Qing China and Tokugawa Japan

Japan and China have undoubtedly had their similarities and differences in the past. However, that doesn’t change the fact that both countries are major economic powers today and amongst the most thriving nations in the world. Separated from the influence of foreign countries, Japan and China had a long time in which they could develop their own unique identity both culturally and politically, although the isolation did eventually come to an end.

Both the Tokugawa and the Qing did not bring radical changes to the governments. The Qing weren’t Chinese; they came from Manchuria but adopted the traditional Chinese system. The Tokugawa also adopted some ideas of Confucianism. The Qing emperors had control whereas the emperors during the Tokugawa shogunate were just figureheads with the shoguns in control. The daimyo who …show more content…
Although they had reached the country, the Chinese emperors did not allow them to trade until 1557. By that time, the Portuguese had also reached the island of Japan and had started a little bit of trade over there as well. Both the Qing emperors and the Tokugawa shoguns became suspicious by the actions of the Jesuits and banned Western trade and missionaries form their countries. The Chinese later traded with the British, who proved to be their greatest enemies when they introduced opium to the Chinese people. The Chinese tried to forcefully end the opium trade, but they were defeated and had to sign “unequal” treaties. Unlike China, Japan was more isolated because it was an island, but that also ended when America’s Commodore Matthew Perry came with warships to Tokyo Bay and forced the shogun to sign trade agreements. The Japanese had sensed that the time for change had come and instead of fighting this change they accepted it, while the Chinese fought this change and ended up signing unbeneficial treaties in fear of the foreign