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This image comes from a satirical magazine called "Puck" and is an illustration depicting Imperialism in 1900. What do you feel the image is saying about Imperialism in China? What do you think the caption ("The real trouble will come with the 'Wake'") means?
Try to be as specific as possible by focusing on 2-3 of the animals in relation to each other as well as to China's white dragon. Consider the animal represented by each country (see the list below). What kind of animal is this? How does it live? When you think of this animal, what do you feel? Why? What is the animal doing in the picture? What is it wearing, carrying? Where is it in the picture?
Japan - leopard
Russia - bear
USA - bald eagle
Germany - vulture
France - rooster in the middle
England - lion
Austria - two-headed vulture
Italy - wild dog
18 comments:
I think that this image is comparing China to a sleeping dragon. The caption implies that all the other countries will be in trouble when the dragon that is being fought over wakes up. All the countries may have known that when China "woke up" it would be more powerful than them.
Japan is portrayed by a leopard holding a sword in its mouth and ready to pounce on the sleeping dragon. Leopards can be peaceful, but they are carnivores and can be scary, so the sleeping China dragon is in a dangerous position. The leopard is also carrying a sword which gives the idea that it is not in a peaceful mode, but it is ready to strike at China.
Russia was shown as a bear in the picture. It is a very large country and the bear towers over the sleeping dragon. Russia really wants a share of China's land, and the bear looks ready to dice up the dragon with its sword. The bear seems to be one of the most aggressive animals in the picture.
All the animals seem to be taking advantage of the fact that China is "sleeping." They are all ready to divide up and take their share of China. The other animals are all dark colored, but the white dragon may show purity and a country that just wants to be left alone. The dragon kind of shows China's government because the country was not really in control and other countries easily took advantage of them.
This picture seems to me like its showing the interactions between the different countries and how they feel towards each other. I believe that the caption "The real trouble will come with the wake" means that when China "wakes" the other countries better look out and realize that they now have competition from the powerful country of China. Russia is the bear in this picture and its one of the larger animals. It has a fierce look on its face and the bear is pointing a large machete towards England, which is the Lion in this image.
The Lion has a large rifle, which is pointing towards the bear. In this picture, Japan is the leopard, which is also holding a machete. The leopard looks like it could attack at any time and is standing on the side of the bear (Russia). This all shows me that maybe since China was just sleeping on the ground in the center of the picture, it might represent the fact that all of the other countries were trying to attack now and fight over parts of China while they had the chance to. Or before China "wakes" and actually can do something about it.
Scott
In the puck image, there are animals of all sorts fighting each other. Mainly the winning side is Russia, Japan, France, Germany and the U.S. The losing side is Austria, China, England and Italy. The image is saying that imperialism in China is becoming more of a problem, as the other bigger countries like Russia are interested in the North. They are in the front. Some of my classmates and I have thought that China is a sleeping dragon, waiting to wake. People wonder what will happen when it wakes, it will be a huge power, as a dragon represents a powerful animal. The three main animals I recognized was Japan (leopard), Russia (Bear) and USA (Bald Eagle). The leopard is a good representation of Japan because it is a small animal compared to the others, but a very deadly one. Japan is a small country, but they have a very powerful military. The bear is a good representation of Russia because of many reasons. They bear is a very strong and very powerful animal, one not to be tampered with. Russia is a huge country and a very powerful one, with a huge military. The bald eagle is the United States icon, and it represents us with honor because the Bald Eagle is a very majestic animal that is very powerful to. Our Country is very majestic in ways, as the history is beautiful. We have power in our military. We are practically the strongest country in the world.
I feel that the image is saying that an imperial China will leave China in the dark when it comes to the advancement of technology and ideas therefore the white (pure, innocent) dragon of China is depicted in this image as a sleeping dragon. The dragon (china) sleeps in the dark of it’s imperialistic state while the ideas and technologies of the rest of the world slowly creep up on it. I believe that the caption (“The real trouble will come with the ‘Wake’”) means that once China wakes up and realizes that imperialism is not going to be the best system for their “Middle Kingdom” and imposes a new governing force, China could actually be the biggest character and force in the world (The dragon is the biggest creature in the image).
What is truly most interesting to me is how a bear was chosen to portray Russia. Bears are found in most mountain areas and often symbolize healer, protector and primal power. The bear in the image looks like it is fighting off the lion (Britain), like a mother would fight off a stranger for the safety of her kid(s). On the contrary, I hardly think that Russia was a “mother figure” to China because Russia took the Maritime Province (land north of Korea) from China, which, to me, doesn’t seem like a motherly thing to do.
I am also intrigued by the portrayal of the United States as a bald eagle, situated directly behind the Bear (Russia). America has always been associated with the bald eagle because it symbolizes freedom. However, this freedom symbol is placed in such a way behind Russia that it looks as if the United States supported Russia. In a way I believe that the intentions of the United States and Russia during that time were somewhat similar. The United States always seemed to be on China’s side (the open door policy) and Russia, in this photo, was portrayed in such a way that Russia was defending China from Britain. Both countries, in this photo, seemed to want to protect China’s rights. However, the United States never took a piece of China’s land from them like Russia did so the two countries were not exactly on the same page. But we must keep in mind that Russia only took the land because it seamlessly attached to their expanse of land because of their closeness to China. The United States is located very far away from China so Chinese land would not be as effective as the land of Canada and Mexico. One might wonder if the United States would have tried to get a portion of land from China had they been geographically located closer to China.
China is represented by the dragon, which appears to be sleeping peacefully while the animals crowd around it, ready to attack. The caption that says, “the real trouble will come with a wake” could mean that when China “wakes up” the animals will pounce and kill. The waking up in real life would be when China realizes that they are being taken advantage of, and decide to do something about it. The dragon is the largest and seemingly most powerful of all the animals, but the other animals have guns, swords, and daggers, which would give them a large advantage. In real life, these advantages might be advanced technology, new ways of thinking, or coveted imports (like Opium). These advantages are the reason foreign countries were able to negotiate an uneven balance in the trading deal (leaning in their favor).
The lion that represents Britain looks really angry. Although you would think it would be looking at China, it seems to be glaring at the bear (Russia), and pointing its gun at it. This makes sense because Britain wouldn’t want to hurt China, it would want to hurt its competition for trade rights. It is also the only one holding a gun, so this might represent Britain’s wealth and power. Britain had the most trading rights with China; supposedly they had more rights than all the other countries put together. A lion is usually portrayed as the most powerful, the king of the jungle. The bear and lion seem to be the most prominent animals in the picture, so it might suggest that Russia and Britain are the most important countries to China. The leopard is small, but powerful and swift. Compared to China, Japan is a small country, just a string of islands, but it was able to overpower China numerous times, like in the Sino-Japanese War, which lead to the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
This illustration is saying that China is very weak and uncourageous. All these animals are all the different countries that took over China’s territories. The animals have caught the dragon, or China’s symbol, sleeping. This symbolizes that China isn’t ready to fight back. China will just let people take their land and territories without even trying to fight for them. “The real trouble will come with the Wake, “ means that the trouble will begin when China wakes up. When China realizes that they have a strong potential to be strong. Like the dragon symbolizes a strong creature, China can be a powerful country with their large population. The leopard or Japan symbolizes a small but ferocious creature who lives by slaying other animals as meat. He carries a knife with him, which says that Japan had the right weapons and force to destroy their enemy. This leopard is also vey close to the dragon like Japan is close to China. When I think of a leopard I think of someone who doesn’t have any feelings toward others. The Bear in the picture symbolizes Russia and trying to defend China from Britain. This picture illustrates the allies and the axis in world war two. The bear is large and caring for others. It carries a sword with himself against Britain who is carrying a gun. This shows that Russia wants to defend China and he doesn’t care if he dies. He is carrying a sword meaning that he might easily die against Britain who is carrying a gun. The bald eagle or the US symbolizes patriotism and courageousness. He stands behind Russia meaning that they are on Russia’s side. The bald eagle stands tall with his wings out saying that he is not afraid of his enemies.
The “sleeping dragon” represents China. While the dragon is the largest and most powerful animal in this picture, it remains asleep. While the dragon is sleeping, it pretty much is defenseless. Russia (bear) and England (lion) are represented as the second largest animals. They seem to be ones who tried to take big advantage of China while they were struggling during the Qing Dynasty. Since the dragon is asleep, the other animals do not seem to be too worried about it. Instead, they seem more interested in each other. I think this shows that the foreign countries were more concerned fighting countries off of China so they could use China’s land and gain power. Another part of this picture I found interesting was the fact many of the other powerful countries were carrying weapons. The dragon (China) does not appear to have any weapons. Being weaponless against angry animals is not a great position to be in. In comparison to China, China’s weakness against countries interested in power and control is not a good position to be in either. The quote “the real trouble will come with the wake” means while sleeping, the dragon (China) is powerless, but if it were to wake up, all the other countries would be in trouble. Once China came to realization all these countries were exploiting them, their power may have the ability to fight back against the other countries.
This picture represents China’s weakness during this time. All the foreign countries began to take control over China after the Opium War. China was forced to sign unfair treaties. All countries used China for their benefit. They tried to extend their influences throughout China.
-patrice
I think that this picture represents other countries means of taking parts of China . The animals like the vulture and the leopard which represent Germany and Japan, are animals which are fierce attackers. The leoprad is an animal who stalks its prey then pounces when the time is right giving the the prey no time to react and leaving it without a chance. This is just as Japan, as such a small country pounced on China and quickly defeated it in the Sino-Japanese war. The vulture is a scavenger, an animal that feeds off of the dead carcasses of animals. They pick away at the dead bodies just as Germany picked away the Jiazhou Bay. In the picture the vulture has its claws out ready to grab hold of the sleeping dragon that is China, making it seem like Germany wants more of China still.
I think that caption "The real trouble comes with the Wake" could mean two things. Either it means that China is a sleeping dragon and that when it wakes up it will strike back and cause trouble for everyone, or it means the wake refers to something like the wake after a storm or the aftermath. That after China is taken apart and destroyed there with be a larch problem. To me it seems more likely to be the first one, that China is a sleeping dragon. Because at the time of European Imperialism, China was having internal and external conflicts thus it couldn't defend its self making it appear asleep. But once it wakes it will take back its land and become a powerful firebreathing dragon with a strong economy and military. I think this because currently China is a booming country both socially and economically. Also the word "wake" is capitalized, as if it refers a time of Chinas history. Because when you "wake" you always rise.
Georgia Kelliher
This image that has been drawn to explain the imperialism in China seems to be saying that all of the surrounding countries were trying to take China while it wasn’t looking, or as the picture shows, asleep. I think the white dragon that portrays China is asleep because the caption is, “The real trouble will come with the “Wake”. This means that when China realizes that the other countries are trying to take over it will become more powerful than ever.
It seems to me that China is a dragon because dragons are very much a part of the Asian culture but they are also very strong and powerful, yet when they sleep they are completely harmless. The dragon lays asleep at the feet of the rest of the animals because at the time, the other animals had more control over China though it didn’t know it.
In the picture a very large bear portrays Russia. This could be because Russia was a very solid and tough country that was neighboring China. This made it easy for them to try and take over China’s land, or in the picture, body. It is carrying a sword because swords are effective and look threatening.
Another large animal in the picture is the lion that is meant to be England. England is shown as a big animal because they had a lot to do with the trades in China and because they won the Opium War they had a lot of power over China, which the lion is trying to protect for themselves against the other animals.
The small animal in the bottom left corner is a leopard. Leopards are agile, sturdy animals that are quick to strike just like Japan. They can slide by unseen but attack with force just as Japan did when they attacked Nanjing. All they need are some small weapons like the leopard is carrying in its mouth.
In the far left corner is a bald eagle that is meant to be the USA. It is interesting that the eagle is in the back just watching over the feud but this is probably because the US was sort of on China’s side because of the trade they had going between them. The bald eagle is also a sign of America, which is why it makes sense that this would be the sign for the US and it is wearing the sort of hat that President Lincoln was seen wearing.
I think the person who did this comic was sympathetic to China, because they portray the country as almost helpless, with a lot of the other countries looking fierce and powerful. Even Germany and Japan, both shown by somewhat smaller animals, are animals that are kind of grasping and sneaky, ready to jump in and take a piece. Germany is shown as a vulture, which have a reputation for being scavengers, ready to take anything they can get. The vulture is grasping towards the dragon, but it is still in flight, which means it could easily escape if it needs to.
Japan has a weasel carrying a dagger, and it's creeping forward unnoticed, like Japan trying to get control of China. I also notice that the weasel is grabbing the braid of the dragon, which I think was important in China's symbolism, having to do with honour.
Since Imperialism was about people trying to gain influence in China, it makes sense that the countries are all kind of fighting each other over China, as though they're trying to divide it up.
The caption, 'The real trouble will come with the wake' can be read in a couple of different ways. I think the main difference is how you see the image. The dragon can either be sleeping or killed. If it's the first, wake has a more literal meaning, being that when the dragon awakens, there will be trouble. If the second meaning is how the image was intended, I think wake has a different meaning as well. Another definition for the word wake is 'a trail of disturbed air left behind'. I think that could be seen as the 'wake' following the action of killing the dragon, and the wake being something bad, or 'trouble'. To me, the basic message of the caption is the same - there will be consequences for the actions of the other countries.
-Emily
This image is saying a lot about China, but the main message is that China is getting pushed around by foreign nations. The sleeping dragon is the potential superpower of China. But the civil unrest, poor leadership and split military is keeping China from defending itself from other nations. “The real trouble will come with the wake” refers to the sleeping dragon that is China. I believe that the dragon, the strongest of the creatures in the picture, will dominate the other countries and take back the rights that it previously lost because of internal issues. After “the wake,” the invading countries will find that China is a dangerous foe and valuable ally when united into one nation.
The bear in this picture is a main focus. Because it is one of the largest animals in the picture it implies that it wields more power or more will to dominate China. It also has more influence in China than many other countries. The communist ideals in China were taken from Russia and probably brought by Russia as well. After having such a large influence on China Russia probably figured it could take over some of the nation’s power as well. They would be well contested by England however. In addition to Russia the bald eagle, representing the U.S., seems to have an odd role in this picture. They U.S. isn’t up front in the picture, instead they are back behind Russia. Whether this means that they would rather not partake in the war for China is hard to say, but it is clear to me that the U.S. being in the background shows more of a neutral stance to China. Seeing as the Open Door Policy backed China in a way, it shows that the United States might rather just sit back on this battle and keep their trade open and clear with China rather than risk it by invasion.
The image of "Puck" has many meanings. Each animal represents a different country. The leopard represents Japan because they are a sneaky bunch. They lie in wait, and ambush without warning. This interpretation of Japan is a pretty good one due to the fact that the leopard fits all the criteria of Japan. The dragon in the middle represents China. The dragon can be interpreted as being slain, or being asleep. I believe that this dragon is asleep and is in the middle of the group because they are the "Middle Kingdom." The caption at the bottom of the photo states "The real trouble comes with the -wake-." This caption can have many meanings as well. I believe that the dragon, aka China, is asleep while the other countries around them are battling and fighting for their land. When China reaches its full potential and "wakes up" that is when the trouble will start. Many more lives will be put at stake. Many more political and governmental issues will appear. That is the true trouble when China awakes from its deep slumber. China may soon emerge as a powerful country when all of their problems are solved, and all plans are put in place. But animals aside, look at the positioning of the animals fighting and the size of each. China is biggest. That is a given. When you look at England and Russia, they are the next biggest animals in line, and they seem to be fighting each other or getting ready for an assault on China, the sleeping giant. All of these things add up in this picture, and so many opinions can be drawn from it.
Ethan
This image is a representation of imperialism in China. It shows different animals in the scene representing different countries. China is shown as, what I see as, a sleeping dragon. It also has a caption on the bottom which says "The real trouble will come with the wake". To me, this means that when China wakes up it is bound to stir up trouble for the other countries and come to power very easily. Currently, the other countries are all fighting each other around China but when China comes to it's senses, its going to take over.
The picture also depicts Japan as a small, sneaky leopard on the side. I found it interesting that Japan was depicted in this way but also very thoughtful. The leopard has a slight grasp on the dragon and has a sword in it's mouth. Even though it isn't as prominent as the bear or lion, it seems like it has much control and power in the situation. Another interesting depiction to me is Germany as a hovering vulture. It is right over China and it looks ready to swoop in. Germany took away land from China before and I highly doubt China was comfortable with that. Since the vulture is directly above the dragon one would assume when the dragon wakes up, it is likely that the vulture would be one of the first it goes after. At the same time though, the vulture could probably make a better getaway than any of the other animals that close to China.
-Kanoe
When I first saw this picture, I considered that when China, the “Sleeping Dragon” rose from its sleep that trouble would come to the surrounding countries. Supposedly the dragon would unleash its majestic power and overcome. The caption says, “The real trouble will come with the ‘Wake’” after thinking for a while—and reading other posts—I thought of something different.
The real trouble will come with the wake—the ones that are awake and taking action. China is the reason that they’re fighting against each other, allies against allies. Looking at the picture, they’re split down the middle quite evenly. One powerful animal, one stealthy animal, and two birds are on each side. China is in the middle resting peacefully, more on the defense than the offense. The problem isn’t because China is bad or weak, it’s because everyone else wants to get some sort of treatment or goods from China because they are known for prosperity.
The Bear, Russia, is holding his saber downward but looking more towards the Lion, Britain. These two countries are both very powerful with strong militias; both of them fighting to get to China, but both of them are against each other. They have their weapons out and already partially aimed towards something. Italy and Japan are once again facing each other, stealthy, and ready to attack, although they don’t make huge attacks like Russia or Britain, their attacks are sneaky and unexpected. Their weapons are like swords, which are put away but their element of surprise is one of their winning strategies. The birds in the air, bald eagle, and vulture are the countries that watch and wait before taking action and they are weaponless because they think before attacking.
I think this picture is talking about China’s potential towards power. Since the dragon is sleeping, China hasn’t reached its full potential. But when the dragon finally wakes up and sees how strong and great it is, it will be powerful and will have the potential to put down all of the other animals/countries.
One of the big animals in the picture is the lion, which represents Great Britain. England was powerful during the period of power struggle in China. They had lots of influence in China from the Treaty of Nanjing and the ownership of Hong Kong. Since Britain was one of the bigger countries fighting for China, it is the bigger and more powerful animal. The lion has the gun because I think that they are more advanced in technology, so they have the weapon that is better than everyone else’s. The gun is more advanced and England was advanced during the time period.
Russia is the other big animal that is head to head with the lion. Russia also owned some land in China having control over Port Arthur. They were the big country in the North that was powerful and could gain control in the Northern areas of China. I think that Russia has a huge sword because they were also very powerful and influential in Northern China and could gain control easily if they wanted to. The bigger the power, the bigger the weapon.
Japan is the small leopard. But even though it’s small, the leopard is a feisty creature with a dagger in its mouth. The leopard looks extremely tense and violent. That is what Japan was during the power struggle. Even though they were a small nation, they were pretty demanding in China. They took over places like Manchuria, Taiwan, Okinawa, Liandong Peninsula, and other parts of China that was important to them. Japan was a huge part during that power struggle. Though the leopard is tiny compared to the other big animals, it seems like the leopard has more violence and selfishness on his face than both the bear and the lion. And that’s what Japan was, even though they were small compared to Russia and England, they were able to take over more land in China than any other country. Japan was very violent and selfish when it came to land in China.
kayla
The image depicts the U.S. as a bald eagle because that is our nation's bird. The thing that stands out more is that it is just sitting in the background watching the other animals fight each other. It's showing that the U.S is watching over the other countries but they don't want to get involved in any sort of violence.
Germany is represented by a vulture because a vulture will only eat things that have already died. This means that Germany is waiting for one of the animals to make their move, and whoever the loser is; he'll have a feast out of it.
-Kyle Sugii
I think the image shows China as a sleeping Dragon. All the other different animals are representing the European countries that are in some ways taking over. I think the caption means when China does wake up all the other countries are in real trouble because they are just moving in when the dragon is sleeping but they've never seen the dragon when it's awake. The caption could also mean how imperialism in China will effect their countries later. I think its implying that the European countries are going to get dependent on China as a resource. But China isn't dependent on them for any resources.
I think the leopard is a really interesting animal in this picture because its small and fast. But it looks like it's holding back and waiting for the bear or the lion to make the first move. Japan is the leopard, Russia the bear, and England the lion. I think this really agrees with the way things were standing off at that time. Japan was really eager to take over China but because it's so small it would need the help from bigger or more powerful countries like Russia or England. The other interesting animal in the picture is the bald eagle which obviously represents the United States. The eagle is sort of watching the whole standoff take place from a distance. It could be that its keeping a watchful eye on China to make sure it doesn't get hurt or it could be like Japan and be waiting for other countries to go first. I think it's doing both because if China does wake up and is as powerful as a dragon it would be a great ally, but if the other countries do get the jump on the sleeping dragon it would be beneficial to the U.S. if they got their hands on some resources too.
The painting that is shown says a lot about what Imperialism was all about. The painting also shows how all these countries are ganging up on China. Every single animal in the painting has a weapon or look on their face as though they will kill the dragon (China) while it is asleep. The dragon could be represented as sleeping or dead. If the dragon is sleeping, it will wake up it will become a huge power, although for now Russia, Japan, Austria, England and Germany are trying to take their part of China. The title of the painting is, “The real trouble will come with the wake”. This could also mean that the wake of a new age could make everything completely different. “Different” could be translated into a whole new set of rules for China and the rest of the world.
Japan is represented by a leopard in the painting. When I think of a leopard I think of it not as such a big animal, although one that can fight for itself and attack. In the painting, the leopard is holding a dagger in its mouth and is creeping up to China (the dragon) in the far left corner. This seems very realistic to Japan and how it interacts with China. Japan is not a large country by any means, and I think that it does have more power over China than it seems. That is why in the painting it is creeping up on China. Another animal in the painting is a large bear that is supposed to be Russia. In the painting it is standing strait and upright facing China. It is the largest animal portrayed in the painting (besides China), which makes sense considering how large Russia is geographically. Russia also seems to be taking over China the most while it is down, which could also account to the size of the bear as well as the gun in its hands. Bears are killers and are usually predators. This is a very good description of how Russia was acting towards China.
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