Review of “The Evolution of Asian Concepts of Power”

In the chapter of “The Evolution of Asian Concepts of Power” tells about the general
patterns which were significant in setting the stage for the twentieth century problems of achieving
the kinds of power essential for the task of governing the modernization process. We can see that in
this chapter also tells about the different concepts of power beside Asian and Western. In the
beginning chapter is tells about the “primitive power”. Primitive power can be describe that power
as the sociated with brigand, piracy, and pillage that take over when there is no effective civil
society. I think that the primitive power will create absolutism because I think when one people can
lead society in a good government, so there will create sense of security in the society and there no
coup and take over the government from civil society. This primitive power already happens in the
ancient Europe countries like British and Rome.

The modern era in the West has been largely devoid of instinctive fears of the primitive
power and has been free to concentrate on the desirability of whittling away at the power of the
state, a reaction to the lingering affect of absolutism. Its very different in the Asian, there has been
speculative politic philosophy and influence by some religious views or religious influence. Like
Hinduism, which influences some Southeast Asia Culture, in China before Confucianism, people in
China believe their emperor as the son of God. So, we can say that religious views influence the
political views and philosophy. In Western the danger of primitive power already happen before the
civilization, but in the Asian, the danger of primitive power will be happen in the present and future
because there are some situations which can indicate as the danger of primitive power. Example: the
racial riot which happen in Malaysia in 1972, chaos from Burma to the Philippines, Hindu views and
culture also sensitive to the danger anarchy. But, one state in Asia will not face the danger primitive
power, there is Japan. Japan already faced the violence of primitive power when the government of
Tokugawa.

In summary, the danger of primitive power in most of Asia has held that threats is
omnipresent and lurks in the future, and that therefore any significant erosion of authority is always
dangerous. By contrast, in the West and to some degree in Japan, the danger from primitive seem
long past, and therefore constraining authority can be accepted with equanimity.

In the next, this chapter explains about Asian Concepts of Power. Power as Ritual : Gaining
Access to the Supernatural. In the history of governmental practice in Asia, the first and earliest
theme deserving notice is the extent to which nearly all of the Asian cultures treated power as some
form of ritual. Power in an Ethical – Moral Social Order : it can be explained that power in the
government is to limited the attitudes of people in society and also government. This power creates
the concepts of rule in the society. Power as Ritual in Support of the Cosmic Order: it means that
power as ritual endured in large part because it harmonized with a view of the social order in which
every person had his or her ordained role. That’s why the leader of Asian states in the past have
good relations with God and create some symbol which as the representation of God.

The evolution of Asian concepts power in the next is “The Politics of status and the value of
dignity” it means that when power was seen as properly associated with status, the thrust of
political behavior was always in the direction of stability and order for the total system as well as
dignity for the individuals at every station in society.

When the colonialism, the concepts of the power in Asian also change. The concepts of
power in Asian are follows concept power from Western or Europe country or influenced by the
Western concepts. Example: before WW II, Japan has perception that strong state = strong military,
after WW II, Japan perception already change to strong state = strong economic. That why Japan can
be leader in the economic and military in Asian and followed by China.

In conclusion, the beginning concepts of Asian power influence by the religious view, culture,
and the relation of God, but when the colonialism happen the power concepts are changing, which
adopted by the Western concept of power.

Review of East Asia : Varieties of Confucian Authority

Confucianism has influenced the Chinese attitude toward life, set the patterns of living and
standards of social value, and provided the background for Chinese political theories and
institutions. It has spread from China to Korea, from Korea to Japan where it was first brought to
around the fifth century. Confucius had a great impact on the Chinese civilization. His teachings
relating to ethics honor, social responsibility, familial obligations, ancestor worship, and observation
of rites and historical precedence provide the glue that gives the Chinese civilization continuity and
durability. Although Confucianism was introduced in Korea before Buddhism; Korean people have
their own way to follow and change its ideology of Confucianism. Management of accepting the
ideology made unique Korean culture. Although Confucianism is often described as a religion, it is
not in the formal sense. Confucius did not write about the gods except to indicate that he accepted
the religious beliefs of his day. Neither he nor his followers challenged the existing beliefs in a
pantheon of gods and the spirit world, which included the spirits of one's prominent ancestors. The
cult of worshipping one's ancestors pre-dates Confucianism.
 Confucius identified five relationships which he felt are integral to public stability: husband
and wife, father and son, elder and younger, king and subject, and that between friends. The
relationship between friends was intended to be one of reciprocity and mutual respect between
equals. The first four relationships described linear power relations with the first member of each
pair being the dominate half. Confucius, though, did not intend this system to be one of despotism,
but, rather, one which addressed a mutual need. The first member was required to protect and
nurture the second, while the second respected and served the first.

In china, the Confucian theories say that the government should be orderly, united,
harmonious, nourishing, and sustainable. This is a core principle of public administration in
Confucianism and it determines the way in which government is organized and operated. In the
Confucian unitary government, all state powers - political, administrative and legal - are
concentrated in the Emperor. The place of an Emperor in the government is similar to the place of
Heaven in the Universe and the traditional place of a husband in a family. The legitimacy of the
Emperor is justified by the theory of the Mandate of heaven: the Emperor holds a sacred trust from
the highest deity who permits him or her to rule a country so long as it is done for the welfare of the
people. In this sense, the Emperor rules the people on behalf of Heaven. That is why the Emperor
was traditionally called the "Son of Heaven." In the case that the Emperor fails in Heaven's trust,
Heaven would appoint another to rebel and replace him or her.
In Japan, Confucian philosophy is explained in terms of the major concepts integral to the
wide ranging discourse that it generated in Japan. Quite typically, Japanese Confucian philosophers
articulated their philosophical visions by defining terms that were at the core of their systems. While
accounts of the meanings of words varied widely, an easily discernible discourse developed. Rather
than recapitulating the ideas of individual thinkers, an attempt to summarize the discourse as a
whole, even while recognizing variations in nuance, will be made. With the promulgation of the
Domestic Relations and Inheritance Law in 1898, the Japanese government institutionalized more
rigid family controls than most people had known in the feudal period. Individuals were registered in
an official family registry. In the early twentieth century, each family was required to conform to the
ie (household) system, with a multigenerational household under the legal authority of a household
head. In establishing the ie system, the government moved the ideology of family in the opposite
direction of trends resulting from urbanization and industrialization. The ie system took as its model
for the family the Confucian-influenced pattern of the upper classes of the Tokugawa period.
Authority and responsibility for all members of the ie lay legally with the household head. Each
generation supplied a male and female adult, with a preference for inheritance by the first son and
for patrilocal marriage. When possible, daughters were expected to marry out, and younger sons
were expected to establish their own households. Women could not legally own or control property
or select spouses. The ie system thus artificially restricted the development of individualism,
individual rights, women's rights, and the nuclearization of the family. It formalized patriarchy and
emphasized lineal and instrumental, rather than conjugal and emotional ties, within the family.
In Korea, Confucianism practice is closely more in Japan practice and theory of Confucius in
Japan. These values can be observed in Korean hierarchical social relations, such as those between
ruler and subject, parent and child, and husband and wife. Confucius identified five relationships
which he felt are integral to public stability: husband and wife, father and son, elder and younger,
king and subject, and that between friends. The relationship between friends was intended to be
one of reciprocity and mutual respect between equals. The first four relationships described linear
power relations with the first member of each pair being the dominate half. Confucius, though, did
not intend this system to be one of despotism, but, rather, one which addressed a mutual need. The
first member was required to protect and nurture the second, while the second respected and
served the first. One other important concept related to the gentleman is the "Decree of Heaven."
Many leaders throughout history have used this concept to justify their power. However, Confucius
widened the implications of Heaven's Decree to mean that everyone, regardless of his position, is
ethically responsible for doing everything he can to help society. Once a person no longer lives up to
the Decree of Heaven, but begins to serve himself, he loses the right to his position. Interestingly,
this talk of heaven is the closest that Confucius came to an idea of a spiritual world. Confucius never
talked about God or the soul and is widely considered to be agnostic. Rulers were simply expected to
keep high ethical standards for their own sake, not the promise of eternal salvation. Confucius'
vision of an individual's behavior and those of a ruler are close to Plato's philosopher king: a leader
has the right to rule until he no longer fulfills his responsibilities to society.

Name : Ririn Yanuar Megawati