A Brief Comparative Study of the Imperial Crises of China and Japan from the Eighteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

The concept of empire persisted throughout much of human history until the emergence of the nation-state structure in the past century. Imperialism, in various forms, continues to exist today. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries witnessed the breakdown of traditional imperial authority worldwide and the rise of a new kind of power structure. This was the case for the Qing Empire (1644-1911 AD) in China and the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868 AD) in Japan, both of which experienced the collapse of their existing power structures. The imperial crises faced by these two states exhibited similarities and notable differences. This paper aims to provide a concise overview of these two narratives and subsequently compare them, allowing for a deeper understanding of the circumstances and processes that led to and accompanied these distinctive experiences in the Far East during the nineteenth century.