Interpreting Late Qing and and Meiji Era

What accounts for the failure of reform during the late Qing era

Manchu conservatism

Limited imagination of reformers

Magnitude of domestic problems

Intensity of foreign pressure

Size and diversity of the Qing empire

Weight of Chinese tradition

What accounts for the success of dramatic reform in the Meiji era

Tokugawa foundations - laying the groundwork for a capitalist state

Nature of Tokugawa polity - not a highly centralized state so the Meiji can build a highly centralized state

Source of reformist ideas - the leaders of the meiji state who were former samurai

Tradition of cultural borrowing - they are looking to the west as a model instead of china

Relatively less imperialist pressure

Size, demography of the islands