章日本作为东亚地区的一个岛国，在明治维新之前的德川幕府时代，长期游离于中华帝国主导下的华夷秩序之外，以闭关锁国的封闭状态独享和平。19世纪中叶欧美列强的相继叩关，幕藩体制轰然倒下，以追赶模仿西方列强为新国家战略目标的明治维新运动，彻底改变了这个国家的历史进程。从明治维新运动伊始，新政府推出的三大国策，即“文明开化”、“殖产兴业”、“富国强兵”等，都强烈地表现出一种迫切西化的社会心理。这种急于追赶、模仿西方的社会心理同德川幕府闭关锁国时代安于现状的小国心态有着强烈的反差。追赶西方的社会心理从明治新政府在1868年4月6日颁布的《安抚亿兆·宣布国威宸翰》中有着强烈的表露：“值此朝政一新之时，天下亿兆，一人不得其所，皆为朕之过也。现今，朕将自身劳于筋骨，苦于心志，立于艰难之先，踏袭列祖之足迹，勤于政绩，方能奉天职，而无背于亿兆之君……故而，朕与百官诸侯相誓，意欲继承列祖伟业，不问一身艰难，亲营四方，安抚汝等亿兆，开拓万里波涛，宣布国威于四方，置天下于富岳之安。”［日］外務省編：『日本外交文書』第1卷第1册，日本国際協会1936年版，第557—558页。明治新政府开疆拓土建立帝国的雄心，并非无源之水，日本社会在德川幕府锁国时期已有诸多思想家如林子平、佐藤信渊、本多利明、藤田幽谷、吉田松阴等人屡屡提出雄霸亚洲、建立皇国的扩张思想。如佐藤信渊在《混同秘策》中提出：“皇大御国乃是大地最初形成之国，系世界万国之本……全世界当为郡县，万国之君长当为臣仆……安抚世界万国之苍生，自始便是皇国君主之要务。”［日］尾藤正英，島崎隆夫校注：日本思想大系45『安藤昌益，佐藤信渊』，岩波書店1977年版，第426页。吉田松阴同样明确指出：“当今之计，莫如慎守疆域，严行条约，以羁縻两虏（俄、美），乘间开垦虾夷，收琉球，取朝鲜，拉满洲，压支那，君临印度，以张进取之势，以固退守之基，使神功未遂者得遂，丰国未果者得果。”［日］渡辺几治郎著：『日本戦時外交史話』，千倉書房1937年版，第8页。幕末时期这些知识人、思想家的扩张思想和皇国意识，对明治新政府具有很大的影响力。开国后列国争霸的外部世界进一步刺激了日本社会内原有的扩张意识，建立一个帝国就成为新政府的国家战略目标。一种占统治地位的社会意识的形成，不可能是朝夕之间实现的，它必须依存于一定的社会发展状态。近代日本社会产生帝国意识并成为主流社会意识，笔者认为主要源于内外两个方面，首先不可否认的是外部世界的形势。日本文化具有对外部世界异常敏感并善于接受外来影响的文化基因。19世纪60年代，西方资本主义国家正处于在全球各地开拓殖民地最为疯狂时期，正如马克思所指出的那样：“在欧洲以外直接靠掠夺、奴役和杀人越货而夺得的财宝，源源流入宗主国，在这里转化为资本。”《马克思恩格斯全集》第23卷，第822页。随着资本主义制度的确立，荷兰、英国、法国等相继建立起幅员辽阔的殖民帝国。到19世纪最后30年，资本主义从自由竞争向垄断过渡，少数资本主义强国展开了抢夺殖民地的斗争，分割世界领土的竞争局面达到了非常尖锐的程度。日本自1868年明治维新开始就以一种筵席迟到者的心态，急迫地加入向亚洲邻国夺取殖民地的掠夺者行列。像西方列强一样成为拥有殖民地的宗主国，是近代日本的国家战略。所谓帝国意识，在各个帝国主义国家中都有内容不同的价值意识表现，但共性的内容是一致的，就是都有一种基于对本国的政治经济社会体系具有强烈自恋情结而对异民族、人种和国民持有蔑视心态，视本国对异民族的帝国主义统治为正当化的意识。帝国意识在近代日本社会产生的前提，是近代日本社会在内部如何有意识地构建帝国意识。同其他西方国家所具有的帝国意识一样，近代日本的帝国意识无疑是兼容了其他西方国家帝国意识的主体性意识，诸如民族、人种的差别意识、大国主义（爱国主义）意识、文明传播使命者意识等。但日本传统文化的积淀和历史传统，又使日本的近代帝国意识具有一些特定的价值观，如皇国主义和天皇制。近代日本社会帝国意识的核心价值形态，是天皇制这一日本特有的政治文化现象。天皇制之所以能够成为近代日本帝国意识的核心价值观，可以说是因为近代天皇制与近代日本国家的发展进程是相辅相成的。日本学者牧原宪夫认为，明治天皇在近代国家的建设进程中发挥了重要作用，“第一，如果没有天皇的存在，就很难在短时间内实现幕藩体制瓦解和中央集权国家的确立，王政复古，意味着借助天皇的名义解体了武家和公家结合的传统体制；第二，作为文明开化的推动者，天皇率先断发、喝牛奶，着洋服、食牛肉，明治天皇起到了重要的示范作用；第三，正是因为天皇确保了在意识形态上的主导权，才使急剧的西洋化得以正统化，并因此确保了天皇在近代日本的统治权”。［日］岩波新書編辑部編：『日本近現代史⑩日本の近現代史をどう見るか』，岩波書店2010年版，第36—38页。正是由于明治天皇的存在，使近代日本社会在完成西方化的同时，又将所谓日本的历史传统同西方化的文明实现了完美的嫁接。而日本武士道精神中的忠诚信条，也在近代日本社会转化为对明治天皇的绝对忠君思想，近代日本社会的帝国意识中的皇国意识和尊崇天皇思想是独有而根深蒂固的一种价值观。20世纪60年代，吉田茂在回顾明治时代日本的成功时，对明治天皇崇敬不已，“借此，日本才能够在帝国主义时代勉强摆脱它所处的严峻的国际环境。不幸，日本不得不进行日清战争和日俄战争，在这两次战争中，由于明治天皇发挥了他的领导才能，并且集中了与之相呼应的国民活力，日本才能够一反世界的预料而在两次战争中都取得了胜利”。［日］吉田茂著：《激荡的百年史》，孔凡、张文译，世界知识出版社1981年版，第25页。日本学者川村凑认为：“将日本人‘帝国意识’的起源，确定在明治20—40年代是比较合适的。”［日］川村凑：「近代日本における帝国意識」，北川胜彦、平田雅博編：『帝国意識の解剖学』，世界思想社1999年版，第169页。如果说明治维新是日本作为近代统一的民族国家起点的话，那么将中日甲午战争看成是日本帝国形成的开始也是比较客观的。明治维新并不意味着日本帝国的出现，“富国强兵”等国策只是确立了对外侵略和扩张的国家理念，真正将建立一个西方式的帝国明确为国家战略目标，是以日本取得对清战争的胜利为一大契机，获胜后的日本成为像西方列强一样拥有殖民地的宗主国。日本学者原田敬一认为日本民众因战争热而出现共同参加战争的一体感，这种一体感催生了日本国民意识的产生。参见［日］原田敬一著『日本近現代史③日清·日露戦争』，岩波書店2007年版。值得注意的是，借助战争宣传和对清战争的大胜，日本对中国的蔑视心态和优越感也是同时产生的。从这个意义上讲，日本社会中的国民意识和帝国意识是相伴而生、杂糅相间的一种意识。而在1889年（明治22年）2月11日颁布的《大日本帝国宪法》，从国内根本大法层面明确了“大日本帝国”为近代日本的国家目标。根据日本学者川村凑的归纳总结，“从明治20年代开始，（日本社会）出现了一股频繁使用‘帝国’这一用语的热潮”同上。。如帝国大学、帝国议会、帝国图书馆、帝国学士院等等，各种各样的组织和团体都冠以“帝国”的名号。“帝国”一词成为流行语，作为拥有朝鲜半岛、中国台湾和中国东北南部为殖民地的宗主国，日本社会内“一等国”意识、皇国意识，日本国民的“帝国意识”也伴随着日本帝国的确立而形成。日本帝国从1895年前后形成开始，一直延续到1945年8月15日日本帝国在第二次世界大战中崩溃，存在了半个世纪之久。在半个世纪的帝国存续过程中，日本社会的各个阶层都程度不同地参与到了帝国的构建过程中，只是充当的角色和发挥的作用不同而已。天皇制和帝国意识无疑是近代日本社会思想构造中的两大重要内容。作为统治阶层的一员，生于明治时代的帝国外交官吉田茂，是连接明治时代和昭和时代的重要历史人物，在受教育成长过程中和为帝国效力的职业外交官生涯中，其个人的帝国意识不仅具有同时代日本社会中普遍性的帝国意识价值观，同时由于他较为特殊的成长经历和在华任职经历，吉田茂形成了具有个人特征、更为复杂的帝国意识，尤其是在对华认识和外交政策上，形成了既具有时代特征又兼具个性化的认知体系。吉田茂所具有的个性化对华观，在战前是作为帝国外交官群体中的一种流派存在的，而在战后由于他长期出任首相一职，其个人的对华观中所表现出来的帝国意识就成为影响其内阁对华政策的主要因素。由于吉田茂是战后日本保守政治鼻祖式的人物，他的政治理念和对华政策观在战后日本政治领域被其门生池田勇人、佐藤荣作等人所承继，池田和佐藤二人不仅先后出任内阁总理一职，且属自民党内两大派阀领袖，其政治继承人中大平正芳、宫泽喜一、田中角荣、竹下登、桥本龙太郎、小渊惠三、小泽一郎、麻生太郎等人多先后出任过日本首相，对吉田茂的政治理念尤其是外交政策观多有继承和发展，因此，系统地探讨吉田茂的帝国意识支配下的对华外交政策，显然更具有学术价值和现实意义。而需要指出的是，一个社会曾经长期占主流地位的集体性思想意识和价值观，并不能像一个有形的帝国因突然的崩溃而一并成为殉葬品，这样长期作为主流社会价值体系而存在的帝国意识，在战后日本社会依然会延续和流布。从战后60年来日本政治人物对待侵略战争性质的认识态度和言行来看，神国历史观和对亚洲邻国的优越意识依然有着浓烈的存在感。而当代日本新生代政治家的亚洲领袖意识和大国志向，同近代日本社会中占主流地位的帝国意识之间是否有着某种思想基因的遗传学上的因果关系呢？答案显然是肯定的。

As an island nation in East Asia, during the Tokugawa shogunate before the Meiji Restoration, Japan had long been outside the Huayi order dominated by the Chinese Empire, and enjoyed peace exclusively in a closed state. In the middle of the 19th century, the Meiji Restoration movement, which imitated Western powers as the strategic goal of the new country, completely changed the historical course of the country. From the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the three major national policies introduced by the new government, namely "civilization", "prosperous production and industry", and "rich country and strong army", all strongly expressed a social psychology of urgent westernization. This social psychology of rushing to catch up and imitate the West contrasts strongly with the mentality of small countries that were content with the status quo during the closed era of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social psychology of catching up with the West is strongly expressed in the "Appeasement of Billions of Mega Mega Tales and Declaring the Mighty Emperor of the Kingdom" promulgated by the new Meiji government on April 6, 1868: "At this time when the government of the dynasty is new, there are billions of trillions under the world, and one person has no place to go. Today, he will work hard for himself, work hard in his heart, stand before difficulties, step in the footsteps of his ancestors, and be diligent in his political achievements, so that he can fulfill his vocation and not be contrary to the king of billions of trillions... Therefore, he swore with the princes of the hundred officials, intending to inherit the great cause of the ancestors, regardless of the difficulties, personally camped in the four directions, pacified Ru and other billions of trillions, opened up thousands of miles of waves, declared the national prestige in the four directions, and put the world in the peace of Fuyue. "Edited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Vol. 1, Vol. 1, Vol. 1 of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Papers, Japan International Association, 1936 edition, pp. 557-558. The ambition of the new Meiji government to expand its territory and establish an empire was not without water, and many thinkers in Japanese society, such as Hayashi Kohei, Sato Nobuchi, Hondolimei, Fujita Yotani, Yoshida Shoin, etc., repeatedly put forward the idea of expansion to dominate Asia and establish an imperial kingdom. For example, Sato Nobuchi proposed in "The Secret of Confusion": "The Emperor's kingdom is the country that was first formed by the earth, and it is the foundation of all the nations of the world... The whole world shall be counties, and the ruler of all nations shall be a servant... Appeasing the lives of all the nations of the world has always been the priority of the imperial monarch. [Japanese] Masahide Oto, Takao Shimazaki Proofreading: The Great School of Japanese Thought 45 "Masahiroshi Ando, Nobuchi Sato", Iwanami Shoten, 1977, p. 426. Yoshida Songyin also clearly pointed out: "The plan today is to carefully guard the territory, strictly enforce the treaty, and reclaim Ezo by reclaiming Ezo, harvesting the Ryukyus, taking Korea, pulling Manchuria, crushing China, and conquering India, so that those who have failed to achieve divine merit will succeed, and those who have failed to achieve fruitful results will gain results." [Japanese] Watanabe Kijiro, "A History of Japanese Diplomacy during the Choji period," Chikura Shobo, 1937, p. 8. The expansionist ideas and imperial consciousness of these intellectuals and thinkers in the late Makujin period had a great influence on the new Meiji government. The external world of hegemony after the founding of the country further stimulated the original sense of expansion in Japanese society, and the establishment of an empire became the national strategic goal of the new government. The formation of a dominant social consciousness cannot be achieved overnight, it must depend on a certain state of social development. Modern Japanese society has developed an imperial consciousness and has become the mainstream social consciousness, which the author believes mainly stems from two aspects: internal and external, and the first is undeniable the situation of the external world. Japanese culture has a cultural gene that is unusually sensitive to the outside world and receptive to outside influences. In the 60s of the 19th century, the capitalist countries of the West were in the most frantic period of colonization around the world, as Marx pointed out: "The treasure obtained outside Europe directly by plunder, enslavement and murder flows into the metropolis and is transformed into capital here." The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, vol. 23, p. 822. With the establishment of the capitalist system, the Netherlands, Britain, France, etc. successively established vast colonial empires. By the last 30 years of the 19th century, capitalism had transitioned from free competition to monopoly, a small number of capitalist powers had launched a struggle for colonies, and the competition to divide the world's territory had reached a very acute level. Since the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan has rushed to join the ranks of marauders who have seized colonies from its Asian neighbors with the mentality of latecomers to the banquet. Becoming a colonial suzerainty like the Western powers was the national strategy of modern Japan. The so-called imperial consciousness has different values in various imperialist countries, but the common content is the same, that is, there is a consciousness of contempt for foreign nations, races and nationals, based on a strong narcissistic complex towards their own political, economic and social systems, and justified their own imperialist rule over foreign peoples. The premise of the emergence of imperial consciousness in modern Japanese society is how modern Japanese society consciously constructs imperial consciousness internally. Like the imperial consciousness of other Western countries, the imperial consciousness of modern Japan is undoubtedly compatible with the subjectivity consciousness of the imperial consciousness of other Western countries, such as the consciousness of ethnic and ethnic differences, the consciousness of great power (patriotism), and the consciousness of the missionary of civilization transmission. However, the accumulation of traditional Japanese culture and historical traditions have given Japan's modern imperial consciousness some specific values, such as imperial nationalism and the emperor system. The core value form of the imperial consciousness in modern Japanese society is the emperor system, a political and cultural phenomenon unique to Japan. The reason why the emperor system became a core value of modern Japanese imperial consciousness can be said to be because the modern emperor system and the development process of modern Japanese state complement each other. Japanese scholar Kenio Makihara believes that Emperor Meiji played an important role in the process of building the modern state, "First, without the existence of the emperor, it would be difficult to achieve the collapse of the shogunate system and the establishment of a centralized state in a short period of time. Second, as a promoter of civilization, the emperor took the lead in cutting off hair, drinking milk, wearing foreign clothes, and eating beef, and the Meiji Emperor played an important exemplary role; Third, it was precisely because the Emperor ensured ideological dominance that the radical Westernization was legitimized, and thus the Emperor's right to rule in modern Japan." Iwanami Shinsho Editorial Department: "History of Modern Japan (10) 日本の近現代史をどう見るか", Iwanami Shoten 2010 edition, pp. 36-38. It is precisely because of the existence of Emperor Meiji that modern Japanese society has achieved a perfect grafting of the so-called Japanese historical tradition with Westernized civilization while completing the Westernization. The loyalty creed of the Japanese Bushido spirit has also been transformed into the idea of absolute loyalty to the Meiji Emperor in modern Japanese society, and the imperial consciousness and the idea of respecting the emperor in the imperial consciousness of modern Japanese society are unique and deep-rooted values. In the 60s of the 20th century, looking back on Japan's success in the Meiji era, Yoshida Shigeru revered the Meiji Emperor, "so that Japan was able to barely escape the harsh international environment in which it found itself in the era of imperialism." Unfortunately, Japan had to fight the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, and in both wars, thanks to the leadership of Emperor Meiji and the concentration of national vitality that echoed it, Japan was able to defy the world's expectations and win both wars." Shigeru Yoshida, A Century of Agitation, translated by Kong Fan and Zhang Wen, World Knowledge Publishing House, 1981, p. 25. Japanese scholar Minato Kawamura said: "It is more appropriate to determine the origin of the Japanese 'imperial consciousness' in the Meiji 20-40s. [Japanese] Minato Kawamura: "Modern Japan における Imperial Consciousness", Kitagawa Katsuhiko and Hirata Masahiro, eds.: "Imperial Consciousness - Anatomy", World Thought Society, 1999 edition, p. 169. If it is explained that the Restoration was the starting point of Japan as a unified nation-state in modern times, then it is more objective to regard the Sino-Japanese War as the beginning of the formation of the Japanese Empire. The Meiji Restoration did not mean the emergence of the Japanese Empire, and national policies such as "rich countries and strong troops" only established the national concept of foreign aggression and expansion, and truly regarded the establishment of a Western-style empire as a national strategic goal, taking Japan's victory in the war against the Qing Dynasty as a major opportunity, and after the victory, Japan became a colonial suzerainty like the Western powers. Japanese scholar Keiichi Harada believes that the Japanese people have a sense of unity in participating in the war due to the fever of war, and this sense of unity has given birth to the emergence of Japanese national consciousness. See Keiichi Harada, "Modern and Modern History of Japan (3) Nisshin and Nisshin Battle," Iwanami Shoten, 2007. It is worth noting that with the help of war propaganda and the great victory over the Qing War, Japan's contempt and superiority towards China also arose at the same time. In this sense, the national consciousness and the imperial consciousness in Japanese society are a kind of consciousness that accompanies and mixes each other. The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, promulgated on February 11, 1889 (Meiji 22), defined the "Empire of Japan" as the national goal of modern Japan from the level of the fundamental laws of Japan. According to the summary of the Japanese scholar Minato Kawamura, "Since the Meiji 20s, there has been a wave of frequent use of the term 'empire' [in Japanese society]" ibid. Such as the Imperial University, the Imperial Parliament, the Imperial Library, the Imperial Academy, etc., various organizations and groups are named "Empire". The word "empire" became a buzzword, and as a suzerainty with colonies on the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and southeastern China, the consciousness of "first-class country" and imperial status in Japanese society, and the "imperial consciousness" of the Japanese people were also formed with the establishment of the Japanese Empire. The Empire of Japan existed for half a century from its formation around 1895 until the collapse of the Empire of Japan in World War II on August 15, 1945. During the half-century of imperial existence, all strata of Japanese society participated in the construction of the empire to varying degrees, but with different roles and roles. The emperor system and the imperial consciousness are undoubtedly two important contents in the ideological structure of modern Japanese society. As a member of the ruling class, Shigeru Yoshida, an imperial diplomat born in the Meiji era, is an important historical figure connecting the Meiji era and the Showa era, and in the process of education and career as a career diplomat serving the empire, his personal imperial consciousness not only has the imperial consciousness values that are common in Japanese society at the same time, but also because of his special growth experience and service experience in China, Yoshida Shigeru has formed a more complex imperial consciousness with personal characteristics, especially in his understanding of China and foreign policy. It has formed a cognitive system that has both the characteristics of the times and the individualization. Shigeru Yoshida's individualized view of China existed as a school of imperial diplomats before the war, and after the war, due to his long-term tenure as prime minister, the imperial consciousness expressed in his personal view of China became a major factor influencing his cabinet's China policy. Because Shigeru Yoshida was the originator of conservative politics in postwar Japan, his political philosophy and China policy outlook were inherited by his protégés Isato Ikeda and Eisaku Sato in the field of postwar Japanese politics, Ikeda and Sato not only successively served as prime ministers, but also were the leaders of the two major factions in the Liberal Democratic Party, and their political successors were many of the Japanese prime ministers, including Masayoshi Taihira, Kiichi Miyazawa, Kakuei Tanaka, Noboru Takeshita, Ryutaro Hashimoto, Keizo Obuchi, Ichiro Ozawa, Taro Aso and others. Shigeru Yoshida's political philosophy, especially his foreign policy outlook, has been inherited and developed, so it is obviously more academic value and practical significance to systematically discuss Shigeru Yoshida's foreign policy toward China under the control of imperial consciousness. It should be pointed out that the collective ideology and values that once dominated a society for a long time cannot become martyrs like a tangible empire due to the sudden collapse, and the imperial consciousness that has existed as the mainstream social value system for a long time will continue and spread in Japanese society after the war. Judging from the attitudes, words, and deeds of Japanese politicians toward the nature of the war of aggression over the past 60 years after the war, the historical outlook of the Kingdom of God and the sense of superiority toward its Asian neighbors still have a strong sense of presence. Is there a genetic causal relationship between the Asian leadership consciousness and great power aspirations of the new generation of contemporary Japanese politicians and the imperial consciousness that has dominated modern Japanese society? The answer is clearly yes.（AI翻译）