Introduction
The contrast of Japan’s and China’s response to the European intrusion during the nineteenth century has intrigued scholars and historians. With advancement in industrialization and increased accomplishment in technology and science, the western powers came to nations such as Japan and China in the East to demand trade relations and open ports ( Eichhorn, 2019). Therefore, the reaction of the two nations to this historical event differs significantly and the paper seeks to identify the major differences in their reactions to Europe demands. Identification of the differences in response to the European intrusion by Japan and China are the most challenging events in the history of the two nations.
Differences in Chinese and Japanese Responses to European Pressures
The nature of the Japanese and Chinese responses to the European intrusion differs in the sense that while Japanese agreed to incorporate the Western culture, China refused to accept it because they consider foreign culture inferior. China believed it was the center of civilization since it is the most powerful nation in the Asian region. Japan was willing to learn and the multiculturalism was not a new idea to them since they had benefitted from integrating other cultures in their innovations before ( Duiker & Spielvogel, 2012).
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The differences can be accounted for in the sense that through adopting western culture, Japan was modernized successfully as opposed to China. Duiker and Spielvogel (2012) state that C hina leaders were focused on maintaining the traditional institutions while Japan was open to reform and adopted the western power. Japan saw innovations as beneficial to the country and they worked towards embracing modernization. On the other hand, China perceived the western innovations as dangerous and thus determined to maintain the existing political structure. Furthermore, Japan had a more unified government structure than China, which had an inflexible bureaucratic system. China’s system of government hindered the initiative and competition of capitalist. The flexible institutions of Japan fostered economic competition among various groups.
Moreover, Duiker AND Spielvogel (2012) reveal that the differences in reaction was accounted for through historical timing. At the onset of China’s First Opium War in 1850s, Japan appeared less attractive to the Western power due to its lack of resources among other aspects, therefore it was secluded. Although it was isolated, Japan was informed of the events taking place abroad during the Opium war. Hence, Japan had evidence of the consequences of China’s rebelliousness to foreign demands. On the contrary, China lacked guidance of the previous examples as well as evidence of military superiority of the Western nations, thus had limited knowledge of the occurrences of the event.
The More Effective Responses between the Two Nations
The most effective response to European intrusion is Japanese reaction. Japan was more receptive to trade with Western powers and this contributed significantly to their economic growth ( Kowner, 2017). Therefore, Japan benefited significantly from the Western power at the time that propelled its economic growth and made modernization a success.
Impact OF European contacts on Japan and China two civilizations through the end of the eighteenth century
According to Kowner (2017), t he European contacts had a significant negative impact on Japan and china through the end of the eighteenth century. However, throughout these years, japan and china developed differently, in that, Japan became more prosperous as opposed to China. China experienced various setbacks despite both being faced by similar global scenario. The reason is because Japan was agreeable to the idea of westernization while China remained reluctant in accepting modernization due to their belief in their concept of isolation and superiority. Due to China’s unwillingness to accept modernization, the western power sectioned it off.
Conclusion
It is evident that the responses to European pressures between the two nations differ significantly. While Japan yielded to the European pressures to modernization and trade relations, China on the other remained adamant to its belief of isolationism. Japan was able to adopt the western culture and gained more knowledge of the Western culture, which in turn contributed greatly to industrialization and modernization that is more efficient.
References
Duiker, W. J., & Spielvogel, J. J. (2012). World history, volume II: Since 1500 . Nelson Education.
Eichhorn, N. (2019). Trade Relations . In Atlantic History in the Nineteenth Century (pp. 35-52). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Kowner, R. (2017). A Failure Far from Heroic: Early European Encounters with ‘Far Eastern’Slavery. In Early Encounters between East Asia and Europe (pp. 11-30). Routledge.
