The Modern Period: China, Japan, And Korea
The modern period was a turbulent time for all East Asian nations. China, Japan, and Korea were all faced great challenges in the modern era and responded to them in different ways. China and Korea turned inwards initially and opened up (except for North Korea) more recently, while Japan was the first to modernize and has been open for decades. The first and possibly most tragic country in the modern period was China which stuck firmly to traditionalism into the 20th century and would later on westernize and open up. China stuck to traditionalism through their focus on confucian education under the Qing. Confucian education does not heavily emphasize science and math which is needed for modernization. The Chinese also stuck to traditionalism
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Japan was much like China and Korea in its isolation before the 19th century. From the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Meiji restoration Japanese could not leave and Foreigners could not. The only exception was one Japanese island in which one Dutch ship could come once a year. So this country was very isolationist like the rest of East Asia. However, after commodore Perry came with his black gunboats and opened up trade with Japan things changed. After this the shogun was overthrown and Japan began to modernize. The privileged class of samurai was ended. The Japanese sent out officials to western countries to learn modern math and sciences, and to bring technology back. After just a few decades Japan had become a very modern nation with a large industry and a modern army. Japan used this new power to suppress its neighbors. Japan would conquer Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, much of eastern China, and several pacific island before world war two. Instead of resisting western imperialism Japan instituted its own imperialism which at times was just as brutal or worse than western imperialism. After the Japanese defeat in world war two Japan had lost all of its foreign territory and was occupied. This marked a change in direction for the country. Japan began to rapidly rebuild in the post war years and underwent a significant economic expansion. This lasted into the late 80’s when their economy began to stagnate. However the country still has a high standard of living and is very
Japan was much like China and Korea in its isolation before the 19th century. From the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Meiji restoration Japanese could not leave and Foreigners could not. The only exception was one Japanese island in which one Dutch ship could come once a year. So this country was very isolationist like the rest of East Asia. However, after commodore Perry came with his black gunboats and opened up trade with Japan things changed. After this the shogun was overthrown and Japan began to modernize. The privileged class of samurai was ended. The Japanese sent out officials to western countries to learn modern math and sciences, and to bring technology back. After just a few decades Japan had become a very modern nation with a large industry and a modern army. Japan used this new power to suppress its neighbors. Japan would conquer Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, much of eastern China, and several pacific island before world war two. Instead of resisting western imperialism Japan instituted its own imperialism which at times was just as brutal or worse than western imperialism. After the Japanese defeat in world war two Japan had lost all of its foreign territory and was occupied. This marked a change in direction for the country. Japan began to rapidly rebuild in the post war years and underwent a significant economic expansion. This lasted into the late 80’s when their economy began to stagnate. However the country still has a high standard of living and is very