ABSTRACT
The resurgence of nationalism in today’s Asia-Pacific region is an undisputable fact that has been emerging since the end of the Cold War. Nationalism can be theoretically categorized into ethnic nationalism, civic nationalism, cultural nationalism, state nationalism, and so on (Smith, 1995). However, these theories made no significant sense to Asia before the late 19th century. In his classical manifesto New People Theory (Xinmin Shuo), Liang Qichao, one of the most influential thinkers in China during the late Qing Dynasty, argued that before the 19th century, nationalism emerged as a dominant ideology only in modern Europe. The dominant ethos engaged in the mind of Chinese statesmen and gentry was culturalism, while patriotism and the search for national identity were underdeveloped until nationalism was introduced in China as a defensive strategy in response to the invasion of Western imperialism in the late 19th century (Liang, 1974). This path about the histories of nationalism was basically similar to what had happened to Japan and many other Asian countries.
