In the mid-19th century, despite some similarities between China's and Japan's initial responses to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately influenced and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. Initially, both Asian nations rejected the ideas that the West had brought to them, and thus went through a period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands posed early on by Western imperialism forced them, albeit in different ways, to reconsider the situation. And by the end of the 19th century both China and Japan had introduced “Westernized” reforms. China's goal was to use modern means to maintain and preserve traditional Confucian culture. While Japan, on the other hand, began to successfully imitate Western technology in the pursuit of modernization, and thus underwent astonishing social upheaval. Therefore, in 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world superpowers, while China was on the verge of anarchy. The Chinese Empire had once been one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, moving sails, porcelain, the abacus, and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it managed to do well on its own and saw no need to start trading with the West (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), as it was a self-sufficient nation. At that time the Chinese empire could still exclude the “barbarians”, thus forcing them to trade in only one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worse as an important… middle of paper… which translates to enlightened. Mutsuhito was crowned the Meiji Emperor of Japan in the year 1868. The emperor abolished the office of shogun. With this, the Samurai class was replaced by a modern military force. Large numbers of peasants were soon drafted into the army. And with that the old class system of Japan was abolished. In the same year, Emperor Meiji signed the Charter Oath. The oath consisted of 5 articles that would ultimately modernize and westernize Japan. The Oath permanently changed Japan's politics and introduced a Western parliamentary constitution. In a short period of time, Japan managed to catch up with many Western technologies; having founded universities, established telegraph and railway lines, as well as the creation of a national postal system. The textile and shipping industries were hugely successful and exports increased.