I have come across a book, actually an excerpt of it, about the comparison of Egypt’s westernization effort and Japan’s in the 19th Century focusing on the activities of two prominent figures: Rifa’a at-Tahtawi (1801-1873) of Egypt and Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) of Japan. 

Frankly speaking, I have not read the book myself but because it is an interesting topic, I have decided to write this blog.  Fukuzawa Yukichi happens to be a household name in Japan as he was the founder of Keio University, one of the leaders of the enlightenment movement and above all is the figure on the 10,000 Yen banknote (still in circulation). So, I would like to delve into the work of Tahtawi, what was the historical environment of the country at that time and what was the legacy of his movement. 

According to Wikipedia, Rifa’a at-Tahtawi was “a writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and intellectual of the Arab renaissance. Tahtawi was one of the first Egyptians to go to France, where he studied for five years. In 1835 Taftawi founded a School of languages in Cairo. He was influential in the development of science, law, literature and Egyptology. He endeavored to bring about the reconstruction and an understanding between Islamic and Christian civilizations.”     

What was the Arab renaissance? Interestingly enough, it was Napoleon who led an expeditionary force to Egypt in 1798 in order to interfere with  British access to India. This was a cultural shock to the Arab regions under the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans sent Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) to fight against the French invaders. Although still under the Ottoman Empire, Muhammad Ali became the de facto ruler of Egypt and embarked on the modernization of Egypt, militarily and economically. With this background,

Tahtawi was sent to France in 1826.

Tahtawi studied western science, political philosophy, ethics: including the works of leading enlightenment thinkers. He started translating important scientific and cultural works into Arabic. After returning to Egypt, Tahtawi summarized his views in a book, translated as The Quintessence of Paris in 1834. His suggestion was “that Egypt and the Muslim world had much to learn from Europe, and he generally embraced Western society, but also held that reforms should be adopted to the values of Islamic culture.” Thus, Taftawi became one of the early figures of the Arab renaissance in Egypt. Basically, what Egypt did in terms of the modernization of the country was a harbinger to the Meiji Restoration in many ways.

However, history tells us different trajectories of the two countries. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, eventually engendered the British interference militarily and financially (the Canal was sold to the British in 1875), culminating in its virtual vassal state in 1882.

Now, turning to Fukuzawa Yukichi. As mentioned, Fukuzawa was one of the leading figures of the enlightenment in Japan, exerted himself particularly in the field of education by creating Keio University in 1858 and assisting to found other educational institutions, like today’s Hitotsubashi University, Kobe University, Kitazato university and others. Besides being a prolific writer, he started the publication of a daily newspaper, Jiji Shinpo in 1882.

There is an interesting analogy between Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and Commodore Perry’s sail to Japan in 1853; the two events caused “shocks” that triggered reformation in the form of westernization in both countries. Fukuzawa hailed from a low rank samurai family in Kyushu. His father was a teacher of Confucianism. 

Japan was taken aback by Perry’s war ships with guns, some of them paddle steamers. This led to a cry for learning and acquiring western military technology and science in general. With this background and under the guidance of his brother, Fukuzawa started to learn a foreign language; it was Dutch! Not English. Even during the diplomatic isolation for nearly three centuries under the Tokugawa Shogunate, trade on a limited scale with the Dutch was allowed through Nagasaki, Kyushu. So, it happened that Dutch was the only language to communicate with the west. Fukuzawa endeavored to learn Dutch, then English and became a teacher in due course.        

Because of this language background, Fukuzawa was fortunate enough to visit the great powers, three times. He visited the US in 1859 as a member of the Japanese mission to ratify the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, which was signed in 1858. Then in 1861, Fukuzawa visited Europe (Paris, London, Utrecht, Berlin, St. Petersburg and Lisbon) as a member of the First Japanese Mission. Thirdly, he visited the US again in 1867 as a member of a mission to receive a warship that was ordered by the Tokugawa Shogunate in its last days. Through these visits, Fukuzawa became an ardent advocate of enlightenment. 

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