Which country was more powerful in 1700: Tokugawa (Japan) or Qing Empire (China)?

More powerful Asian country in 1700?

  • Qing Empire

    Votes: 59 98.3%
  • Tokugawa Shogunate

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • Total voters
    60
Which country would you say was more powerful in 1700: the Qing Empire in China before the internal problems or Japan before the Meiji Restoration under the Shogun?
 
Tokugawa Shogunate is pathetic compared to Qing,less territory,MUCH smaller population and the Manchus have access to nomadic cavalry.Technology wise,they are more or less the same given they are both isolationist.Qing is also far more centralised.Apart from that,Qing in 1700 was ruled by a highly capable emperor.I believe the Tokugawa Shogunate already began it's decline at this point,with infanticide being used to forcibly control the population.
 
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The Qing take this, no question. Much larger population, comparable technology, and far more political power.

Japan only began to threaten China once it successfully industrialized and China fell on its face trying to do so.
 
Yeah, being completely isolated from the world for a 100 years is going to weaken you some so I definitely have to go with the Qing.
 
The Qing were arguably at the apex of their power around this time. They had completed conquests of enormous stretches of land, the economy and population of China were booming and they stood at the heart of a tributary system that covered most of East Asia. You could make a good point for China being one of the most powerful nations on Earth at this time, let alone in Asia, despite the lack of power-projection they had outside East Asia.

Meanwhile, Tokugawa Japan was not exactly in a bad state. The Tokugawa era saw economic development and relatively good governance. However, the fact that she had isolated herself from the world did limit the amount of power she wielded. The Qing were unquestionably more powerful in almost all respects.
 

gaijin

Banned
The Qing were arguably at the apex of their power around this time. They had completed conquests of enormous stretches of land, the economy and population of China were booming and they stood at the heart of a tributary system that covered most of East Asia. You could make a good point for China being one of the most powerful nations on Earth at this time, let alone in Asia, despite the lack of power-projection they had outside East Asia.

Meanwhile, Tokugawa Japan was not exactly in a bad state. The Tokugawa era saw economic development and relatively good governance. However, the fact that she had isolated herself from the world did limit the amount of power she wielded. The Qing were unquestionably more powerful in almost all respects.
This gentleman sums it up nicely
 
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