The West Thought Of China And Japan

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

When the Chinese and Europeans first came into contact with each other, there was a mutual fascination for the other's culture, or way of life. The Chinese began to look at the European culture. They became interested in Western thinking. They were also beginning to look at the religion that the European missionaries were preaching about, Christianity. On the other end, the Europeans who came in contact with the Chinese were fascinated by their culture and their philosophy, mainly the philosophy of Confucius. While the two cultures seemed to be a good match, each respecting and admiring the other, it came to an abrupt halt. The end result was China and Europe both rejecting the other culture.

There are many things in history that can mark the milestone differences between China and Western Europe. No one really knows when Chinese culture really began, however Chinese civilization began near the Yellow River (Huang He) becoming North China, and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) indicating South China. The first Dynasty, the Xia (Hsia) Dynasty began in about 2070 or 2205 BCE. Historians have found proof of the wheel first being used in China during this time showing urban culture did exist. The Shang Dynasty followed introducing the first Chinese Government. A lot of the “basic” Chinese culture was introduced during the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty such as the “Mandate of Heaven.” China contains a lot of history throughout the years. There were battles between the states, many new emperors and leaders, as well as new technologies. All of which brought three great Chinese philosophies; Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism. It wasn’t until about 581 CE that China was reunifies under the leader, Sui Wendi. Wendi linked North and South China together by the Grand Canal. It was during the Song Dynasty, in 960 CE, that China promoted better tools. The

China and Japan are too enormous and influential nations located in Eastern Asia. These two nations are almost always confused because of their similar culture and people, and they also happen to be right next to each other. Japan and China have never been allies and the two countries always seem to be in conflict. These two superpowers are very important to the world, and without them everything would be imbalanced in the global market. The rising superpower, China, is a nation that will continue to grow and improve their economy, while the fragile superpower, Japan, could fall apart at any moment and ruin the balance between all of the other countries.

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

In order to better understand the criticism against these Chinese writers, we must first understand what is meant by orientalist thinking or orientalism for that matter. One of the authorities on the subject, Edward Said explains the term "Orientalism" and tackles the question of East and

McNeil is also critical of Landes’ preoccupation in the happenings of Europe alone, while remaining dismissive of all economic and technological accomplishments of China after 1 000 A.D. While Landes dismisses the economic demise of China as a “weird pattern of isolated initiatives and Sisyphean discontinuities,” McNeil instead portrays the rapid innovations of the Sung era, and how they were damaged and disrupted by Mongol conquests and contained within the Ming dynasty, thereby showing that Europe did not surpass Europe in achievement due to their own pre-eminence.

In the 19th century, technological improvements enabled many European nations to enlarge their power and have greater impact on other parts of the world. Those impacts are clearly demonstrated in the book Abina and the Important Men and the source Fifty Years of New Japan. Abina and the Important Men views on how a young woman from Gold Coast, West Africa in the 1870s failed to declare her own freedom in a local British dominated court. The source Fifty Years of New Japan demonstrates how Japan had modernized in fifty years with adoption of European cultural practices. Because the Gold Coast was a crown colony of the British empire, change made by European culture and power was in favor of the interest of Britain. Indigenous people respond to such changes differently based on their different social status. Japan, on the other hand, was independently adopting western cultural practices for modernization, so Japan was able to better improve herself by learning about the Western Civilization.

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 nineteenth century was a turbulent time of western imperialism and a major Asian power shift. European powers and the United States had a destabilizing effect on the region and the choices Japan and China made in response their imposing expansion was a major contributor to the trajectory of their respective futures. Social factors, such as the differences in national and religious unity, also played a role in the how the two nations emerged from the Age of Imperialism.

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

Since the 14th century Europe and China have had many differences and similarities, that are still seen today. Those differences are their politics, language, and their culture. Also, a big difference between the two is China’s singularity and Europe’s plurality. Politics – Europe was a fashioned democracy, while China was a monarchy. Language – European people spoke Greek and Latin, while Chinese people spoke Chinese.

From the late eighteenth to the mid twentieth century, European countries - predominantly England and France - oversaw the expansion and collapse of their empires, during which time they had come to understand their Eastern colonies through the lens of ‘Orientalism.’ A term coined by the literary critic Edward Said in 1978, Orientalism refers to the project through which Western artists and intellectuals fabricated an image of ‘the Orient’ - an area stretching between ‘India and the Bible Lands’ - in order to legitimise their control over it. This project characterised the East as an inferior, post-civilised realm, where order had been displaced by - as Said writes - an ‘Oriental backwardness.’ However, by the end of the nineteenth

The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image… (Edward Said, Orientalism p.1-2)

The meaning of Orientalism consists of several interdependent things. Firstly, its determination is an academic one – anyone who academically speaks or writes