Pailey Wang: China, Japan and the Western World during the 19th Century.
At the beginning of the 19th Century, China and Japan faced very similar set of circumstances in relation to their respective relationships with the West. Both nations had isolationist policies, which saw Western trade operate through a one port system. In the face of rapid technological advancement and industrialisation in the West, both nations were forced to open to trade, and sign unequal treaties in the face of a new imperial Western military might. It is thus prevalent to ask why Japan saw a period modernisation and economic growth at the close of the Century, whilst China remained stagnant. Thus, herein this dissertation will seek to explain how China and Japan’s
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From the mid-18th Century, China had operated under the so-called “Canton system”, which routed all Western trade through the port of Guangzhou. A small group of traders known as the Cohong were granted a monopoly on trade with Westerners, and acted as intermediaries for the imperial Qing government by collecting tax and duties on trade they undertook. Trade could only occur in the “thirteen factories”, a neighbourhood of warehouses and offices next to the port, that where the Western were confined. Strict restrictions saw Chinese nationals banned from borrowing money from or employing “foreign barbarians”, and further Chinese traders were banned from getting information about the market situation from Western traders. Westerner traders were banned from learning Chinese. From the 17th Century, Japan had operated on a similar and arguably more isolationist policy known as sakoku, meaning “closed country”. Under this policy the only Western trade allowed was with the Dutch, which could only be conducted through the port of Dejima. The trading post at Dejima was operated by the Dutch East Indies Company, under constant supervision and surveillance by the Japanese. Importantly, it is through this system that Dutch traders sold …show more content…
The First Opium War was fought from 1840 to 1842 in response to the confiscation of illegal British shipments of opium to China, and more generally reflected the Chinese refusal to open to trade on the terms of the British. The war saw China defeated by the technologically superior navy of Britain, and forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Nanjing. Even despite the concessions granted to Britain the Treaty of Nanjing, the British were unsatisfied with Chinas continued restrictions on trade and waged the Second Opium War with the French from 1856 to 1860, with the main aim of legalising opium. The Second Opium War was a success for Western traders, as it would result in the legalisation of the trade of opium, the opening of many more treaty ports and would allow Western traders to travel within China; effectively forcing the complete opening of China. When Japan was faced with the threat of gunboat diplomacy, as China had been a decade earlier, they had a vastly different approach which would see them open to trade on far more favourable terms than China had. In 1853, four United States Navy warships, led by Matthew Perry threatened to use force to open Japan to trade. The
Examine the role of foreign involvement in the Russo-Japanese War. On July 5th, 1853, Commodore Perry’s steamers and vessels sailed into Tokyo harbor and demanded Western Trade in Japan. Only three years later, The treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed and Japan was fully immersed in the world of gunboat diplomacy, unfair treaties and western dominance. Gunboat diplomacy is a form of foreign policy in which a country supports the aforementioned policy with a threat, or use of military force, hence the term, gunboat.
Struggling to maintain social order and strength, the Qing Dynasty placed restrictions on opium trade; however, this backfired, provoking retaliation from British traders and leading to a war that would create the Unequal Treaties. The detrimental socio economic effects opium had on China were beginning to surface during the late 1830’s, causing an influx of smokers and a decline in bullion. Although China’s economy suffered, this was the most viable foreign trade option for the British. There was low demand for the cotton the British offered to China, but the increased profits from opium would do more than compensate. Thus, British merchants took various measures to circumvent China’s policies to stop the illicit trade and managed to find
Japan didn’t open to foreigners until the mid-19th century. Japan quickly realized the situation and began to modernize and westernize as fast as possible. Japan wanted to be strong enough to resist domination of western imperialists who wanted Japan for their own. Japan also wanted to become the strongest Asian country. Japan’s tactics of rapid modernization succeeded, and kept the country and government independent of foreign control.
In the 19th century china and japan were under pressure when the west opened up foreign trade and relations. The industrial revolution created a wide gap between them and the west and left them behind in technology and the military. They both signed unequal treaties that forced them to open their ports and cities to foreign merchants. Both country's reacted very differently and this will be the topic of this essay.
There were several issues that lead to the war between America and Great Britain. In the few years before the war was declared there were several issues that enraged the Americans. In the text, there is explaination of how the British were in need of sailors to fight the French, "For seamen the danger was heightened by the British renewal of the practice of impressment."
Feudalism was a key component of life for those in both Western Europe and Japan. The two systems developed independently from each other yet still held a multitude of similarities. However, their many differences out shadow the unique parallels they shared. The major discrepancies between the two are found in each’s code, structure and regulations. Documents nine and ten, break down the feudal structures of Western Europe and Japan.
This treaty compelled China to sign a series of unequal agreements that gave Britain access to Chinese ports and territory, including the takeover of Hong Kong for a century. The influx of foreign goods and the loss of control over trading markets caused significant economic losses for China, which were compounded by the widespread use of opium among the Chinese population. As a result, the Chinese economy suffered a catastrophic blow, leaving many civilians struggling to make ends meet. Zhang Kaiyuan, a distinguished professor of international law at Peking University, argues that the treaty was a result of unequal negotiations that did not respect China's territorial integrity. The Opium Wars also had a profound impact on China's political stability, with many questioning the effectiveness of their government in dealing with foreign challenges.
Japan, at this time, relied on fossil fuels from The United States. However, The United States cut off trades with Japan due to Japan’s obsession with becoming rich (Doerr, Paul Walker). Japan tried to cripple The United States by targeting its Navy. The United States and its Navy had the power to block Japan’s expansion in Asia (Doerr, Paul Walker).
The textbook “World History, Patterns of Interaction” talks about the Ming dynasty’s relations with foreign countries. “China’s official trade policies in the 1500s reflected its isolation. To keep the influence of outsiders to a minimum, only the government was to conduct foreign trade, and only through coastal ports” (Document 4). Trading between two empires or more was against China’s Confucian beliefs, which made China avoid trading with other empires. China did not want the influence of other empires to enter China, so they controlled trade with the West.
This arrival of the ship was shocking for the people in Japan because they realizes how much they were under developed just by looking at the ship. The owner and the man who brought the kurofune was called Matthew Perry who was a commodore of the United States Navy. He wanted Japan to open the country because American needed a commercial hub to trade with other countries in Asia.
There are many nations that are continuously changing. Japan is one of the nation that is continually changing not only economy, but also the culture. According to the book, “the Western world was increasingly impinging upon Japan..” which result isolation from Europe and American. In the document 19.1 it stated, “We have issued instructions on how to deal with foreign ships on numerous occasions up to the present”. This have shown that the Japanese have isolated from foreign.
Before this industrialization in 1968, was the Boshin war, which was directly responsible for the Meiji Restoration, due to the fact that after the war, Japan wanted to have one central power, which resulted in Japan’s government wanting to become like an already successful government with one central power, America, however they did not want America’s culture, but merely the style of government, which resulted in Japan becoming much more western. Then after the war, the Meiji Restoration started, which was the new government taking over Japan, this started a westernization movement in Japan, and during this westernization, industrialization started, and then it settled all throughout Japan, building factories, and machines. Similar to this, Russia experienced the Crimean war, which was essentially a wake-up call for Russia to industrialize after it’s terrible loss to both Britain and France, to add to the losses, after that, Japan and Russia fought, and Russia lost horribly, which shocked the entire
In 1839, the Chinese government tried to ban opium from a port city called Canton. Columbia University 's article, China and the West, says that, “the Chinese are defeated by superior British arms and which results in the imposition of the first of many “Unequal Treaties.” These treaties open other cities, “Treaty Ports” — first along the coast and then throughout China — to trade, foreign legal jurisdiction on Chinese territory in these ports, foreign control
Nowadays, many of the characteristics of both the Korean and Japanese cultures are traced back to Chinese influences. China was seen as a model society by growing nations because of large size and historic success in all sectors of the country. China played a crucial role in the maturity of Japan and Korea since they were able to advance both culturally and politically. In most cases, the cultural interworking’s of the three countries are
Elliot Guereca & Gustavo Sanchez 6th Period Japanese Imperialism in Korea “ Japan saw itself as having to protect Korea from foreign countries” During the 18th and early 19th century the world experienced new changes in world powers with imperialist countries and countries who experienced imperialism. One example of this would be Japanese imperialism in Korea during 1910-1945, a 35 year harsh change in Korea’s culture, impacting both countries in negative and positive ways in the years to come. Everything started during the Meiji period, a period where Japan saw change within its government creating a centralized bureaucracy.