The "Black Ship Incident" that occurred in Japan in the mid-19th century can be equated with the Opium War that occurred between the Qing Dynasty and the British in 1840, but the "Black Ship Incident" was more moderate and Japan and the United States did not engage in exchanges of fire, while the Opium War was fought for two years, and China's Guangzhou, Keelung, Xiamen, Dinghai, Zhenjiang and other places successively rumbled under the attack of the British fleet and the smoke of gunfire was everywhere. Just 12 years after the Qing Dynasty was forced to open in 1842, Japan was also forced to sign the Japan-U.S. Goodwill Treaty in 1854.
First: the age of change
The international community in the middle of the 19th century was in a period of rapid transformation, and many feudal countries began to change to capitalist societies on their own initiative or force.
At a time when East Asian countries were still immersed in the policy of closing themselves off to the outside world, Western countries had taken the lead in completing the transformation to an industrialized society under the baptism of revolutions such as the "industrial revolution, industrial revolution, and transportation revolution". Britain, Russia, France, the United States and other Western countries have become veterans of a new wave of world hegemonic players.
As Western countries cast nets around the world in search of raw materials and dumping markets, Asia gradually became the focus of attention of Western countries, among which Japan was like a piece of fat, and on July 8, 1953, it ushered in the first Western colonizer to pry open the door of Japan - the Americans.
U.S. Navy Admiral Perry was ordered to lead four warships into Japan's Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) without authorization, and all 63 guns on the warships were facing the Japanese land, and the soldiers were ready for war and issued the U.S. state certificate to local officials.
Because all four warships were painted black and billowing black smoke billowed from the huge smoke pipes, the Japanese, who had never seen the world at the same time as the Qing Dynasty, called it a "black ship," which was the "black ship incident" that forced Japan to open its country. ”
Under the threat of the American General Perry "do not open the country, just open the cannon", Japan was greatly shocked, the shogunate authorities did not dare to refuse this request, and in the following year signed a treaty with the United States, opening two treaty ports Shimoda and Hakodate, allowing Americans to send consuls in Shimoda and have most-favored-nation treatment.
Secondly, the "Black Ship Incident" brought about a transformation for the Japanese
The Black Ship Incident made the Japanese in the Edo period understand that their own cultural, ideological, coastal defense, political, medical, and educational systems were obviously inferior to those of the West. They started from culture, deepened the system, began to innovate and change the law, sent a large number of missions and students to Western countries to learn advanced political, military, economic, and cultural systems, and the "Meiji Restoration" was also born.
During the "Meiji Restoration" period, many politicians, thinkers, and reformers who "opened their eyes to the world" emerged, and those "returnees" saw with their own eyes the great rich material civilization of the Western capitalist countries and were considered to have a broad vision, many of whom became important officials of the Meiji government after the "fall of the curtain", such as Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi, who defeated our Beiyang Marine Division in the Sino-Japanese War, who studied in Britain.
With the deepening of innovation, Japanese society underwent great changes, many people were proud of "speaking English, eating Western food, and wearing suits", traditional kimonos began to appear unusual, commerce gradually prospered, and the samurai class began to decline, but the spirit of Bushido was retained and became a tool to "serve" the new army.
In this way, Under the threat of "opening fire without opening the country" of General Perry of the United States, Japan was forced to "open the country", but it also produced a high sense of distress and crisis, so it embarked on the road of learning from the West.
The "Black Ship Incident" and China's Opium War became the starting point for Japan and China to enter the modern country at the same time, but China did not fully realize the huge difference between the East and the West in the first two Opium Wars, and compared with Japan's road to prosperity and strength, it was more tortuous than Japan's road to prosperity and strength.
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan began to enter the capitalist social, economic, military, political, educational and other fields of comprehensive development, the success of reform and change of law made Japan become the world's first rising non-Western country, the rapid development of national strength began to sit on an equal footing with the great powers, and began an active policy of foreign expansion, which brought great influence to neighboring countries, including China.
The British historian Wells once commented on Japan: Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was insignificant in world history. But because of the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese "raised their culture and organizational structure to the level of the European powers with astonishing energy and wisdom."
The beginning of all this for the Japanese was due to the "Black Ship Incident", and the impact brought by the Americans made the Japanese think that this was an opportunity to promote the revitalization of Japan. They do not think that the Westerners' forced knocking on the gates is an intolerable shame; this is exactly the opposite of our country, which believes that the invasion of the Western powers is a great shame for the country, and it was not until the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that it was not a disgrace until the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Japan's reformists chose to take the initiative to accept it, and through their investigation of Western industry, culture, military, and life, they decided to exert great efforts to govern the country, change the law and strive to become stronger, and abolish the unequal treaties imposed on Japan by westerners through rich countries and strong troops. In the end, the Japanese were able to quickly follow the old path of the Western powers, and from this time on, China and Japan, which were forced to open up under the cannons of Western countries, officially parted ways on the watershed of history.
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