Lu xun(魯迅: 1881-1936) of modern China, and his contemporary Han Yong-un(韓龍雲: 1879-1944) of Korea both lived during the early stage of modernization in East Asia, a period often characterized by the Western occupation of the East and the transition from a traditional society to a modern one in the region. They experienced western modernity in the form of colonialism and agonized over the matter of succession/discontinuation of national tradition and acceptance/rejection of modern ideologies. They were great writers, but, at the same time, they transcended the boundary of literature to work as thinkers and social activists. Takeuchi Yoshimi(竹內 好) notes the futuristic nature of Lu Xun, while Song Uk(宋稶) points out the dual value of Han Yong-un as ``both traditional and futuristic.`` The study of their lives and thoughts thus carries a ``methodological value,`` as one can clearly envision a ``way of living`` through East Asian modernity. The purpose of this paper is to offer certain suggestions as to how to define national consciousness revealed in the social movements initiated by Lu Xun and Han Yong-un within the social context of the time. Chapter 2 summarizes discussions on the subject of nationalism, and is followed, in Chapter 3, by an investigation of the nature of nationalism as resistance to foreign powers, espoused by Lu Xun and Han Yong-un. Based on their experiences as subjects of colonized countries without sovereignty, Han Yong-un and Lu Xun formed their own concept of ``nation`` and ``state`` on one hand, and the idea of the relationship between a ``nation`` and a ``nation``(i.e., an international(國際) relation), on the other. Their nationalism can be characterized as an ideology of confronting and struggling against ``the other`` as a means to deal with crises; in other words, it was employed as a useful tool to meet the challenges of cherishing and saving one`s country in times of national crisis. Chapter 4 discusses the nature of Lu Xun and Han Yong-un`s nationalism in the light of the enlightenment movement. As a means for effective resistance against foreign powers, they emphasized the need to reconstruct individuals, who were, after all, the agents of resistance. For them, the enlightenment movement in the name of ``erecting people(立人)`` by Lu Xun and ``New People(新國民)`` by Han Yong-un was an indispensable process to ``raise a nation (興國)`` and build an ``independent nation``. The greatest obstacle in the process, however, was the traditional culture of each country. Confronted with the problem, Lu Xun opted for nationalism of anti-tradition and anti-feudalism, whereas Han Yong-un sought reform and revolution based on the succession of tradition and Buddhist philosophy. Chapter 5 investigates the nature of their nationalism in the third world context. This particular characteristic allows their nationalism to transcend both the spatial boundary of East Asia and the time boundary of the 20th century. Nationalism envisioned by Lu Xun and Han Yong-un does not degenerate into an egoistic nationalism, a blind pursuit of national interests, or a narrow regionalism. Rather it praises the liberation of oppressed people, advocates assistance to colonized people, criticizes imperialism and wars of aggression, and promotes international solidarity for human liberation. Such an international perspective and commitment to human liberation of their nationalism was an outcome of their grappling with the fundamental problems of ``humanity`` and their attention to ``liberty`` and ``life`` as having ultimate values in human lives.