「福特亞細亞基金會事件」是現代日本中國學界最重要的論爭之一，內容為美國在1962 年時以巨額資金補助特定研究，造成一波學界關於學術倫理問題之討論。由此引發了日本學界對「研究主體性」之認識與反省，也使學界群體逐漸走向對立，造成各界對文革觀感完全不同。論爭中主要的批判在於「學術研究對於社會的責任、亞非拉美觀點與發展路徑的關係、對美國區域研究方法的批判與認識」三個層次。本文從知識系譜角度出發，試圖解釋此期間日本中國學界如何接受西方思潮（特別是美國），包括知識論上的「科學主義」、方法論上的「區域研究」與發展觀上的「西方近代化路徑」三個面向。

“The Asia-Ford Foundation Event” was one of the most important debate on China studies in Japan. Triggered by US Ford Foundation’s large amount of research grant, the event created heated discussion over academic ethics and “subjectivity of research” in Japan’s academic community, and
made academic community divided over China’s Cultural Revolution. The
main issues included researcher’s social responsibility, Asian/African/Latin American development approach, and critiques on area studies in the US.This paper attempts to explain how Japanese academic community accepts “western（especially American）research methods” and three aspects will be addressed, which include “scientific principle” in Epistemology, “area study” in methodology, and “Western model” in modernizing process.