The Origins of the Esperanto Movement in China and Japan: A Comparison

Date(s)： 2023/10/11

Time： 10:00~12:00

Venue： Archives 2nd Conference Hall

Speaker：Prof. Joshua A. Fogel (Canada Research Chair, York University)

Organizer： Western Learning and China Research Group

Abstract：
In 1887, Ludwik Zamenhof published his idea for an international language in an effort to increase world peace. It quickly spread throughout Europe and America, and after a few years came to East Asia. In both China and Japan it rapidly acquired advocates but for different reasons and in very different ways. Many Chinese supporters, especially those in France during the first decade of the twentieth century, wanted it to replace Chinese completely—something Zamenhof never advocated. In Japan it was initially seen as a tool for international communication, never meant to replace Japanese, and as a way to bring Japan onto an equal plane with the West. Over the 1910s and 1920s, the situation in both countries changed, and different perspectives were brought to bear on this strange import from Europe. This talk will compare the Chinese and Japanese reception of Esperanto and then look briefly at how it evolved.

Photos：