A Comparison of the Effects of Imperialism on Japan, India and China
Edward C. Bohling Jr.
His 351
Holley Heatley
September 6, 2010
A Comparison of the Effects of Imperialism on Japan, India and China
Imperialism had different consequences for the three countries being studied. In some ways they were similar in the response to the powers which would assert themselves. All three countries had a feudal past with internal struggles for power. One country itself had engaged in imperialism until the industrial age brought modern European powers into contact with it. One country would not lend itself to colonization and would exercise imperial methods during World War II. Only one of the countries studied found itself totally immersed in being ruled from afar. This work will explore the past of each country briefly and then look at how each country handled the overtures from Western Powers.
Japan stands out as unique among the countries being studied. Japan was the only country in the group that did not succumb to total western domination in its affairs. Japan like the other two countries came from a feudal past. The country had numerous seats of power. These divisions were ruled by Daimyo. The Daimyo may be considered to be warlords. There was no central authority that ruled over all of Japan. The Emperor was a mere figure head that had no real power. The Bakufu or first Shogunate became active in 1180 AD and in theory the Daimyo or Gokenin answered to the Bakufu. During this feudal age there were two separate administrative capitals. Kyoto was the seat of the Imperial throne and Kamakura was the seat of the Shogunate. (Perez, 1998, pp 25-30)
The Japanese were not particularly isolated during the feudal period. During the Ashikaga Shogunate the Japanese merchants had set up trade missions throughout Asia. Japanese vessels could be found as far south as Manila Bay and trade had been on going with China and Korea. It is interesting to note that during this period the Japanese had not developed a coinage of their own, most of their currency consisted of coins from China with some limited paper money. Individual Daimyo and merchant guilds had begun to mint their own coins. There was no central currency (Perez, 1998, pp40, 42).
Japan like India had developed into a class society. According to Louis G. Perez, author of The History of Japan, the Burakumin had their roots in the Eta people. The Burakumin were not allowed to associate with the other classes of the militaristic society that developed during the Ashikaga period (Perez, 1998, p43). The Burakumin may be compared to the untouchables in India.
The first contact with Westerners was provided by the Portuguese in 1543; notice that this is 101 years after the discovery of the New World by Columbus. The Portuguese brought silks from China, Christianity and superior military technology in the form of guns. The most important items that the Portuguese brought with them which would be used to unite Japan were Christianity and modern guns (Perez, 1998, pp. 46-47). One of the first Japanese leaders to take advantage of the technology offered by the Portuguese was a daimyo named Nobunaga. Nobunaga used a weapon called the arquebus (Image 1), the difficulty in its use was that it had to be imported and was very expensive, and the device was a machine that required maintenance. The arquebus cost 100 times more than a long bow and ten times more than a sword. The arquebus was heavy and clumsy in comparison to a long bow and was primarily used in repulsing cavalry charges. Nobunaga would do what the Japanese have become famous for, he simply took the design, improved upon it and had blacksmith sword makers train to be gun smiths (Perez, 1998, p48).
Nobunaga would take the Portuguese system of Christianity under the Jesuits and use it as tool of war. Jesuit Christianity in the 16th century was organized on military principles of discipline and administration. Nobunaga allowed the Jesuits to teach their version of Christianity to his armies. This new source of spiritual guidance ensured a more obedient military force, which Nobunaga would use against his Buddhist enemies. The Japanese under Nobunaga coveted the silks that the Portuguese brought from China, to facilitate that trade a daimyo ceded the small fishing village of Nagasaki to the Portuguese as a port of entry to ensure that the product would be landed there. This also contained Portuguese influence. Within twenty years Nagasaki had become a city with a population numbering over three hundred thousand, nearly half the population were practicing Christians. Nagasaki had seven cathedrals where the faithful worshipped (Perez, 1998, p49).
China as discovered was not the only nation with a bent on extraterritorial conquest. Japan too engaged in annexation when it took control of the Korean peninsula. Under Nobunaga’s successor Hideyoshi, an army as large as the Mongol horde was sent to Korea in 1592. Perhaps as many as 100,000 Koreans died during 5 years of war and famine. Like General Douglas MacArthur the Japanese would come in contact with Chinese forces at the Yalu River (Perez, 1998, pp 52-53). Prior to the invasion of Korea Hideyoshi had won control over all of Japan in 1591. Where Nobunaga used and even allowed the Jesuits station in Japan, Hideyoshi began to remove the Jesuits influence from Japan (Gordon, 2003, p 11).
When Hideyoshi died and he left his son to succeed him, his regents were to rule until the son was old enough to take control. The regents began vying for power just as Alexander’s generals had done at his death. Enter stage right the first ruler of the Tokagawa Shogunate. Ieyasu was a ruthless leader who defeated the other regents loyal to Hideyoshi’s son (Gordon, 2003, p 11). During the Tokagawa period, starting in the 1600’s, Japan was closed off to the outside world. Trade had been cut off with the Portuguese and Spanish who wished to sell religion alongside material goods. As a result of this policy the British would leave Japan in 1623. From 1633 until 1639, Lemitsu who was the grandson of Ieyasu, issued edicts restricting the interaction between Japanese citizens and foreigners. Japanese were prohibited from travelling west to Korea and China and south of the Ryukyu Islands. The export of weapons was restricted and the teaching of Christianity was banned along with the travel of Catholics to Japan (Gordon, 2003, p17).
In 1637 to 1638, peasants in the Christian stronghold of Shimabara (near Nagasaki) rebelled over economic conditions and spiritual deliverance. The Bakufu looked upon this rebellion as a challenge from traitorous Christians. In the process of putting down the rebellion perhaps as many as 37,000 people including women and children were killed. Lemitsu also expelled the Portuguese traders whose last ships would depart Japan in 1639 (Gordon, 2003, p17). Only the Dutch were allowed to remain who were not in the business of selling religion. The Dutch were given a small island composed of landfill near Nagasaki called Deijima (This small settlement remains today as a living history museum complete with a windmill) (Gordon, 2003, p17). Lemitsu forbade any remaining foreigners travel inland and banned the selling or giving of books to anyone in Japan. (Gordon, 2003, p17) Under the Tokagawa Shogunate virtually all contact with the outside world was eliminated for over 250 years (Gordon, 2003, p17).
Because the Tokagawa period closed off Japan from the outside world, the country would, like the Maoist period of China, suffer obsolescence. The country was locked in time and ill prepared for the modern period of the 19th century when the Americans came calling. Like China in the 18th century, Japan capitulated to Western pressure because of superior weapons and a modern mechanized Navy (Gordon, 2003, pp 46-48)
There was a time in China when it not only welcomed outside contact but embraced it. Travel now back in time to the Tang dynasty which many Chinese herald as one of China’s golden ages. The Tang were a mixture of Turk and Chinese and spoke both languages. Their Capital of Chang’an was a multicultural melting pot at the terminus of the Silk Road; they enjoyed the latest music from the west and embraced some of the clothing styles. Tang era China was the world’s wealthiest and most powerful state. (Wright, 2001, p69).
During the Tang era, Canton was a port city that hosted Christian, Jewish and Muslim traders from the outside. In the years of Tang decline, Canton felt the wrath of an army rebelling against the Tang dynasty led by Huang Chao. This is perhaps the first time that outside merchants were targeted by Chinese forces; Chao would have thousands of these people slaughtered. The Canton incident took place in 879 AD (Wright, 2001, p70).
The Tang fell to competing warlords in 907 AD and ushered in the fifty three year era of the five dynasties. In 960 AD the Song Dynasty would reunify most of China but not all. The Song lasted until 1279 when the Mongols left their steppes and conquered all of China (Wright, 2001, p70). The Tang dynasty’s second emperor was known as Tang Taizong. Taizong was part Turk and could not abide with attitudes against foreign peoples and cultures. The Tang capital would be copied by both the Koreans and Japanese, and the prevalent tea ceremony practiced in Japan was taken home by Japanese envoys. The earliest literature in Korea and Japan was written in pure Chinese (Wright, 2001, p72).
What is unveiled to the student so far? What has been learned in the case of China and Japan? There exists here the issue of personality, does it not? In both regards, response to foreigners by both cultures is dependent upon who is at the helm of state. As this research progresses this may even be seen in the case of India.
Taizong had a very open minded attitude about people different than he was and his philosophy was reflected by and permeated the rest of the dynasty. Taizong was tolerant of and protected foreign religions. In the Tang capital of Chang’an were found Buddhist temples, Jewish Synagogues, Islamic Mosques and Nestorian Christian Churches. (Wright, 2001, pp72-73)
Traditionally it is taught that Christianity is a Western religion, this is not so with the Nestorian. The Nestorian Church is based on a Syriac interpretation of the Gospels and historically was based in Kurdistan. The church embraces a heresy stated by a patriarch of Constantinople named Nestorius who died in 451 AD. Nestorius put forth the idea that Jesus Christ was two different entities, in other words he was the son of God and separately a son of man. Mary could not be both the mother of God and Man both. The views were considered a heresy and Nestorius was deposed in 436 AD. The Nestorius interpretation is considered heretical and not true Christianity because it denies the dual nature of Christ which the scriptures declare as God in the flesh (Shaw, Favell, 1999).
Under the Tang dynasty China was wide open to the outside world, perhaps more than any other period up until the 20th century. China had imported much from the outside world and even developed a taste for the leaf which eventually spawned the opium wars; it also developed an appetite for foreign wines (Wright, 2001, p73). Strange that China would come to monopolize a green shrub that was originally indigenous to Southeast Asia. Perhaps had the British been developed in the Tang era, there would never have been an opium war and possibly no Hong Kong.
One of the Generals that was responsible for bringing down the Tang dynasty in 907 AD would in 960 establish the Song Dynasty. According to David Wright the Song was heavy on civilian government and light on the military, the Chinese have come to view the Song dynasty with contempt and blame it for the humiliation it would face from the British and other Western powers nine centuries later (Wright, 2001, p75)
China shares a distinction with India by having all of its territory fall to foreign conquerors. In 1279 all of China had been secured by the Mongol Kublai Khan (Wright, 2001, p79). Before the inception of Kublai’s Yuan dynasty attitudes toward foreigners began to change. During the Tang dynasty China was confident and new it was powerful. During the Song dynasty, China was no longer whole; the Song had been driven from its Capital and settled in Canton. The Song emperors and bureaucrats began to fear the barbarian warriors to the north and began to suspect all outsiders. The Song had much to fear about and its fears would be realized with the Mongols conquest (Wright, 2001, p82).
The last emperor of the Song Dynasty drowned in waters near Hong Kong and in the view of the Chinese this concluded the Song era, by now Kublai Khan had completely subjugated the Southern Song region into the total conquest of China. The Yuan dynasty succeeded the Tang, and China would for 100 years endure what the Manchurians endured under Japanese occupation. While Kublai’s administration made room for some Chinese managers, the consensus among the Mongols running northern China was that the Chinese could not be trusted. Where Chinese administrators did work a Mongol would be nearby looking over their shoulder. In essence the Chinese could not breathe without a Mongol hearing it (Wright, 2001, p86).
At this juncture in the study it may be seen that Japan did not suffer this fate, unless the occupation of Japan by the US at the close of World War II is taken into account. The difference would be that a total subjugation under United States law and language would not occur in the occupation of Japan.
It is clear at this time in history that China’s greatest antagonists did not come out of the West. The greatest interference in Chinese progress at the time came from its own nearby neighbors.
The Yuan dynasty would not last. The Chinese people grew weary of poor management, famine and unemployment. In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang, a rebel leader, succeeded in overtaking the Mongols and drove them out of China. Yuanzhang would become the founder of the Ming dynasty. During this period with the exception of the Cheng Ho expedition, China’s attitude toward foreigners became isolationist. The Ming dynasty’s primary concern remained the intrusive Mongols. Under Zhu the capital had been moved to Nanjing (Wright, 2001,pp 87-88).
When researching China it becomes clear that perhaps the western powers did have cause to look upon it as back ward. Because the Chinese operated under the cult of personality and edicts rather than the rule of law political systems were found wanting and rebellion of the peasants was a constant source of destabilization.
The Ming dynasty too, became guilty of crass mismanagement and would last only until 1644. When the rebel Li Zicheng entered Peking with an army, the last Ming Emperor committed suicide. Shortly after Li’s rebellion, the Manchu’s invaded and conquered China. As will be learned, China’s interference from the west would begin under the Manchu dynasty that survived until 1911(Wright, 2001, p91).
China’s legacy as can be seen was one of domination by one eastern foreign power at the time when the West began to earnestly push the trade issue. Japan as learned had never let itself be dominated by foreigners in this fashion. Perhaps the issue of Japan’s militaristic culture enabled it to fend off those that wished to subdue it. Japan also had no resources to speak of which may also be another reason why it never succumbed to the foreign domination that China and India came under.
According to David Wright, it was a dissatisfied Ming General who betrayed his country that gave access of China to the Manchu’s by leaving a gate open at the Great Wall (Wright, 2001, p91). The Manchu conquest would usher in what the Chinese call the Qing Dynasty which as learned held power until 1911 (Wright, 2001, p91) Many Chinese welcomed the Manchu government which had put an end to the chaos and mismanagement of the Ming dynasty, however as will be learned even the Qing would lapse into ineffectiveness. (Wright, 2001, p91)
The Qing was the most populous, wealthiest, and most powerful nation in the world during the 18th century when Europeans vied for the privilege of trade. The period of 1736 to 1796 saw the elevation of the great Emperor Qianlong who had become a household word among Europe’s upper classes. Works of philosophy in enlightened Europe approved of Qing’s secular approach to government (Wright, 2001, p92).
During the decline of the Qing dynasty in the 19th century, Chinese patriots blamed the Manchu’s for much of China’s woes. The patriots believed that China would not have suffered so much intrusion by Gwailo if Chinese had been in charge. This view would prove to be false as the Chinese also failed to get a handle on the imperial menace and modernity once the last Emperor was driven into exile (Wright, 2001, p92).
The Qing dynasty was also a colonial power. The Qing had a Court of Colonial Affairs that overlooked the administration of colonies such as Manchuria, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, and Mongolia. The Qing did not have control over northern Mongolia and this would later become an independent state. The Qing did not apply the same standards of rule to its colonies as it did on China proper (Wright, 2001, p93).
There is a certain irony in the status of the Qing, for while it held sway over colonies of its own, parts of its territory had been colonized by the Portuguese and British. Consider this along with another imperialist irony; the Spanish colony of the Philippines was under the authority of the Viceroy of Mexico which at the time was a colony of Spain.
The Qing dynasty oversaw vassal kingdoms like Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Malaysia, and the Sulu Archipelago. The Qing did not directly control these states, however vassals were required to send tribute to the Qing and send emissaries to the court to perform the kowtow. The kowtow was a painful act of obeisance where the individual would prostrate himself and audibly touch the forehead to the floor (Wright, 2001, p93).
The Chinese invented much of the military hardware that would eventually be used to force them to trade with West. During the Song and Yuan transition period China was superior in technology to the west. The magic of gunpowder and indeed the first gun developed in China had made its way to the west in 1320. The Chinese were using cannons and guns along with hand grenades in military battles long before they would be used in the west. By the time of the opium wars China would see an improved model of their invention used against them (Wright, 2001, p95).
Just as Japan, China’s first contacts with the West were the Portuguese. The Portuguese first saw Chinese people in Calcutta, India. The first contact occurred between the sailors of Cheng Ho’s fleet. The first maritime mission to the Middle Kingdom (Qing’s Domain) by Europeans fell into the lap the Portuguese in 1514 (Diffie, 1977, p381) Jorge Alvarez is said to have departed from Lintin Island near Hong Kong with gifts and goods, the mission was not allowed to land in Canton, however witnesses that were with him state that a handsome profit was made disposing of the products. (Diffie, 1977, p382)
Also like Japan the Chinese during the Qing dynasty would keep foreign intruders at a distance. The Chinese merchants who for centuries had built up an extensive trading network were forced by the Qing to restrict trade in South East Asia at Malacca. This restriction caused problems with both the merchants and the Portuguese who were at a loss on how to effectively deal with the Qing court. (Diffie, 1977, p382)
Here in this circumstance, is seen again how the cult of personality was responsible for cutting off contact with the outside world. It was seen in the Tokagawa Shogunate in Japan as has been learned and here it is employed by the edicts of the Qing court. Perhaps if the two regimes would have opened up to trade and allowed the supply of visiting ships, there may not have been saber rattling and gunnery exercises to convince host governments.
The Qing dynasty did everything in its power to dissuade the Portuguese attempts at trade. The Portuguese found themselves in violent confrontation, not from the merchants but from the government officials. One Portuguese ambassador, Toma Piers, who had actually made the trip to Peking was taken hostage and eventually died in prison (Diffie, 1977, p385).
When reading Bailey Diffie’s, Foundations of the Portuguese Empire 1415-1850, it seems that the Portuguese were not just content to trade, they were looking at expanding their empire by force of arms just as they had in Malacca and Goa. The Portuguese had no idea how big China was or how powerful it was, some among their ranks believed mistakenly that China would succumb to domination like Malacca and Goa (Diffie, 1977, p386).
As a recap, what has been learned so far? First of all the three countries involved have the British and Portuguese calling at their door. The Japanese and the Chinese were cultures with an eye on control of their own back yards. The Japanese and Chinese due to regime engaged outsiders with hostility. Japan would never allow itself to be over run. China and Japan would not allow foreign domination beyond key port areas although China at the time was ruled by a foreign dynasty.
The Qing court finally gave heed to the Portuguese request for a port in 1552, that land would come to be known as Macau. Macau had been the principle western trading port in China until the British acquired Hong Kong (Diffie, 1977, p388). The Jesuits would use Macau as a base to bring the Gospel to China (Diffie, 1977, p388).
India like China would really never come into its own until the 20th century after the end of World War II. The Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama would anchor at a port north of Calcutta on May 20, 1498. At first there was no hostile treatment, they had come across some Muslim traders who spoke Portuguese. Da Gama was asked to come to Calcutta to see the Samorin, on the way the Portuguese were surrounded by thousands of curious people. The Portuguese came across what they thought was a Christian church and thought that the images were Christian, in truth they were statues of Hindu deities (Diffie, 1977, p181).
Unlike the Chinese and Japanese, the initial contact with westerners was allowed to take place before a leader. (Diffie, 1977, p182) In the first contact between Da Gama and the Samorin communication did not go so well. The Indians had ordered the goods brought ashore which were supposed to be traded and went through them making disparaging comments about the products. The Portuguese felt like prisoners and had to sell their products cheaply in order to have money for the voyage back to Portugal (Diffie, 1977, p182). Some of the Indians believed that the Portuguese were there to steal and pillage, but Da Gama had told them that he was there to find Christians like himself, he was not there for riches, because Portugal’s treasuries were full (Diffie, 1977, p182).
The Portuguese were in Calcutta for 3 months, often times the members of the expedition were taken hostage and the Samorin refused to send a gift to the king of Portugal who had sent gifts to him aboard Da Gama’s ship. When De Gama was finally allowed to leave, his ship came under attack by the Samorin’s ships and a battle ensued (Diffie, 1977, p183).
When the De Gama voyage returned to Portugal the King was quite enamored with the prospects in India. The exhibits that De Gama presented were of little value, but the King mistakenly thought that Samorin people were Christians. The Portuguese were so used to the images in Catholicism that they assumed that what they saw in India was Christian, even the Pope upon hearing the evidence fell in line with the report that De Gama brought back, although he believed that the images described were heretical. It is from the information that De Gama provided that a fleet was assembled to return to India and claim the lands for Portugal (Diffie, 1977, p187).
The man chosen to command the flotilla was Pedro Alvares Cabral. Scholars have found no evidence suggesting that Cabral was an experienced mariner; rather he was chosen for his leadership capabilities. On March 9, 1500 with a favorable wind Cabral’s fleet weighed anchor, and with Vasco De Gama’s sailing instructions set sail for India. Like other mistakes of navigation that occurred in the age of discovery, the course followed brought Cabral to discover Brazil by accident (Diffie, 1977, p189).
Cabral’s fleet would arrive off of Calcutta within the year, the Samorin however were not accommodating to Cabral’s approach for trade and entanglements with the Muslims caused him to bombard Calcutta. A minor kingdom to the south called Cochin along the Malabar Coast was at odds with the Samorin and was eager to do business with the Europeans.(Diffie, 1977,p189) The Malabar was also rich in pepper, a commodity which the Portuguese wanted to dominate. Cabral would send a report of the actions of the Samorin’s to the King of Portugal and told of the alliance with the Cochin. On the way back to Portugal Cabral’s ships put in at another small kingdom north of Calcutta, which also wanted to get out from under the Samorin’s domination. The Raja of Cannanore would ally itself with Portugal (Diffie, 1977, pp 222-223). With the Alliances secure it became clear to the King that the Samorin’s were not Christians as thought and Portugal’s course in India would be one of conquest (Diffie, 1977, p222).
When Cabral’s fleet returned to Portugal in 1501 a larger fleet of twenty ships was put together that was led by Vasco De Gama and his brother Estevao. Fifteen ships were under the command of Vasco and five under his brother. The new fleet set sail in February and March of 1502. This time De Gama was leading an expedition as a warrior and not an explorer, he had not forgotten the death of one of his men at the hands of the Samorin’s (Diffie, 1977, p223).
De Gama’s fleet would destroy a Moorish ship on its way to Calcutta, no doubt returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca. The fleet then sailed into Cochin where the king accepted De Gama with friendliness. Cochin had already come under fire by the Samorin since making the deal with Cabral (Diffie, 1977, p223).
As can be surmised Portugal’s quest for empire and trade made it almost an unwitting tool in India’s feudalism. These same type of alliances would be made with the British until the British finally dominated the subcontinent. So like Japan India would use the modern weapons of the west and alliances to achieve political aims. The Portuguese case is provided here because they were the first to explore Asia and the first to colonize.
The Portuguese hold in India would not last; eventually they would be driven out 100 years later by the British and Dutch East India Companies (McLeod, 2002, p59). The Portuguese would retain Goa and a few other lands until 1961 when Nehru invaded the territory and incorporated it into India proper (McLeod, 2002, p141).
In conclusion it has been learned that India has the same distinction as China of being ruled by a succession of foreign powers. Even within India culture was not shared across the whole subcontinent and this is what made it difficult to resist the final domination by Great Britain. India could not even totally unite as a people when seeking independence, partition occurred because of the cultural and religious divisions within India. China does share with Japan the distinction of not being totally dominated by the west. China’s domination was by its nearby neighbors. The three nations endured a feudal past but only Japan was able to stay free of western domination. All three were caught in a state of obsolete military preparedness, and all three would use the weapons of western powers to engage in internal conflicts. All three states would succumb to the modern weapons of the western powers allowing for unequal treaties. Japan and China would suffer under Cults of Personality which forced them into isolation from the outside world. Japan and China both exercised imperial prerogatives of their own.
Image 1
References
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North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Image, Wheel Lock Rifle (Arquebus) Retrieved from http://collections.ncdcr.gov/dcr/ProficioScript.aspx?IDCFile=PAGE.IDC September 4,2010 (Notice that this source no longer has the referenced artifact listed in its collection, therefore the link brings up no results.) December 21, 2011
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Westport, CT, USA. Retrieved from
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University of Cumbria, Division of Religion and Philosophy, Overview of World Religions, The Nestorian Church, Shaw, E., Favell, I. 1998/9. Retrieved from http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/early/nestor.html September 5, 2010