In a way, the appearance of the new "aristocracy" in Asia is much like that of America. Because there was a time gap between when the true aristocracy disappeared and the new version, the nouveau riche surfaced in Asia, the situation is similar to what took place in America. America, being a very new country, never had an aristocracy in a real sense like the Old World in Europe. One could say that the founding fathers, some of whom were wealthy landowners, could have been considered America's early aristocracy. Certainly the rich plantation owners in the South would lay claim to being at the top level of their society. However, none were really aristocrats in the same sense as those in the Old World, those who were born into privilege for many generations.
I believe that the beginning of the 20th Century, which is referred to as the "American Century," gave birth to the new class of American "aristocrats," the nouveau riche. These were the industrialists, the bankers and businessmen who made it big like the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the the Vanderbilts, and the Kennedys! Some made their fortunes running booze during the Prohibition, others made money earlier running opium on Yankee Clippers during the Opium Wars. In short, many had very dark pasts! But, they became very rich, politically influential, and considered the aristocracy of the New World! They built fabulous mansions and married their sons and daughters into prominent European families, some even earned titles through marriage! With the help of the media, they have become the "untouchables," the aristocracy of America!
In China the nouveau riche are possibly the newest of all in Asia, perhaps the world! Some have become millionaires overnight and have moved from squalid living conditions to luxury penthouses and mansions, and from riding bicycles to luxury cars! Luxury housing has become one of the fastest growing industries in China and it cannot keep up with demand! More cars are sold in China than in America, especially luxury cars! The new Chinese aristocracy really has no history to speak of and does not try to create new customs or revive old ones. They just like to live lavishly! Most nouveau riche Chinese earned their fortunes through sheer perseverance and hard work. A trade mark of Chinese practicality, they are interested in earning more money, not creating any new image or establishing new customs!
The Japanese nouveau riche in some cases are a mixture of old aristocracy and common folk. During the Meiji Restoration and even before that, going back as far as the late 18th and early 19th Century, when the old feudal system was dying out, the mixing started to take place. Many Daimyo and Samurai families found themselves in financial trouble. One solution was to marry off their sons and daughters to rich merchant families. The merchants (chonin) were anxious to elevate their social status, since in the old Japanese social order, the chonin were at the bottom, below everyone else! So it became common practice for chonin to marry into aristocracy and take the name of the titled family. By the time of World War Two, the most powerful families in Japan were those that belonged to zaibatsu, a conglomerate of industrialist and financial families that essentially ran the country! The best known members of the zaibatsu were Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Yasuda, and Sumitomo, still the giants of Japanese industry and finance. They may not have had family members directly involved in the government, but they had such influence that even militarists listened to them!
Although zaibatsu was outlawed by McArthur, it didn't take long for McArthur to allow the former zaibatsu members to start their businesses in order to revive Japan's economy and recover from the war. With the new anti war and military constitution, the Japanese turned their attention and focus completely on industry and business. In doing so, they shifted the warrior traditions to the new businessmen! The post war Japanese business executive became the new samurai, the new age warrior! As mentioned in the earlier blog, the businessmen began to actually study warrior philosophies and apply them in their "new" battlefields! Being the great adapters that they are, the Japanese quickly and easily adapted Western ideas as well and have developed this new hybrid philosophy that makes them so successful in the business world. At the same time they also adapted some Western social customs and incorporated them into their own. Modern Japanese society is a unique blend of new and old, Eastern and Western.
The Koreans (South Koreans) struggled mightily in the aftermath of the devastating war of 1950s. Through the 1960s they were still barely recovering from the war. However, South Korea's participation in the Vietnam War gave its economy a shot in the arm and got some of its industry going, like sneakers (from making jungle boots during the war) and clothing (from making uniforms). So, the 1970s and 80s saw growth, but nothing quite like what happened in late 1980s and early 1990s with the so-called "Han River Miracle." It seemed that almost overnight South Korea became a major player in the world economy.
The nouveau riche in Korea at first simply took advantage of their new wealth and lived a high life. But eventually, they started to create their own new culture by reviving some of the ancient social customs, especially those that were practiced by the old aristocracy, the yangban. They also started some new "customs" or trends. For example, weddings became more and more lavish. Although the weddings appeared on the surface to be Western style with the bride decked out in an expensive dress and the groom in tuxedo, the various procedures involved during the ceremony are quite different. In some cases, the procedures are inventions of the nouveau riche in what they consider proper etiquette. Both bride and groom as well as other official members of the wedding all wear white gloves, and there is an elaborate candle lighting and bowing ceremony. All in all, not your typical Western style wedding. Of course, there is also the traditional Korean style wedding with the bride dressed in a traditional hanbok and the groom arriving to the wedding on a pony, etc.
It seems that richer the family, the fancier and more elaborate the wedding and other ceremonies. Many of the old customs that were practiced only by the royal family and the aristocrats in the past have now become normal customs. During Japan's colonization of Korea in the early to mid 20th Century, many of these practices had stopped. The formal, kneeling and deep bowing was almost never done, but it was brought back and today seems to have become normal practice, not only with the nouveau riche but with just about everyone. The nouveau riche in Korea have set new trends and social behavior, it seems.
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