Shadows Standing Beneath Signs: From Memories of Pride and Humiliation (1900s-1970s)

Shadows Standing Beneath Signs: From Memories of Pride and Humiliation (1900s-1970s)

At the beginning of the 20th century, a signboard in the Shanghai concession that read "Dogs and Chinese are not allowed in" became a symbol of national humiliation for the Chinese people. Although the actual existence of the sign has not been documented, it is a fact that Chinese were not allowed to enter the foreigner-only park at that time, and this has remained as a condensed and powerful symbol in their memories. The Chinese people took this humiliation to heart and eventually pushed forward with a revolution to restore their national pride.

The communist revolution led by Mao Zedong was not merely a regime change, but was driven by a fervor close to "people's faith. Each and every one of them stood up from under that sign with a strong will to "take back their country by themselves.

In contrast, Japan's postwar democratization under the leadership of GHQ was a given, not a "won freedom" for many of its people. Writers, journalists, and traders compared China, which had regained its pride through revolution, with Japan, which had enjoyed affluence while standing by and watching the changes, and felt a quiet sense of defeat at the spiritual gap between the two.

This sign still quietly asks from the shadows of history, "What is your pride? Have you ever taken back your pride with your own hands?