Boy Scouts of Manchukuo

Boy Scouts of Manchukuo
滿洲國童子團聯盟
Top text: "大滿洲帝國童子軍聯盟" (The Boy Scouts Alliance of the Empire of Great Manchuria); bottom text: "智、勇、仁" (Wisdom, Courage, Benevolence)
Scout flag; the central design has two dragons crossing in an "x" pattern.[1]
CountryManchukuo
FoundedSeptember 1932/May 6, 1934
 Scouting portal

The Boy Scouts of Manchukuo (Chinese: 滿洲國童子團聯盟; pinyin: Mǎnzhōuguó Tóngzǐ Tuán Liánméng) was a Scouting association of Manchukuo. The Japanese military seized Manchuria in 1931, created the puppet government of Manchukuo in 1932, and controlled it until 1945. The Manchukuo government also set up Japanese-style Scouting in schools, which included para-military training.[2]

Background

In February 1937, Isamu Takeshita was appointed head of the Boy Scouts of Japan, the Sea Scouts, and the YMCA, as part of the general militarisation of Japanese sports and athletics taking place at that time.[3] Japanese military authorities did not consistently encourage the Scouting movement in occupied territories. Where local conditions were favourable, authorities would permit local Scouting or introduce Japanese-style Scouting, or Shōnendan, and sometimes even made this compulsory. On the other hand, where conditions were not favourable, and anti-Japanese sentiments were likely to be nurtured through Scouting, the authorities would prohibit it entirely.[2]

Japanese military leaders banned Scouting for Chinese boys in occupied China by 1937, however they encouraged Japanese-style Scouting (少年團 Shōnendan) in Manchuria. In 1938 membership in the Concordia Shōnendan (協和少年團) was made compulsory for young people between 10 and 15 years old.[4] Alternately styled the Manchukuo Boys Corps, Manchuria Boy Scout Organisation, and the Manchuria League of Boy Scouts,[5] the Scouts used the Scout motto of the existing Scouts of China, "智、勇、仁" (Wisdom, Courage, Benevolence), and Scout court of honour ceremonies were held at Confucian shrines.[6]

Emblem

The elaborate emblem incorporated the flag of Manchukuo, as well as the dragons from the Manchu Qing dynasty crossing in an "x" pattern. According to the Document of the Explanation of National Flag issued by the State Council of Manchukuo on February 24, 1933, the colours on the flag represented the four directions and centre.[7] The Study of Manchukuo National Flag published by the State Council later also gave a representative based on Wu Xing.[8]

  • Yellow represented the centre, symbolizing the rule of emperor of four directions and virtue of Ren in Confucianism, also Earth in Five Elements
  • Red represented the South, symbolizing passion and courage, also Fire in Five Elements
  • Blue represented the East, symbolizing youthfulness and holiness, also Wood in Five Elements
  • White represented the West, symbolizing purity and justice, also Gold in Five Elements
  • Black represented the North, symbolizing will and determination, also Water in Five Elements[9]

The colours also represented the five major peoples in Manchukuo:

Russian Scouting in China and Manchuria 1922–1947

Russian Scouts fleeing Bolshevism followed White Russian émigrés from 1917 to 1922 through Vladivostok to the east into Manchuria and south into central China, where very large groups of Russian Scouts came into being in cities such as Harbin, Tientsin, and Shanghai.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ 滿洲國童子團聯盟 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-07-10 – via Facebook.
  2. ^ a b Kua, Paul (September 2010). "War and Occupation, 1941–1945 (4)" (PDF). 香港童軍月刊 / Hong Kong Scouting. Vol. 317. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  3. ^ Abe, Ikuo; Kiyohara, Yasuharu; Nakajima, Ken (June 2000) [First published 1990]. "Sport and Physical Education under Fascistization in Japan". InYo: Journal of Alternative Perspectives. Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  4. ^ Kua, Paul (2011). Scouting in Hong Kong, 1910–2010. Hong Kong: Scout Association of Hong Kong. ISBN 978-962-7835-69-1.
  5. ^ Nationality, Gender and Class, Author: Liu Jinghui 2017-03-13 Chapter Three Youth Policy and Youth in Manchukuo: One Patriotic youth's struggle against Japan and saving the nation; Two Establishment of the Manchuria Boy Scouts; Chapter Seven Data on adolescents and adolescent education in Manchuria: 1 Manchuria Boy Scout Organization; 2 Manchuria League of Boy Scouts[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Han, Suk-Jung (2005). "Imitating the Colonizers: The Legacy of the Disciplining State from Manchukuo to South Korea". The Asia-Pacific Journal. 3 (7). Article 1885.
  7. ^ 对国旗意义的解释文件, State Council of Manchukuo, February 24, 1933
  8. ^ 趙欣伯 (1932). Shinkokka daimanshū 新国家大満洲 (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Tōkyō Shobō. doi:10.11501/1174482 – via Kokuritsu Kokkaitoshokan dejitaru korekushon.
  9. ^ Kishi, Toshihiko 貴志俊彦 (2010). Manshūkoku no bijuaru media: Posutā, ehagaki, kitte 満洲国のビジュアル・メディア―ポスター・絵はがき・切手 (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. p. 22. ISBN 978-4-642-08036-1.
  10. ^ "National Organisation of Russian Scouts NORS in China, 1922–1947". The Pine Tree Web. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  11. ^ Kroonenberg, Piet J. (1998). The Undaunted: Keeping the Scouting Spirit Alive: The Survival and Revival of Scouting in Central and Eastern Europe. Geneva: Oriole International Publications. p. 83. ISBN 2-88052-003-7.