Existing comment:
An Asian Hero:
Lincoln's hold on the popular imagination was not limited to Europeans. In Japan, the first book about the United States' celebrated president appeared in 1890.
Abraham Lincoln's stories became even more widespread in Japan upon its inclusion in the 1903 national textbook for moral education. Containing twenty-eight lessons, the book taught ethical values through the use of anecdotal stories. Lincoln was the only foreigner included, and he featured in five lessons including those on studying, honesty, sympathy, and personal freedoms.
In 1912, famed Japanese scholar and diplomat Inazo Nitobe called Lincoln "the kindest man among the great men, and the greatest men among the kind men."
Lincoln in China:
Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen, founder of the modern Chinese government hung a single portrait in his Shanghai home -- that of Abraham Lincoln. From the Gettysburg Address, he took his "three principles of the people":
Minzu: Nationalism ("of the people")
Minquan: Democracy ("by the people")
Minsheng: Socialism ("for the people")
Ironically, the same speech inspired Mao Zedong and his Communist legions to overthrow Sun's successor, Chiang Kai-Shek and establish the People's Republic of China in 1949. Mao directed his followed to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. |