Xia Mianzun and the Sanitary Japan

Abstract

Abstract This article seeks to probe Chinese views of Japan through an essay by the writer and translator Xia Mianzun (1886–1946). Xia was a prominent intellectual of the Republican period and a lifelong Japanophile. The essay concerns the Japanese social reformer Nishida Tenkō (1872–1968), founder of the Ittōen community in Kyoto, who came to national attention in Japan during the latter part of the Taishō period. Xia’s essay on Nishida will be considered in an attempt to elucidate his attraction to Japanese art and culture. Building on the work of the anthropologist Winston Davis, the worldview of Nishida Tenkō and essential ideals of Ittōen will also be examined.