Table of Contents
Chapter 14 Western Contacts
The emergence of the Dutch Republic in Europe brought new competition to Asia that rivaled the powerful presence of the Portuguese. The wreck of the Dutch yacht de Sperwer on Cheju Island began a remarkable thirteen year odyssey that gave the West its first real look inside the Hermit Kingdom. Korea learned about the West and got its first exposure to Western culture and knowledge through its diplomatic and tribute mission contacts in Peking. The reemergence of political factionalism and the influence of Western culture led to the Sirhak Movement in Korea and the introduction of a number of social and economic reforms. Catholicism took root in Choson without the presence of western missionaries when Sirhak scholars brought Western culture and religious conflict onto the peninsula by teaching and practicing the religion among themselves.
Chapter 15 A Crumbling Dynasty
The ever-present drive for power in Korea's government brought the royal in-laws to a dominant position in the Yi court. Catholicism took root in Korea amidst a deterioration of the country's traditional Confucian social order and despite government-backed religious persecutions. Abusive government practices combined with the impact of natural disasters increased the suffering of aristocrats and peasants alike. While economic mismanagement provoked popular uprisings, the increased activity of the Catholic Church in Korea led to continued religious persecution and increased government fear of foreign influences. The development and spread of the Tonghak Doctrine built the foundation for a major social revolution in Korea.
Chapter 16 The End of Asian Isolation
Japan, like Korea, lived in isolation and actively persecuted the intrusions of Western religion and influence. Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries from Europe worked for both religious converts and increased commercial profitability during their ventures in China. European commerce gained a foothold in China, principally through the Chinese foreign trade system in Canton. Europe and the United States, both seeking increased outlets for their burgeoning industries, expanded trade with the Chinese while Russia made its first attempts to open relations with Japan. The British East India Company, arguably the most powerful influence in the Canton trade system, dramatically increased profits by introducing opium smuggling to the China trade.
Chapter 17 A Clash of Cultures
Merchants and manufacturing interests in England and China pressured the British government to open China for free trade. Britain and China held conflicting positions on the nature of diplomatic relations, which quickly led to clashes over trade issues and legal jurisdiction. The daunting task of eradicating the opium problem and suppressing the Canton opium trade brought the British Crown deeper into the China market and ensnared China in a web of Western diplomacy and international law it didn't understand. While China tried to hold tightly to its past, Great Britain forced western morality and law into the Orient and pushed Asia toward an uncertain future.
Chapter 18 The Penetration of China
Western business interests pressured the British government to intervene in the trading ports of Canton and Macao. Chinese attempts to force a return to the old trade system led to armed conflict with Great Britain. In the wake of the disastrous Sino-British Opium Wars (1839-1840 and 1841-1842), Great Britain acquired the island of Hong Kong and extraterritoriality in China as part of the postwar settlement. The later treaties of Nanjing and the Bogue set the stage for a whole series of "unequal treaties" with China that formally parted the Bamboo Curtain and opened China to the West.
Chapter 19 The Western Foothold in Asia
Following Britain's "unequal treaty system" with China, the West dramatically expanded its commercial interests in China. In China's interior, the Taiping Rebellion gave vent to deeply rooted hatred of foreign intervention and Manchu rule in Beijing. The "Canton City Question" and the "Arrow Incident" prompted the British and French to dispatch a joint expeditionary force to China. In the wake of the Third China War, Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States acquired new rights and sovereign enclaves on Chinese soil. Faced with the threat of British military force, China signed the Treaty of Beijing and sealed its defeat and final humiliation.
Chapter 20 The Awakening of Japan
The gradual intrusion of shipping into the Pacific sparked American interest in Asian markets. Japan had already learned much about the West through the Dutch East India Company at Nagasaki. The diplomatic missions of Commodores Biddle and Perry gave the Japanese their first lesson in gunboat diplomacy and produced a treaty that finally opened the door to Japan. American diplomat Townsend Harris laid the foundation for Japan's commercial relations with other foreign powers. Rebellious feudal lords accelerated the decline of the Japanese Shogun and the political turmoil that resulted prompted open attacks against foreigners and western interests in Japan.
Chapter 21 Mounting Pressure Against Choson
The impact of China's Opium Wars and the opening of Japan turned Korea strongly isolationist and fearful of the outside world. The Taewon'gun, Korea's Prince Regent, reinforced this sense of isolationism by introducing many reforms and changes to Korean society while his stalwart anti-foreign exclusionist policy guided the country's domestic and foreign relations. Continued religious persecutions in Korea, the tragic voyage of the merchant schooner General Sherman and the bizarre Oppert affair led to direct intervention by France and the United States. With the fall of the Shogunate, Japan initiated a transformation of its traditional relationship with Korea and set out on a new path to the future. In Korea, it was the beginning of the end of the peninsula's long period of isolation.
Chapter 22 Resistance to Change
The Japanese Shogunate came to an end, replaced by the imperial government of the Meiji Emperor. The Meiji Restoration led to new initiatives to improve relations with Korea, but the peninsula nation adamantly resisted any attempt by the West to gain entry, diplomatically or physically. The American diplomatic mission of Frederick Low and Admiral Rogers led to a military clash at Kanghwa Island that, ironically, convinced Korea it was strong enough to repel foreigners. Although Japan and China entered into the first treaty between Asian nations, Japanese attempts at diplomacy in Korea were continually frustrated. In the end, Korea's powerful Prince Regent was finally forced from power.
Chapter 23 The Opening of Choson
China urged King Kojong to be cautious in dealing with the Japanese, prompting the king to reevaluate Korean-Japanese relations Out of frustration, the Meiji government shifted its attitude and advocated the use of gunboat diplomacy in Korea. The "Unyo Maru Incident" provided Japan both a pretext for direct talks with Korea and an opportunity to blame Korea for its diplomatic isolation. While pressuring Korea to open talks, Japan exerted diplomatic pressure to challenge China's traditional suzerain-vassal relationship with Korea. A Japanese diplomatic mission backed by armed force traveled to Kanghwa Island and pressured Kojong's government into signing the Treaty of Kanghwa, an unequal treaty that finally brought Korea out of isolation and onto the international stage.
Chapter 24 Japanese Expansion into Choson
As Korea learned more of the West through its continued contacts in China and Japan, the government made a number of social and administrative reforms. Frustrated by years of deteriorating treatment, the Korean military rebelled in 1882. As tensions mounted between Japan and China, Korea became the focus of a gathering conflict. After lengthy talks between China and Japan over the status of Korea, the Treaty of Inchon strengthened Japan's position in Korea by weakening Chinese claims to suzerainty.
Chapter 25 End of the Hermit Kingdom
China took an active role in assisting the United States and other Western powers to enter into treaty agreements with Korea, in large part to check the growing influence of Japan. Britain and Germany took an active interest in Korea as a potential check against Russian expansion. The reforms instituted by King Kojong brought some benefit to Korea, but the people were not pleased with the influx of Western influences and the changes left the military badly discontented. The military mutinied and turned against Japanese nationals living in Korea. Japan responded with troops and strong diplomatic pressure for further reform. The deepening involvement of both China and Japan in Korea intensified the growing rift between the two powers.
Chapter 26 Coup d`état and Rivalries
The Korean Progressive Party staged a coup d'état against Queen Min's conservative pro-Chinese faction. The Li-Ito Convention of Tianjin settled Sino-Japanese differences and defined the relationship between China and Japan in Korea. The Meiji Restoration in Japan launched a decade of rapid social and economic reforms. While Russia disputed Korea's status relative to China, Japan continued to expand its commercial interests on the peninsula, causing a further deterioration of the Korean economy. China's active intrusions into Korean governmental affairs led to intensification of the Sino-Japanese conflict over the future status of Korea.
Chapter 27 Rebellion and Mounting Tensions
The inroads of foreign powers in Korea and the mounting rivalries between them brought many of the domestic problems of the participants onto the peninsula. China, Japan and Russia struggled to win the support of King Kojong and the powerful Min clan. With anti-foreign sentiments still running high, the Tonghak Rebellion erupted, supported in part by Japanese interests. China and Japan used the rebellion as a pretext for stationing troops in Korea. The Korean government, through negotiation and the use of force, quelled the rebellion, but could not convince Japan or China to remove their forces from the peninsula. Although Britain and Russia tried to intervene in the mounting dispute between China and Japan, nothing short of war would settle the matter.
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