This book critically examines the influence of International Society on East Asia, and how its attempts to introduce 'civilization' to 'barbarous' polities contributed to conflict between China and Japan.

Challenging existing works that have presented the expansion of (European) International Society as a progressive, linear process, this book contends that imperialism - along with an ideology premised on 'civilising' 'barbarous' peoples - played a central role in its historic development. Considering how these elements of International Society affected China and Japan's...