EAST 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Meiji Restoration, White Lotus Rebellion, Wage War
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Review
• The rise of Manchu
• Socio-political change towards the end of Ming Dynasty
• How to understand the history of Qing?
Historical Background
Historical Background
• Parallel histories between the two countries; historical changes happened at about the same time,
but results are very different.
• Ruling Classes:
o China: Manchus (Neo-Confucianism)
• Encouraged this to seem more 'civilized'
o Japan: Takugawa Sogunates (Neo-Confucianism)
• The Meiji Restoration: Japan followed European model and started to conquer colonies, first
Korea, then China. This marked the end of the self-strengthening movement in China
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Changes power dynamics between China and Japan
• Japan: tried to build own culture, but the problem was that a lot of their culture came from other
places, like China (ex Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism). So Japan went into a period of ultra-
nationalism, wanting to become the center of Eastern Asia.
Today’s Letue
• Conflicts with European and Japanese colonizers
• How to understand the modernization of East Asia?
Conflicts with European Colonializes
• The opium war (1839-1841)
o British people started to import opium to China; rich and poor Chinese started to get
addicted to opium.
• Lin Zexu destroying opium
• The Qing government and the British perceived this differently.
o For Britain: trade war
• When Lin Zexu started to destroy opium, this provoked the British and they sent an
army, starting the first opium war. They defeated the Qing and ended the war with
the Nanking treaty
o For the Qing Ruler: domestic affair
• The Qing rulers saw this as one of the many domestic issues going on at the time.
They still saw the world through the Tianxia system so they thought the problem was
the foreign traders. So, they abolished the importation of opium.
The Nanking treaty (1842)
• Treaty of Westphalia: ended religious wars in Europe
• Treaty of Nanking: Opened new ports for international trade
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Socio-political change towards the end of ming dynasty. Historical background: parallel histories between the two countries; historical changes happened at about the same time, but results are very different, ruling classes, china: manchus (neo-confucianism, encouraged this to seem more "civilized" Japan: takugawa sogunates (neo-confucianism: the meiji restoration: japan followed european model and started to conquer colonies, first. This marked the end of the self-strengthening movement in china: changes power dynamics between china and japan. Japan: tried to build own culture, but the problem was that a lot of their culture came from other places, like china (ex buddhism, neo-confucianism). So japan went into a period of ultra- nationalism, wanting to become the center of eastern asia. Conflicts with european colonializes: the opium war (1839-1841, british people started to import opium to china; rich and poor chinese started to get addicted to opium.
