as the same place by someone just based on the similarity of their pronunciation，and the opinions were widely circulated after writing in the book calledQindingManzhouYuanliuKao. All the legends of Jilin and Gyerim proved that the Chinese cultural sphere had a profound influence on other ethnic culture in ancient East Asia.