Maritime East Asia (1852–1863 CE): Reforms, Resistance, and Rebellion

Between 1852 and 1863 CE, Maritime East Asia—covering lower Primorsky Krai, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Archipelago south of northern Hokkaido, Taiwan, and southern, central, and northeastern China—faces continued Western pressure, internal rebellions, and significant political transformations, reshaping regional power structures and paving the way for dramatic changes in the decades ahead.

China: The Taiping Rebellion and Qing Decline

China remains embroiled in the devastating Taiping Rebellion, led by Hong Xiuquan, who had declared the establishment of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace in 1851. The rebellion, blending Protestant ideals with anti-Manchu fervor, captures key cities such as Nanjing, asserting radical social reforms, communal land ownership, and strict moral codes. However, the rebellion’s radical ideology alienates the Confucian scholar-gentry, and internal feuds undermine its effectiveness.

In response, the Qing dynasty entrusts scholar-official Zeng Guofan with suppressing the Taiping. Zeng’s innovative "Hunan Army," funded by local taxes and led by scholar-generals, significantly strengthens the Qing's military capabilities. Despite ongoing battles against simultaneous uprisings like the Nien and Muslim Rebellions, Zeng’s actions mark the rise of a new Han Chinese elite and further erode Qing central authority.

Qing Efforts at Modernization

Facing internal turmoil and external threats, Qing China initiates cautious modernization efforts under forward-thinking Han officials. They adopt Western science and diplomatic practices, open specialized schools in urban centers, and establish arsenals, factories, and shipyards modeled after Western methods. This practical approach, however, remains secondary to the dynasty's primary goal of preserving traditional structures.

The Tongzhi Restoration (1862–1874), led by Empress Dowager Cixi, represents this cautious modernizing impulse, seeking practical solutions within traditional frameworks. Although it partially stabilizes the regime, it falls short of the comprehensive reforms needed to effectively meet external threats and internal challenges.

Japan: The Bakufu’s Response to Western Pressure

In Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate continues to grapple with the impact of Western pressure, intensified after Commodore Matthew C. Perry forces Japan open in 1853–54. The bakufu under Abe Masahiro initially attempts a cautious balance between accommodation and military preparedness, establishing naval training with Dutch instructors and translating Western texts.

However, internal divisions deepen. Tokugawa Nariaki, a vocal advocate for imperial restoration and opponent of foreign influence, represents growing nationalist and anti-Western sentiment. After the death of the shogun without a clear heir, the political struggle intensifies, eventually leading to the arrest of Nariaki and his favored candidate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and the execution of prominent nationalist intellectual Yoshida Shoin. The bakufu's concessions to foreign powers—including extraterritorial rights and increased trade access—further erode its credibility and authority, fueling domestic unrest.

Joseon Korea: Deepened Isolation and Resistance

Joseon Korea, observing the aggressive Western actions in China and Japan’s forced opening, doubles down on isolation. Hostility toward Western influences intensifies, especially against Catholicism, leading to harsh persecutions. The government firmly rejects foreign trade overtures, further isolating Korea from international developments. This reactionary stance exacerbates internal tensions and economic decline, laying the foundation for future internal uprisings and external conflicts.

Legacy of the Era: Resistance, Reform, and Continued Instability

The period from 1852 to 1863 CE leaves Maritime East Asia marked by ongoing resistance to Western pressures, uneven and cautious reforms, and deep internal instability. China struggles to quell devastating rebellions and preserve its weakening dynasty, Japan faces rising nationalist opposition to the increasingly compromised shogunate, and Korea remains rigidly closed, storing tensions that will soon erupt into significant upheaval. These developments profoundly shape the trajectory of the region, setting the stage for major transformations in the late nineteenth century.

Commodore Perry had returned to Japan on February 1854 after only half a year rather than the full year promised, and with twice as many ships and sixteen hundred men.

Both actions are calculated to put even more pressure onto the Japanese.

After initial resistance, Perry is permitted to land at Kanagawa, near the site of present-day Yokohama on March 8, 1854, where, after negotiations lasting for around a month, the Convention of Kanagawa prepared by the delegates, embodying virtually all the demands in President Fillmore's letter, is signed on March 31, 1854.

Perry signs as American plenipotentiary, and Hayashi Akira, also known by his title of Daigaku-no-kami, signs for the Japanese side.

Both Shogun Iemochi, then Emperor Kōmei, unexpectedly die in late 1866 and early 1867, respectively succeeded by Yoshinobu and Kōmei’s second son, Mutsuhito, as Emperor Meiji.

These events make a truce inevitable.

In January 1867, a French military mission arrives to reorganize the shogunal army and create the Denshūtai elite force, and an order is placed with the United States to buy the French-built ironclad warship CSS Stonewall, a relic of the American Civil War.

Due to the Western powers' declared neutrality, the Americans refuse to release the ship, but once neutrality is lifted, the imperial faction obtains the vessel, which they will employ in engagements in Hakodate under the name Kōtetsu (literally "Ironclad").

The Bakufu during its last years—bakumatsu—has taken strong measures to try to reassert its dominance, although its involvement with modernization and foreign powers has made it a target of anti-Western sentiment throughout the country.

Naval students have been sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders, such as Admiral Enomoto.

The French naval engineer Léonce Verny had been hired to build naval arsenals, such as those at Yokosuka and Nagasaki.

By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, the Japanese navy of the shogun will already possess eight western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru, which will be used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin war, under the command of Admiral Enomoto.

A French Military Mission to Japan (1867) is established to help modernize the armies of the Bakufu.

Japan sends a delegation to and participates in the 1867 World Fair in Paris.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu (also known as Keiki) had reluctantly became head of the Tokugawa house and shogun following the unexpected death of Tokugawa Iemochi in mid-1866.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu tries to reorganize the government under the Emperor while preserving the shogun's leadership role, a system known as kōbu gattai.

Fearing the growing power of the Satsuma and Chōshū daimyos, other daimyo call for returning the shogun's political power to the emperor and a council of daimyos chaired by the former Tokugawa shogun.

On November 9, 1867, a secret order is created by Satsuma and Chōshū in the name of Emperor Meiji commanding the "slaughtering of the traitorous subject Yoshinobu."

Just prior to this however, and following a proposal from the daimyo of Tosa, Yoshinobu resigns his post and authorities to the emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders.

The Tokugawa Shogunate has ended.

Keiki has temporarily avoided the growing conflict, but anti-shogunal forces instigate widespread turmoil in the streets of Edo, using groups of rōnin.

Satsuma and Chōshū forces now move on Kyoto in force, pressuring the Imperial Court for a conclusive edict demolishing the shogunate.

Following a conference of daimyo, the Imperial Court issues such an edict, removing the power of the shogunate in the dying days of 1867.

Keiki nominally accepts the plan, retiring from the Imperial Court to Osaka at the same time as resigning as shogun.

The fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declares his own restoration to full power on the following day.

The majority of the imperial consultative assembly is happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tends to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa (under the concept of "just government", but Saigō Takamori threatens the assembly into abolishing the title "shogun" and ordering the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands.

Although he initially agrees to these demands, on January 17, 1868 Yoshinobu declares "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it." (Keene, Donald (2005). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia. p. 124)

This decision is prompted by his learning of a series of arsons in Edo, starting with the burning of the outerworks of Edo Castle, the main Tokugawa residence.

This is blamed on Satsuma ronin, who on that day had attacked a government office.

Shogunate forces respond the next day by attacking the Edo residence of the daimyo of Satsuma, where many opponents of the shogunate, under Takamori's direction, have been hiding and creating trouble.

The palace is burned down, and many opponents killed or later executed.