The expansion of Western powers in East…

The expansion of Western powers in East Asia in the nineteenth century significantly alters the established order, in which Korea had been dominated by China.

China under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is in decline; its power wanes rapidly under the concerted attacks of such Western nations as France, Britain, and Russia.

Japan, stimulated by these events, proceeds to modernize after having been forced to open its ports by Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States Navy in 1853-54.

Korea, however, remains dormant, having closed itself to all outside contacts in the early eighteenth century.