Question

discuss the similarities and differences between chinese and japanese societies and governance during the years 1400 until 1800.

Answer 1

The ancient empire of China dates back to at least 1200 B.C.; from the 3rd century B.C. And for the next two centuries, under a series of imperial dynasties, China alternated between cycles of unity and disunity. The nation was beset by social strife, significant famines, military defeats and foreign invasion in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Following World War II, under MAO Zedong, the Chinese Communist Party developed an autocratic socialist system which, while ensuring China's sovereignty, placed strict controls on everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions.

In 1603, after decades of civil war, the Tokugawa shogunate (a dynastic, military-led government) inaugurated a long period of relative political stability and international power isolation. That policy has allowed Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture for more than two centuries. Upon signing the Kanagawa Treaty with the US in 1854, Japan opened its ports and started to intensively modernize and industrialise. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Japan was a regional power able to overpower both China and Russia's armies. It occupied the islands of Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and south Sakhalin. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931-32, and a full-scale invasion of China began in 1937. In 1941, Japan invaded US forces-prompting America's entrance into the Second World War-and soon occupied most of East and Southeast Asia.

China- The overwhelming majority of the population is located in the eastern half of the country; the western part, with its vast mountainous and desert areas, remains sparsely populated; although ranked first in the world in total population, the overall density is lower than that of many other Asian and European countries; the high population density is located along the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys, Japan- all primary and secondary high population density regions are situated on the coast; one-third of the population resides in and around Tokyo on the central plain (Kanto Plain)

China has changed from a closed, centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one which plays a major global role since the late 1970s. China has introduced reforms in a gradual manner, leading to improvements in productivity that have led to more than tenfold GDP growth since 1978. Reforms started with the phase-out of collectivized agriculture, and extended to include gradual price liberalization, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state-owned enterprises, private sector expansion, stock market creation and a modern banking system, and opening up to foreign trade and investment.

Over the past 70 years, government-industry collaboration, a good work ethic, high-tech mastery, and a comparatively limited defense allocation (slightly below 1 percent of GDP) have enabled Japan to develop an advanced economy. Two noteworthy aspects of the post-World War II economy were the near interlocking networks of producers, retailers, and distributors, known as keiretsu, and the assurance of life-time jobs for a large portion of urban labor force. Under the dual pressures of global rivalry and domestic demographic change both features have deteriorated significantly.