In the mid-19th century, despite some similarities between China's and Japan's initial responses to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately affected and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. Initially, both Asian nations rejected the ideas that the West had imposed on them and therefore went through a period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands quickly formulated by Western imperialism forced it, albeit in different ways, to reconsider its position. And, by the end of the 19th century, China and Japan had introduced “Westernization” reforms. China's goal was to use modern means to retain and preserve its traditional Confucian culture. While Japan, for its part, began to successfully imitate Western technology while continuing to modernize, and thus experienced a stunning social upheaval. So, in 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world's superpowers, while China was on the verge of anarchy. The Chinese Empire was once one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China was very populous and ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced because 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 did well on its own and saw no need to begin trading with the West (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation . At that time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude "barbarians", thus forcing them to trade in only one port. However, China quickly took a turn for the worse as it was important...... middle of paper...... ch translates to enlightened. Mutsuhito was crowned Meiji Emperor of Japan in 1868. The emperor abolished the office of shogun. With this, the Samurai class was replaced by a modern military force. Many peasants were soon conscripted into the army. And thus, Japan's old class system had been abolished. The same year, the Charter of the Oath was signed by Emperor Meiji. The oath was made up of 5 articles which would ultimately modernize and westernize Japan. The Oath permanently changed the politics of Japan and introduced a Western parliamentary constitution. In a short time, Japan has caught up with many Western technologies; having established universities, founded telegraph and railway lines, as well as a national postal system in the process of being created. The shipping and textile industries experienced huge success and exports increased.