Introduction

Japan and China seem to have lots of similarities to a foreigner. The reason for the similarities include the logogram character in both Chinese and Japanese languages, Eastern religious and traditional practices. However, there are many differences in their lifestyles and traditions that always make the two countries follow divergent paths. (Introductory paragraph should no be long).

Over the past few years, the geographical area of East Asia remains influenced by the Sino- Japanese relationships.  In the past, the both countries might have had friendly relations with each other. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, China and Japan’ relation strained. Japan and China are geographically very close to each other. Both the regions also have many mutual cultures, traditions and ethics (this is repeated from above paragraph, you can consider removing it). Yet, whereas Japan began to conform to the (this is not necessary) modernization to prepare for conquering the world, China was going through an upheaval as the Qing dynasty suddenly collapsed and the country took time to recover from it. The political, economic and social differences between the neighbours unavoidably drew them into hostility between each other.

Moreover, Japan endeavoured to force its Twenty- One Demands over China which they downrightly refused and a war began between the two. Japan also forcibly controlled its former German territory which was part of China during the World War I. This essay would argue that despite having similar customs, there are many political and social differences among China and Japan, and the approach of both the countries to these variations became strikingly different since the beginning of the 20th century especially because of the dominant attitude of Japan and rigidness of China towards modernization.

Analysis

Japan and China reacted differently to modernization in the beginning of 19th century. Historians believe that the traditions of Japanese have their roots in the Chinese culture or rather the traditions of Japan stemmed from the Republic of China (please check the exact name of the Chinese state at that time) (Platt, 2003, p. 12). “Japan’s written language and much of its religious, artistic, and moral civilization derive from Chinese culture” while Japan seemed to have both positive and negative influence on the Chinese youngsters (Johnsons, 1972, p. 1). Both China and Japan remained in isolation from the rest of the world as they mainly communicated between each other. However, by the end of the 19th century, such isolation approach to international relations was not possible in a world which was on its way towards modernization. Both China and Japan had to bear extreme pressure from the Western world to open channels of international relationship which created opportunities for trades. As a result, both China and Japan were “’latecomers’ compared with those ‘first-comers such as England, France and the United States” (Yu, 2006, p. 2).

During the Industrial Revolution, both China and Japan chose to continue with their primitive ways of life. They did not update their technology, so their technology and military lacked advancement to combat the threats from Western countries when they pressured China and Japan to accept modernization in their regimes as well (Valentini, 2015, p. 1). Both the countries were forced by the western countries to sign treaties in which they had to open ports and cities for foreign trades and exchanges.

In the era preceding modernization in these regions, China and Japan had allowed only a limited access to foreigners to trade in their ports. Before the West had pressured the two countries to open their trade channels, they remained in isolation, but China was still the first country to welcome trades between other countries. However, this action was not conducted without constraints. The western merchants were allowed to trade in China, but only in the region of Canton. Additionally, the foreign merchants had no special privileges, so they were reluctant to trade in China (Valentini, 2015, p. 3). In Canton, they were only allowed to have trade dealings with a single group called the Co- hong. Similarly, Japan remained prudent about foreign trades, thus also only allowing commerce with the Dutch company who could trade in just one port of Japan called Dejima. (This sentence is similar to the previous one, but you wrote as if the two sentences have opposite implications).

There is no doubt about the fact that both the countries had similar traditions and customers, yet their approaches to the changes of the era were quite different and has often perturbed historians of the time. The processes of modernization occured in the two countries differ in many ways. Many historians argue that Japan readily accepted the changing times. On the other hand, China was slower to react, probably (you shouldn’t use this word in academic writing) because of the end of the Qing dynasty which completely shook the empire. Even before that, the people of Japan had a more open- minded and flexible approach to life, while the Chinese were orthodox even in the beginning of the 20th century. The Japanese readily accepted the change while Chinese seemed less flexible to do so.

The Chinese rulers were conventional in their approach and they showed resistence against any new change in their society (This sentence is well-written but more like repeating the preceding sentence, you can consider removing it). They didn’t allow the flow of (no need this phrase) modern education and forced the people to follow the orthodox texts of the Ming dynasty. The texts depicted an extremely outdated worldview which didn’t conform to the modern period. In China, the West could only approach Canton for trade purpose as the country didn’t allow a more open access to trade. As a consequence, the emperors and masses of China couldn’t have exchanged much information with the West. Moreover, they could not even find out what was going on in that world. Hence, in the beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese didn’t face the barbarians of the older world, but well- equipped soldiers having military powers (Valentini, 2015. P. 5). China was caught by surprise when the westerns approached them suddenly and forced them to initiate international relationships.

In contrast to China, Japan was more interested in the education and adopted knowledge of the outside world. Their trade was limited, and Western books were banned in 17th century because of the reign of Orthodox churches. However, the strict laws were relaxed and by the end of the 19th century, many students all over the land of Japan received advanced education from the Western system. Different associations were also created in Japan that translated books from the Western side and the scholars were allowed to enlighten the students with Western knowledge.

The Meiji revolution in Japan was also very pivotal for the country’s progress as it ended the Feudal system of the shogunates. In the Meiji Revolution, the new leaders organized the government and its policies in such a way that they opened channels for the Industrial Revolution that was already spread in the rest of the world. Foreign technicians and scholars were welcomed to Japan who helped the country update its technology, infrastructure, banking system, railway system and so on. (you shouldn’t use this phrase in academic writing).

China also attempted similar reforms in the country after the Taiping rebellion was defeated in the end of the 19th century. However, this happened on a small scale and in many limited areas of the country. The country overall remained primitive and outdated (Valentini, 2015, p. 6). The Chinese rulers didn’t understand that the development of the West for prosperity requires the country to change their lifestyles and worldview.

The differences (conflict seems too much in this case) between China and Japan in the beginning of the 20th century also compelled the two countries to adopt divergent paths. As discussed above, people of Japan were more educated, equipped and modern as compared to the Chinese counterparts. It was only in the year 1896 that China began to give a thought to modernization and education. In this year, group of thirteen Chinese students were sent to Japan so that they could learn and bring awareness to their country as well.

China was lagging so much in its approach that when the thirteen students arrived in Japan in their traditional clothes, they were perplexed to see the uniformed students and suited men, while the Japanese couldn’t help but ridicule the students to such extent that four of the students gave up and ran back to China (Harrel, 1992, p. 2). However, the number of Chinese students started to increase and by the year 1906, as many as 9000 Chinese students were studying in Japan. This shows that Japan was the teacher and China was the student (Harrel, 1992, p. 2). (This sentence does not have a strong link with the preceding sentence; it also needs more clarity. Or you can use this sentence: Japan was way ahead of China that it was qualified to play the role of a teacher while China is appropriately a student to Japan). However, the teacher country soon began to show its dominance over the student country and China became displeased over this.

The famous twenty-one Demand of Japan over China in the year 1915 to the Yuan government caused great rift among the two countries. China was already suffering because of “faction fighting” (civil war) and tried to make it dependent upon Japan by weakening it through the twenty one demands. The demands were made in such a way that it put China in a vulnerable situation to Japan and made it obligatory to it. “The 21 Demands underwrote special interests in Shantung, Kwantung, South Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Fukien, and called for inserting Japanese advisers in key positions in Chinese government agencies” (Harrel, 1992, p. 219).

Japanese also demanded that their officials should be placed in different departments such as police and the army. It also demanded that China allow Japan to run the first- generation steel mill of China called Han Ye Ping Company.  Moreover, it was demanded that Chinese government have to extend all due rights to Japan in Shantung which were previously allowed to Germany as well. The Chinese government was also asked to openly acknowledge the different interventions and services of Japan made to China. It was also demanded that the Chinese government should not lease any region, port, island and the like to any other country except Japan (Harrel, 1992, p. 219).

Japan was trying to limit the communication of China with other countries (Chaurasia, 2003, p. 128). The demands were first rejected, but later accepted by Yuan Shikai. It is believed that he accepted the demands only for his own benefits as he desired to become the emperor. However, there is also a view that Yuan Shikai was forced by the Chinese government to sign the treaty with the threat that if it didn’t accept, Japan would wage war on China. As the latter was technologically weaker than Japan, it was compelled to accept the humiliating demands (SK, 2012, p. 54). Japan had emerged as a very powerful state after the First Great War and its technology was a huge risk for the relatively primitive civilization of China at that time (Chaurasia, 2003, p. 160).

The May Forth Movement was another important incident which led to the divergent paths of Japan and China. The movement can be considered two- edged for the development of China. It criticised the Japanese involvement in China and secondarily, it also criticised the imperialist form of government in China. The revolution was mainly initiated by the students against the weak response of the Chinese government to the Treaty of Versailles which allowed Japan to access former German territories in Shandong. The Treaty of Versailles was developed after the World War which had caused a lot disarray in the world politics. Japan saw this as an opportunity and forced Germany to hand over the region of Kiaochow to it.

This infuriated the Chinese because this region had been taken on lease by China in 1898 for ninety-nine years when they had occupied the region by force. The region of Kiachow was of importance to the Chinese because their two important scholars Confucius and Mencius were born there. Japan promised that it would return Kiaochow to China in the next year, but it was clear that its intention was to violate the promise and it “used her commitment on the side of the Allies as a lever in a bid to displace Germany in the foreign looting of China” (Teodoro, 1975, p. 4).

This led to a nationalistic sentiment in China who banned Japanese products in China. The ban was initiated in Shanghai, but it spread to other parts of China as well. The injustice done by Japan angered the Chinese youth and they began to rebel in small groups. Students were most active in this revolution and they began “national humiliation memorial” meetings (Chen, 1971, p. 83). It later became a nationalist revolution. The movement increased the conflicts between the two countries. However, it also allowed China a divergent approach from Japan. This was a watershed moment for the development of China.

Conclusion

China and Japan seem to be brother countries as they share many traditions, religious norms and culture, but the conflicts of the two regions are clearly visible. The relations of these countries play a vital role in shaping the politics of Asia. Japan is said to have originated from China, but now both countries often stand against each other at daggers drawn to each other. The culture and traditions of both the regions differ to a great extent. Japan seems to be more adaptive by nature, while the people of China rigid in nature. Japan was flexible enough to adopt the values and the changes of the west as well. The Chinese had a certain sense of superiority and they considered people of other cultures as savages, while the Japanese didn’t have such racial approach. Multiculturalism was a speciality of the people of Japan. However, the progress of Japan seemed to make it dominant. Chinese sought help from Japan for education, but Japanese began to show their undue dominance over China. The unjust policies of Treaty of Versailles and the 21 demands are important in this regard where Japan sought its benefits by exploiting Chinese. This had infuriated the masses of China and they began to rebel against Japan. However, China also began to adopt the path of modernization which led to its prosperity. Both the countries went on divergent paths in the early 20th century and this deviation seems to continue even now. Both the countries are prospering but Japan took the lead and China caught up quite later in the 20th century.

 

 

References

Johnson, C. (1972). How China and Japan see each other. Foreign Affairs, 50(4), 711-721.

Yu, L. (2006). A Comparative Analysis of the Differences between Chinese and Japanese Modernization in the Mid-Late Ninetheenth Century, with Particular Regard to the Idea of’Rich Nation, Strong Army.’ University of Canterbury.

Platt, B. (2003). Why did Japan Succeed and China Fail and isn’t Modernization the Same thing as Westernization? Education about Asia, Vol. 8, no. 3. 12- 19.

Valentini, G. (2014). China and Japan’s Responses to the West in the 19th Century. E- International Relations Students. http://www.e-ir.info/2013/11/04/chinese-and-japanese-responses-to-the-west-during-the-19th-century/.

Lim, S. K. (2012). Modern Chinese History 1840-1949. Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.

Chaurasia, R. S. (2003). History of Japan. Atlantic Publishers & Dist.

Harrell, P. (1992). Sowing the seeds of change: Chinese students, Japanese teachers, 1895-1905. Stanford University Press.

Chen, J. T. (1971). The May Fourth Movement in Shanghai: The Making of a Social Movement in Modern China (Vol. 9). Brill.

Teodoro, L. V. (1975). The May Fourth Movement and the Origins of Chinese Marxism. Asian Studies. Vol. 13, No. 1. 1- 16.