... a disappointment. However, Japan's reason for modernization during the MR was to strive to be on an equal footing as the West, which was sadly, not China's goal. The SSM was only to control the foreigners, not to create an Industrial Revolution for China, unlike what Japan did. Therefore, this meant China had a higher probability of losing. Unlike Japan's reforms, which received the Emperor's ratification, the conservative and xenophobic QD frowned upon the SSM, because it feared that if people learnt about Western democratic principles, the Confucian philosophy of loyalty to the Emperor would fade and undermine the QD's authority. Without any imperial support, the SSM could not take off, because the court would be uncoordinated because of difference of opinions. Hence, the SSM ostensibly tried to modernize China, but was stifled by the court's refusal to discard its philosophy to embrace Western influence. Instead of remaking China into a ...

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