'Cultural Isolationism' vs. Interaction.

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the approaches of world history in relation to three examples from Qing China, Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea that were once interpreted culturally, but have ordinary political and economic explanations. Qing China resented the UK opium trade from which it could not profit, Tokugawa Japan questioned the motivations of Portugal's missionaries, and Choson Korea functioned from fear of Japanese aggression, towards decisions that limited European access.

From the Paper:

"The notion of a stagnant and culturally isolated East Asia, was a common error of the recent past. World History's approaches force attention to local and particular developments so that what actually comes into view are three East Asians powers focused on protectionism. One sees that they did not isolate themselves from other influences but reacted, as one would expect when Western powers seemed to threaten their local control. Had Qing China or Tokugawa Japan or Choson Korea simply shunned outside influences out of cultural preference, this would have been a remarkable state of affairs, indeed."

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