18th and 19th Century European Power and Influence over India, China, and Japan

During the 18th and 19th centuries, European powers navigated their way to various points throughout the continent of Asia. In the Europeans travels to Asia, they have spread colonialism, international trade, and the influence of their Western civilizations. The interactions of Europeans with the three major powers Asia of India, China, and Japan, have left lasting effects on each one of these cultures, both beneficial and detrimental.

Although the central goal of the European powers in their interactions with these three nations was to gain profits through trading goods and manufacturing products for European consumption, the influence of Western civilization has drawn Asian cultures to become more progressive while leaving the ancient cultural ideals behind. These three nations struggle with the task of adopting intricate aspects of Western culture and scientific ideas to advance their nations, while deciding either to fully take on Western culture or modifying their current culture to become more progressive while not losing its traditional essence.
Instability has been commonplace in India; it’s been going on since ancient times with many neighboring nations and empires invading India in the name of con-quest. Muslim conquerors in the middle Ages influence northern Hindus to adopt Islam as the regional religion. Another example of cultural influence in India is from Saint Thomas the Apostle arriving in southern region of India in 52 AD to spread the Christian faith.

India also has many other ancient religions throughout its regions. There’s a diversity of languages which is spoken throughout the country, during this period there was no distinct language being dominant. In 1526 the Turkish Muslim Mogul Empire establishes the only dominant kingdom in India. Other than this kingdom, India is predominantly scattered with various kingdoms and empires. The Mogul Empire established provinces and collected taxes in various regions instead of looting and plundering India. This rational system of governance established by the Mogul Empire will soon be adopted by the British as they establish trade and control over India.

By the 1700s the British did establish the East India Company to establish trade in India and China, with control over government and military of India with the only pursuit being to gain profit. The East India Company does not use a centralized rigid form of governance over India. In the battle of Plassey in 1757, a rebellion of India backed by the support of the French, attempt to rebel against the British. In the end, the British came out as the victors, and then they established complete control over India.

The population of India rebelled against the British due to their control and influence over governing policies within its country. Although the British had great wealth and success in India using the trappings of colonialism, the intellectuals of India realize they must adopt facets of Western culture, to enlighten their society into becoming a more progressive civilization. The man who started the movement of a more modern India was Rammohun Roy. By the early 1800s Roy understood that education for the Indian populace must be rigidly taught in a Western curriculum that is stripped of ancient ideals, and consists of enlightened principles that will prompt Indian society into a path of most useful channels. The instability of India beginning in the Middle Ages up until the arrival of the British is littered with instability and conquests of outside empires. This ongoing hindrance coupled with the mindset of an ancient Sanskrit culture that continues to keep this country and darkness only leaves for little hope for progression and upward growth of India.

The British forced an unequal treaty on China as they did with India, this is known as the The Convention of Beijing in 1860. What followed was an influx of Christian missioners into China who were at work in the Cantong region. This change of gov-ernmental power in China opened the door for the trade of opium and the beginning of the opium war. This opens the door for other western powers to take advantage of the Manchu Qing dynasty. In 1850, Hung starts a revolt that managed to have thousands of followers that went on to overthrow the weak Manchu Qing dynasty in a Civil war known as the Taiping Rebellion.

This upraising was started because of civil unrest, famine-stricken peasants, and workers who followed the credo of Hong Xiuquan, who followed how visions of being the younger brother of Jesus. Hong’s mission was to establish the Taiping Tianguo and assume the role of Heavenly King. The citizens were very unhappy in the direction of the Qing dynasty, they also found the empire to have become weak and corrupt, and not working in the best interest of the native population.
The British were the Imperial masters of India, in contrast the Chinese were controlled through trade and treaties. Upon the arrival of the British, Chinese officials took for granted the false peaceful British demeanor, and never knew how the British have positioned themselves throughout the world. The Chinese officials also underestimated the worldwide cultural influence and the economic control of the British. The Chinese also found the British to be inferior society in comparison to the Celestial Empire of china. Emperor Qianlong was cautious about having any European influence in China and feels they need to restricted and keep China secure by stating they must exercise a pacifying control over barbarian tribes the world over. Qianlong understood that if the Chinese grant the British a trade agreement this will open the flood gates for other European nations to come to China and strip it of its wealth and resources. Qianlong was afraid of Christianity and restricts it spread throughout China by the emperor imposing rules in which he stated, “Missionaries in my capital are forbidden to hold intercourse with Chinese subjects”.

There was fear of the native populace losing traditional cultural religion oppose to propagating their religion to quell the influence of the Celestial Empire.

Emperor Qianlong was right in his suspicions of the British’s intentions in China.

The international trade of the British lead to the sale of opium in China which cripples the nation into becoming addicted to the drug. This period is known as the Opium War in China from 1839 to 1842. Prior to the War, Emperor Lin Zexu makes a plea to Queen Victoria in 1839 to put a stop to the sale of opium in China, but his request falls on deaf ears. The emperor feels that not all British men are evil, but he says that there are those among them that are willing to seduce the Chinese people without remorse by injecting poison to all provinces affectively killing the Chinese population purely for profit. Emperor Zexu then concludes by telling the British officials to trembling obey and show no negligence to the warnings presented in the letter to the queen because the Chinese were prepared to go to war to stop the spread of opium. China loses the Opium War because of their lackluster military.

The treaty of Nanjing was then signed by an unwilling China which had them relinquish control of Hong Kong, open an additional five ports for trade, and $15 million was paid to British merchants, further increasing British control over China.

The Japanese had a very different encounter with outsiders than India and China experienced. Japan has long been unified as a nation-state prior to the arrival of Europe-an merchants in the 16th century. As the Europeans, have done prior in Asia, they went to Japan to embark on a mission of trade and to spread Christianity throughout the nation. The Japanese embraced the influence of Western religion with upwards of 200,000 Christians in southern Japan. Japanese politics in the 13th and 14th centuries were very unstable, with a weak central government and a strong local government ran by shoguns.

This era of instability ended 1603 with the introduction of Tokugawa period. The Tokugawa period established the final era of traditional Japanese government and cultural traditions, but it also established a fear of Western religion which led to the ban of Christianity during this period. The Tokugawa leaders felt that the establishment of Christianity in Japan will only lead to the invasion and conquests of European powers.

A new initiative for the government of Japan was presented in 1798 by Honda Toshiaki which proposed that Japan must end its isolationism, their agrarian economic status, and move towards a more industrial economic status using Western principles of economics and education. Honda’s initiative focused on principles of need which was to effectively master the use of firearms. The Japanese also wanted develop an educational standard that focuses on the science of metals and mastering their properties to produce industrial endeavors. His initiative also included the Japanese to venture out into other regions of Asia to colonize and expand territory for resources and economic expansion like the British. Honda felt it was imperative for Japan to become a powerhouse to boost national strength of economic growth, and improve national security. It was important for Japan to have sophisticated implementation of mathematics and science to create an enlightened government that focused on the same things that found to be essential to European rulers for governing their nations. The improvement of trade and commerce with the use of colonization helped Japan avoid being invaded and pillaged because it will have the resources and weaponry to maintain national security. The Japanese government now embraced the idea of the Japanese influence of science and technology industrial endeavors and improve the economic growth and development of the nation.

The influence of European culture and economics and religion had varying con-sequences for each of the three Asian nations in question. Japan and India recognized that they had to evaluate their social structure to adapt to the ever-changing world that was predominantly guided by European influence. Even though the Chinese felt they were not able to properly bargain with the British on the distribution of opium, they were still willing to open a dialogue of diplomacy prior to embarking on war.