Veritable Quandry
Specializing in derails and train wrecks.
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2018
- Messages
- 5,310
- Location
- Columbus, OH
- SL Rez
- 2010
- Joined SLU
- 20something
- SLU Posts
- 42
From a distance, I like periods here there is a high degree of at least somewhat positive cultural exchange. The silk road for example operated for centuries as a network exchanging not just goods, but also ideas, books, and technology. The Renaissance was spurred on by traders who created a sea network that bypassed the land routes, but also resulted in the rediscovery of Greek texts and the development of arts and technology across Europe. I'm not so interested in the immediate aftermath, which included the development of intensified religious warfare and colonialism.
As a student, one of the areas that I studied were Bakumatsu Japan, the period where the Shogunate was losing power and the country became more open to ideas from the West (they were never really as closed off as most people think, with books from Europe arriving as Chinese translations and then direct imports, since Chinese trade was never closed and there was a backdoor trading network through Okinawa, which was believed by Europeans to be Chinese, when in fact the ruler of Satsuma was in charge of the island). It led to in interesting discussion on how to modernize and keep the character of Japan intact, especially with the example of what had happened to China and India (and literal duels over using a brush or a pencil in public schools). I am less interested by about the 1890s, when nationalists take charge of the government and start expanding into Taiwan and Korea.
The other area I concentrated in was the Oregon Country. It was an interesting exchange between the native tribes, the British, and the Americans as the region developed as a center in global trade (trade goods from Europe and American were exchanged for pelts, especially beaver, that were exchanged in China and India for tea, spices, ceramics, and textiles that were sold in Europe or the Atlantic coast states, where the profits were skimmed off and the remainder reinvested in trade goods, etc.). In the 1830s, both the US and Britain were interested in opening trade with Japan, and so in 1834 when a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the trans-Pacific current and carried to Vancouver Island, the Hudson's Bay Company rescued the three survivors and taught them English while also learning about Japanese language and culture. They eventually helped them get to China, where they could get passage back to Japan. When Commodore Perry arrived in Japan in 1854, one of those survivors was the court translator. While the contact was mostly positive between the Americans and Japan (although it was just luck that America made contact, as the Japanese government had already decided to let the next European delegation to try to make contact land) no real trade developed as both countries were moving towards civil wars at the time.
As a student, one of the areas that I studied were Bakumatsu Japan, the period where the Shogunate was losing power and the country became more open to ideas from the West (they were never really as closed off as most people think, with books from Europe arriving as Chinese translations and then direct imports, since Chinese trade was never closed and there was a backdoor trading network through Okinawa, which was believed by Europeans to be Chinese, when in fact the ruler of Satsuma was in charge of the island). It led to in interesting discussion on how to modernize and keep the character of Japan intact, especially with the example of what had happened to China and India (and literal duels over using a brush or a pencil in public schools). I am less interested by about the 1890s, when nationalists take charge of the government and start expanding into Taiwan and Korea.
The other area I concentrated in was the Oregon Country. It was an interesting exchange between the native tribes, the British, and the Americans as the region developed as a center in global trade (trade goods from Europe and American were exchanged for pelts, especially beaver, that were exchanged in China and India for tea, spices, ceramics, and textiles that were sold in Europe or the Atlantic coast states, where the profits were skimmed off and the remainder reinvested in trade goods, etc.). In the 1830s, both the US and Britain were interested in opening trade with Japan, and so in 1834 when a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the trans-Pacific current and carried to Vancouver Island, the Hudson's Bay Company rescued the three survivors and taught them English while also learning about Japanese language and culture. They eventually helped them get to China, where they could get passage back to Japan. When Commodore Perry arrived in Japan in 1854, one of those survivors was the court translator. While the contact was mostly positive between the Americans and Japan (although it was just luck that America made contact, as the Japanese government had already decided to let the next European delegation to try to make contact land) no real trade developed as both countries were moving towards civil wars at the time.
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