Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa
ArtKatsushika Hokusai's ukiyo-e woodblock print becomes one of the most famous works of Japanese art worldwide.
- Date
- c. 1831 · View on map
Approximate date.
- Countries
- Japan
- Regions
- East Asia
- Importance
- ★★★★★
Katsushika Hokusai's ukiyo-e woodblock print becomes one of the most famous works of Japanese art worldwide.
Approximate date.
Britain wars with Qing China after it cracks down on the opium trade; the defeat opens what China calls the 'century of humiliation'.
The Qing cede Hong Kong Island to Britain and open five treaty ports, the first of China's unequal treaties.
Hong Xiuquan's movement founds the 'Taiping Heavenly Kingdom'; the ensuing civil war causes tens of millions of deaths.
U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's 'Black Ships' enter Edo Bay, pressing Japan to end its isolation policy.
Britain and France fight Qing China, occupy Beijing and burn the Old Summer Palace in 1860, forcing further unequal treaties.
Power is restored to Emperor Meiji, ending the shogunate and launching Japan's rapid modernisation.