FAR EASTERN QUESTION. The plex problems involved in the rise of Japan and the awakening of China and their relations to the great European and American powers are known in international politics as the Far East ern Question. The term came into general use in the second half of the 19th century, when both China and Japan were drawn into nearer contact with Western nations. For a long time these countries segregated themselves from the West and pursued a policy of seclusion. The Chinese regarded .the outside nations as "bar barians') and the foreign rulers as inferior to the Teen-tsze or the Son of Heaven, as they called their emperor. In Chinese official docu ments, for instance, the king of England is described as having been "reverentially sub missive," and he is said to have "repeatedly presented tribute.* On the occasion of Lord Amherst's embassy to Peking in 1816 it was de manded of him that he should perform the ceremony of thrice kneeling and nine times bowing the head to the ground before the Chinese emperor. In 1887 the American chargé d'affaires wrote to the high commis sioner at Canton that the fountain of all diffi culties between China and foreign nations is the unwillingness of the former to acknowledge England, France, America and other great powers of the West as her equals. The Chi nese officials, in addressing their own sover eign, spoke of the foreign diplomatic represen tatives as if they were not only the subjects of the emperor of China, but as the subordinates of the Chinese mandarins. The treatment to which the foreigners were subjected cor responded to this haughty language.
However, within recent . years China has given signs of a reawakening, and not only China but all Oriental peoples of farther Asia are generally showing impatience of Occidental do minion. As early as 1842 and 1843 the British had signed a commercial treaty with the Chi nese in regard to Hongkong. But the Celestial Empire remained practically closed to the for eigners until the treaties of Tientsin and Aigun (1858) opened to the Chinese a new view of their relations and duties toward Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States of Ameri ca. These treaties provided the admission of
foreign ambassadors to the imperial court at Peking, the toleration of Christianity, the postal service, the legalization of opium and the right of trading in the interior of the country. The rise of modern Japan began even before that of China. In 1853 an American, Commodore Perry, with a fleet of four ships of war arrived in Japanese waters to effect some arrangement for the protection of American seamen and to obtain permission for American vessels to enter the Japanese ports. His request was eagerly debated among the Japanese parties. Some were opposed to admitting foreigners into Japan, because by giving the Japanese educa tional advantages, machinery and other curiosi ties they °will deceive the ignorant people." The others said that Japan was not in a position to take up arms against the foreign world; that her true policy was to accept treaties with Western peoples, and so to strengthen herself by learning the arts and sciences of the West. These arguments commended themselves to a majority of the Shogun Council. In conse quence a treaty was concluded (1854) •between the Shogun and Commodore Perry, by which the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate were promised to be opened for the reception of American ships. There was also stipulations with respect to the facilities of trading and an article permitting the appointment by the United States of consuls or agents to reside in Shimoda. Similar treaties of amity and com merce with England, France, Holland, Prussia, Portugal and Russia were concluded later. In 1869 the Mikado took the famous Charter Oath, promising to create a deliberative assembly. By the edicts of 1871, 1872 and 1875 he finally abolished the feudal system. Occidental civi lization and European models of war training were rapidly adopted. Japan became a for midable military and maritime state. The war with China over Korea (1894-95) and with Russia over Manchuria and Korea (1904-05) demonstrated Japan's prowess. It was only the combined opposition of France, Germany and Russia that prevented her encroachment on Chinese territory.