chapter 19

1. In China there was, "was growing pressure on the land, smaller farms for China’s huge peas- ant population, and, in all too many cases, unemployment, impoverishment, misery, and starvation." The population of China between 185 and 1853 grew so rapidly that agriculture could not keep up. The centralized Bureaucratic state lost influence at the local level because of failure to enlarge itself and keep pace with the growing population and issues that arose because of it. This caused peasants to frequently rebel and oppose the Qing dynasty. 

2. British and American merchants found a very profitable market for opiums because of how addictive it was. Therefor China's opium imports exploded. However, it was illegal to import opium into China. Bribes were at work, and many officials were corrupted. This caused many problems and changes. Many people of China became addicted. It forced China to continue the import of the Opioids. "A massive outflow of silver to pay for the opium reversed China's centuries long ability to attract much of the world's silver supply, and this imbalance caused serious economic problems. China ended up losing control of Vietnam, Korea, and Taiwan. China was also -opened to Christian missionaries and the western powers were permitted to potrol some of the interior waterways of China.

9. Centuries of peace contributed to a remarkable burst of economic growth, commercialization, and urban development. Entrepreneurial peas- ants, using fertilizers and other agricultural innovations, grew more rice than ever before and engaged in a variety of rural manufacturing enterprises as well. By 1750, Japan had become perhaps the world’s most urbanized country. There were high rates of literacy due to the education, and merchants went through a rise in their social status. Peasants began moving to the cities to begin new types of trades, about 10% of the population lived in sizable towns or cities. However, these changes also undermined the efforts to freeze the Japanese society in the interests of stability. Merchants had money and still a low status while samurai enjoyed a high status but were seen as inferior to merchants. Both had a lot of resentment. Beside social change, corruption was widespread. "There was a growing feeling that the shogunate was losing control."