What does this quote mean? "If we take initiative, we can dominate; if we do not, we will be dominated."
Answers
Answer:
All those nations taking a bite out of China was only so much of a morsel really. Even Hong Kong was thought by many an observer nothing if not but gristle to the steak.
That is, nobody really took anything that Chinawanted. Or felt so keen to fight for.
And quite frankly, in the beginning, the Chinese never really felt that apprehensive about the West anyway. The Chinese looked at the West and probably thought something along the lines of “this too will pass”.
Yes the Chinese had stumbled a bit, here and there. Battles fought far off always having the desired effect of not being heard in Peking. It’s peculiar to hear the Chinese mutter about their century of humiliation. Yes, the Western Powers behaved badly. Yes, they carved out geographic areas of influence. But they built buildings that still stand in Shanghai. They brought missionaries and God. Many of them learned Chinese and married and successfully integrated themselves in to Chinese society. (The Great Sir Robert Hart comes to mind
Answer: The quote suggests that should Japan take the initiative and begin modernization, that it would be able to amass great strength.
Explanation:
This quote was made by Lord Shimazu Nariakira of the Satsuma Domain, after Admiral Perry forcibly opened up Japan he led his domain to embrace western military and educational techniques. At the time many other Asian nations such as China lagged behind Europe technologically, so whichever nation modernized first would "dominate." That's exactly what Japan did after the Meiji Restoration. The "be dominated" part likely references China's humiliation by Britain in the Opium Wars along with Japan's own troubles with imperialism, Western domination seemed imminent if modernization was not achieved.