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Today in Asian History

June 8

632 Muhammad, the founder of Islam, died in Mecca (in present day Saudi Arabia). In Arabic, Islam means submission -- to Allah, the sole God. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet directly carrying Allah's message. Muhammad's first followers were in Arabia, but his teachings were carried throughout the Middle East, North Africa, across Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and into Southeast and East Asia. Indonesia is the largest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are other Asian nations with more than 100 million Muslims. 

Useful resources on Islam in Asia include:

1869 Frank Lloyd Wright was born. Wright, among the most famous of American architects, was quite interested in Japan. It was the only foreign country where he designed and built buildings and he was an energetic collector of Japanese art, particularly Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Wright's prints make up the bulk of the Van Vleck collection at the Elvehjem Museum in Wisconsin.

In 1996-1997, the National Building Museum (Washington, D.C.) hosted an exhibition titled "Three Buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright: American Spirit Alive in Japan." The Wright Web Guide offers links to sites with information about his designs, buildings you can tour, and more.

1928 Chiang Kai-shek's Guomindang-led forces took control of Beijing. Chiang's control over Beijing and much of nominally unified China was sketchy at best. 

1953 In a huge step towards ending the conflict in Korea, the warring sides agreed to repatriate each other's prisoners of war. The United Nations negotiators had long insisted that prisoners be permitted to decide whether or not they wanted to return to their country. North Korean and Chinese negotiators rejected this for more than a year. A Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission was created to handle the process.

Altogether, 88,559 prisoners were exchanged in September 1953. The U.S. had 4,418 soldiers who were returned. Another 2,806 U.S. soldiers were recorded as having died in captivity. Twenty-one U.S. soldiers refused repatriation, electing to stay in China. Some 14,227 Chinese, 7,582 North Koreans, 325 South Koreans, and 1 British prisoner elected not to be repatriated. Some of these individuals later returned to their countries. 

1969 Chinese Marshal HE Long died. Born in 1896, He was a Guomindang (Nationalist) army officer when he joined the Communists in 1926. He had a distinguished career, fighting the Nationalists and the Japanese. After the Communists seized power in 1949, He held adminstrative posts in addition to his military ones. He was named one of China's ten marshals in 1955. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), his Nationalist past came under scrutiny and he was subjected to interrogation, humiliating public struggle sessions, and imprisonment. Nearly a decade after his death, in 1978, he was "rehabilitated" and his name was restored to lists of revolutionary heroes. 

Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Posters Page includes one poster showing the nine of the ten marshals. 

1985 The Onaruto bridge across Japan's Inland Sea opened. The Naruto Strait is 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) wide. Construction on the Onaruto Bridge began in 1976. It is 1,692 meters (5,551 feet) long. This page includes a map showing how these bridges link Honshu (the main Japanese island) with Shikoku (one of the four main islands) via the smaller Awaji island. The Japan National Tourist Organization offers information about Shikoku and the Inland Sea. In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge (3,910 meters, 11,847 feet) was opened linking Kobe in Honshu with Awaji island.

2001 In an attack that stunned Japan, Mamoru TAKUMA went into an elementary school in Ikeda (just north of Osaka) and stabbed students and teachers. Takuma killed eight children. Another fifteen people were wounded before he was subdued. Takuma was 37 years old and was described as a troubled drifter. Japanese police quoted him as telling them, ""I hate everything. I tried to commit suicide several times but could not die. I wanted to be arrested and executed by the death penalty."

The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>.

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