Qing Dynasty Of China And Tokugawa Shogunate

When the Japanese modernized they made sure to keep their traditional values. According to document 1, in the timeline, after the Meiji Constitution was adopted, The Sino-Japanese War Began( in which Japan fought the Qing Dynasty over Taiwan and Korea(Doc 1, N.d, line 7). Japan won these territories and benefited from their resources. It wasn’t until 1904 Japan declared another war on Russia to protect and keep Korea for its resources( Alfred Stead, 1904, Doc 9). This was the first time any other country defeated a European imperialist country.

leaders, and they were actually the ones who were in charge. The Emperor depended on them

Japan and China had many contrasting responses to western penetration in the nineteenth century, including economic interaction - economically China suffered and Japan prospered, Japanese agricultural productivity increased while China’s did not, and China only accepted a small amount of goods while Japan accepted a wide range of goods- and political interaction - China went to war but Japan did not, Japan adopted western learning styles but China did not, and Japan heavily increased taxes on their people after 1890, while China did not -but had very comparable geographic traits – both had ocean borders – Japan was completely surrounded by water while China was bordered on a large percentage of itself, both kept their ports either fully

China suffered the worst of the two nations after trying to stand up to European powers during the Opium Wars and the anti-western Boxer Rebellion. Japan, however, embraced foreign ideas and was able to prove itself to be a threatening world power after their war with Russia.

Feudal Japan and Ming China were two times in history within these similar countries, that have been around since ancient times. These countries have similar and different traditions, a way of doing things, that have defined them as a civilization and a world power. The Japanese and Chinese had times where select families or people were in control, dynasty, because of their ranks and their abilities, in addition their social classes were similar in the way they treated people, and how people treated other people depending on their jobs and their status. There were the shoguns,a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan, and in China there were the emperors, the ones ruling the empire (land), these were the people that were at the top

Much like in Japan when Matthew Perry of the United States came in and insisted in having Japan open up its ports to diplomatic and commercial relations with the US, and since the shogun felt he had no other option, he complied with Perry’s order. As the westerners had their way with both east Asian nations, the threat of western industrialization became a reality, and due to the amount of hunger and economic depression in their societies, their people began to crave industrialization seeing the amount of success in the western societies that were industrialized. There began to be an increased amount of rebellion, and a fight for change in these two nations, but the results that came from these rebellions and the main argument for these rebellions differed.

When it comes to modernization, the paths taken by Japan and China were strikingly similar. Well, I say paths taken, however I would argue that it was more along the lines of them being forced upon paths out of necessity in order to survive in a world in which the Western powers of Europe and the United States were increasingly encroaching and interfering in East Asia. The paths I will be looking at for these two nations will both begin with the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the Kangxi emperor in China, and several aspects of how these nations and forms of governance operated, as well as large changes in governance. I will look at how these two nations and the West interacted, and how their interactions began to change as time went on. From

Manchus were the one that took control of China after the Yuan (which was the Mongols) and established themselves as the Qing Dynasty. It is also this dynasty that the modern Chinese started. Around the 18th century, the Qing was at its height. However, by the start of the 19th century until the early 20th century, the Qing Dynasty started going downhill with domestic political and foreign policy problems. Within the nation, there were continuation and changes to the traditional Confucian system; Furthermore, there were rebellions due to foreign competitions that lead to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In the year 1853, Perry sailed to the Tokyo harbor aboard the frigate Susqueahanna on July 8. The intentions of Commander Matthew Perry in Japan were merely to force a trade agreement between the government of the previously named country, and the United States; during this period, all western powers were desperately pursuing to open new markets to sell their goods abroad. At the time, the Japanese government did not have on disposition a naval force that could somehow stop Commander Perry. By all means, the Commander was able amplify any demand he wanted by force. Later on, other world powers such as Britain, France, Russia, and Holland opted to follow Perry’s trail to Japan, it could be said that Japan was merely a pawn in the hands of a pretty much crooked deal with the world.

By industrializing, Russia was able to extend its influence in eastern Asia and seizing new territories in northern China. Japan reformed after seeing China’s foreign power so they kicked out all foreigners and built its own military. In Japan, an American commodore, Matthew Perry threatened to bomb Japan in 1853, unless Japan allowed access to trade for the Americans which created military superiority of the West. Therefore, Perry won the right to have the Americans to trade which allowed two ports to open with other European countries of Britain, Holland and Russia. In Japan, they had many signs of improvement with the Western influence of new banks to fund trade and private investment capital, railways and steam vessels improved national communication and helped with trade since Japan lacked many resources.

China and Japan had similar but different experiences with the Western civilization. China and Japan reacted differently to the Western nations and it was China’s reactions to the West that would break the Chinese’s isolation leaving their traditions behind. The Industrial trade in Europe and the United States had created a gap between Asia and the West, This left china and Japan far behind technologically and they were not able to stand up against the western nations and although at different times China and Japan both ended up having to sign unequal treaties, and to open their ports for merchants.

The death of emperor Hideyoshi and subsequent ascension to the throne of Hideyori in 1598 set into motion events that would alter the political landscape in Japan for the next two hundred and fifty years. Tokugawa Ieyasu, in his quest to become absolute ruler of Japan defeated Hideyori loyalists in the battle of Sekigahara and was appointed Shogun by Hideyori in 1603. This military “coup d’état” effectively gave Tokugawa complete control of Japan and reduced the emperor to little more than a figurehead in the governing of Japan. As history would show, the feudal system of government that Tokugawa created ultimately led to

China and Japan are two unique civilizations that went through similar, yet vastly different changes throughout their histories. Their growth and response to other nations differed in many ways in government, lifestyle, and general well-being. One of the main causes for such difference between the countries is the way the West influenced each region, and the way China and Japan responded to this influence. China focused more on the idea of being a "status oriented" society, while Japan was more "goal oriented" based. In China, anyone had the ability to better themselves and change their status through civil examinations given by the government. Western impact however slowly changed this old age system. Japan's caste system viewed

In 1868, provincial rebels overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the new leaders called the regime the “Meiji Restoration.” This was just the beginning for soon-to-be modernized Japan. A stronger military, new ideas, technology, and laws would be all used to transform Japan into a modern industrial nation. Because of these, modernization had a great effects on Japan’s society and the nation as a whole from 1850 to 1950. One effect modernization had was strengthening international presence and relations for Japan as a whole. This helped to keep them active on global terms and impacted them in a positive manner. Another effect modernization resulted in was the transformation of the internal society of Japan. The changes in the society all provided great benefits for Japan.

Japan emerged from the Tokugawa-Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized nation. Domestic commercial activities and limited foreign trade had met the demands for material culture in the Tokugawa period, but the modernized Meiji era had radically different requirements. From the beginning, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. The private sector — in a nation blessed with an abundance of aggressive entrepreneurs — welcomed such change.