1860, Fukuzawa Yukichi visited the United States by boat with shogunate officials. When these Japanese envoys wearing mountain cities and sandals walked into the hotel, they were immediately shocked by what they saw: in Japan, only those who are very rich are willing to buy an inch square felt as a wallet or cigarette case, while Americans actually spread the whole felt on the ground and walked around in leather shoes. Two years later, Fukuzawa Yukichi went to Europe with the delegation again, traveling to France, Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Portugal and other countries. Due to the inconvenience of staying abroad, they took hundreds of boxes of rice and dozens of wire lanterns with them. When I arrived in Paris, I found that the hotel where they stayed was five floors. Numerous steam lamps lit up the interior and exterior as bright as day, and the restaurant was full of delicious food ... Seeing is believing. By visiting hospitals, banks, postal services, military systems, parliaments, etc. Fukuzawa Yukichi was deeply aware of the development of capitalism and felt that the original Japanese system must be changed.
Fukuzawa Yukichi (Japanese pen name: ふくざわゆきち, 1835- 190 1) is an outstanding thinker in modern Japan and one of the founders of modern Japanese civilization. On the one hand, he introduced the promotion of "civilization" in advanced countries; On the other hand, the Japanese are encouraged to carry forward the spirit of independence in order to safeguard the independence of the Japanese nation surrounded by foreign powers. The famous slogan "Leave Asia and enter Europe" was first shouted by Fukuzawa Yukichi. Fukuzawa Yukichi was born into a samurai family, and his father was a sinologist. Influenced by his father, Fukuzawa Yukichi was familiar with Confucian classics such as Confucius and Mencius and the history of China. When he was young, he also studied Dutch in Nagasaki. He studied under the famous orchid scholar Kouan Ogata in Osaka and became an excellent orchid student. At the age of 26-34, Fukuzawa Yukichi visited Europe and America three times, and wrote books about what he saw and heard in Europe and America, such as Western Affairs, Western Tour Guides, and Western Food, Clothing, Housing and Transportation. These three books are a sensation and have a great influence. Fukuzawa Yukichi witnessed the modern capitalist civilization in Europe and America, Qiang Bing's rich countries and industrial and commercial prosperity, and also reflected on the successive decline of feudalism in eastern countries including China, resulting in the idea of "leaving Asia and entering Europe". Fukuzawa Yukichi said in "On Civilization": "If we want to make Japanese civilization progress, we must take European civilization as the goal, make it the standard of all discussions, and use this standard to measure the gains and losses of things". Fukuzawa Yukichi also published an article about "getting rid of Asia" in the newspaper, arguing that the Japanese "pursue doctrine, but get rid of Asia in terms of words". Although Japan's land lives in the east of Asia, its national spirit has escaped from the ugliness of Asia and turned to western civilization. He also called on China not to be suspicious. Instead of waiting for its neighbors to enter, it is better to quit their ranks and advance and retreat with western civilized countries. " Fukuzawa Yukichi's way to revive Japan is to get rid of the tributary system centered on China, and then make Japan a European nation-state. After Japan completed the historical process of "leaving Asia and entering Europe", zhina was used to discriminate against China. Therefore, he also became the first person to discriminate against China.