China’s and Japan’s Responses to Western Challenges Essay

According to Stavrianos, the response of China and Japan to western challenges was similar, but they later sought different ways which affected their modernization development (312). The western imperialism forced these two countries to re-evaluate their moves, as they had gone into isolation voluntarily in the 19^th century. By the end of the 19^th century, China and Japan had adopted the western reforms but they had different aims. China adopted the western style with the aim of preserving their culture while Japan on the other hand, went into modernization with all its might (Stavrianos 312). This led to Japan being recognized as a super power while China was at the verge of erupting into chaos.

China was evidently seen to respond slowly as compared to Japan, with a difference of decade(s). Japan sought western weapons at the end of the 16th century, and on the other hand, China sought the weapons at the beginning of the 17th century. Jesuit missionaries were invited by both countries but were exiled at different times; China in 1742 and Japan in 1612. China had a lot of fear on the negative influence western culture could bring in their traditions. They avoided seeking weapons from outside and even feared the effects Jesuits would bring to them, although they both (China and Japan) went into isolation in the middle of the 17^th century (Strayer 18).

Industrialization brought about by the western culture, led to superiority of western military which forced china and Japan to forgo their isolation policies. China continued to be adamant to the changes and challenges posed, therefore the British declared war on them and later made them pay more. On the other hand, Japan learned from the mistakes made by china and instead adopted their policies. The policy Japan adopted reduced conflicts between them and the west and in turn they were given time to accept the demands made from west, a thing which did not happen with China (Teng 13).

China went into revolution in the mid 18^th century and they opened their doors to western ideas, and laid strategies on how to industrialize China. This revolution however, threatened the interests of the west and led to collapse of revolutionaries, a thing which affected China for decades to come (Teng 14). The revolution in Japan was successful and hence they adopted a series of radical restructures. They worked alongside this phrase, “what we must do, is to restructure Japanese kingdom and its people, and duplicate Europe in Japan and also the people of Japan to be much like the people of Europe” (Strayer 19). In 1873, Japanese state modernized its industries and build new ones. Infrastructure in general was improved and expertises from advanced countries were brought to Japan.

The fruits of the response of China and Japan to western influence were realized later in the preceding centuries. Japan predicted the danger and or the intimidation of opting to go against the challenge of the west and acted quickly and in a mature way while China embraced the challenge with resistance. Japan opened its doors to rejuvenation while China on the other hand, welcomed the move of the west with cultural and traditional preservation in their minds. Japan used the western doctrine; experts, technology and the like, to their advantage. This made them powerfully grow as China plunged.

Finally, it is obvious even to date, that remorsefulness of China cost them a lot. The technology and the name Japan has can be traced back in the 16^th and 17^th century due to the measures and the response they took and showed respectively.

Works Cited

Stavrianos, L. A Global history: From Prehistory to the present, 6^th Ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice hall, 1995. p. 612-314.

Strayer, S. The Making of the Modern world, 2^nd Ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. pp. 18-20.

Teng, S. China’s response to the West. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954. p. 13-4.