SOAS Research Online

Abstract

With the expansion of Western power in the Far East in the nineteenth century, relations between China and Japan entered a new phase. For the first time, Chinese and Japanese attitudes towards each other were related to an image of Western power. China and Japan became aware that they were part of the same entity which was being threatened with foreign control and engulfment. With this realization came the belief that as both countries had much in common, racially and culturally, they should work together to combat Western incursions. However, in adjusting themselves to the outside world, China and Japan conceived resentment, resolutions as well as ambitions. The comparable and yet different ways in which each country responded to the Western challenge created circumstances which prevented the realization of a special relationship. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the changes in the nature of the argument for Sino-Japanese cooperation between 1695 and 1911. Particular reference is made to the attitudes of different groups of people who were not necessarily responsible for policy-making but v/hose views were nevertheless influential among the Chinese and Japanese populace. Chapter I gives an account of the political setting in which the idea arose in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Chapter II describes the changes in Japan's political life which both strengthened and challenged her belief in a closer relationship with China. Chapters III and IV deal with China's response to and later, rejection of Japanese guidance and leadership. Chapters V and VII look at Japan's rising status and power in East Asia, her search for a definite role in world politics as well as a position of supremacy on the Asian continent. Chapter VI gives an account of Japan's role in the educational development of China, in this period which made up a significant part of the Japanese idea of leading her Asian neighbours to 'civilization' as a first step towards achieving an 'Asian revival'.