"In the early 17th century, the ruler of Japan, the shogun, was told this story." ""One day, the king of the Portuguese said to his council..." "'Far to the east lies a country called Japan 'and it abounds in gold and silver." "'Why should not that land be added to my domains?" "'The best way to make ourselves masters of the land 'is by means of our religion." "'And then, send in the army.'" "The shogun, Tokugawa leyasu, and his legions of samurai warriors were undaunted by stories of foreign invaders." "He was a strong leader and had brought peace to the war-torn nation." "Yet foreign dangers and internal unrest remained a threat." "As Japan deferred to the will of the shogun, eyewitnesses wrote of these remarkable times." "These are their memoirs of Japan's Secret Empire." ""After we'd been in Japan five or six days, came a Portugal Jesuit," ""who reported that we were pirates." ""We looked always that we should be set upon crosses," ""which is the execution of this land." ""I looked every day to die"." "Rescued from the sea and imprisoned," "William Adams, the first Englishman in Japan, had good reason for concern." "It was the year 1600, and Portuguese Catholics had long held a monopoly on trade in Japan." "At the time William Adams arrived, there had been religious wars in Europe, and the Catholic missionaries were not at all happy when they heard that an Englishman, and an English Protestant, had been washed up in Japan." "The most powerful war lord in Japan, Tokugawa leyasu, commanded Adams to his castle." "Rather than ordering his execution, he wanted to know more about this stranger." "The summons was highly unusual, as only the highest-ranking officials were ever received by the great man himself." ""The ruler demanded of me of what land I was" ""and what moved us to come to his land, being so far off." ""I showed him the name of our country" ""and that our land desired friendship"." "It appeared that Ieyasu was interested in more than friendship." ""He asked whether our country has wars." ""I answered him 'Yea, with the Spaniards and Portugals. '" ""He asked me diverse questions," ""of my religion and what way we came to the country." ""From one thing to another, I abode with him till midnight"." "As the meeting came to an end," "Adams dared to make a parting request on behalf of his Dutch employers." ""I desired that we might have trade with your country," ""the same as the Portugals and Spaniards"." "To Ieyasu, this was welcome news." "Ieyasu valued trade with the Portuguese and Spanish merchants, but was wary of their Catholic missionaries, who preached obedience to a God more powerful than he." "To avoid those he considered a threat to his own authority," "Ieyasu wanted his own fleet of trading ships." "Adams had the skills he needed." "The English pilot had apprenticed as a shipwright." "Ieyasu asked him to build two ships capable of navigating the open seas." ""I answered that I was no carpenter and had no knowledge thereof." "'Well, do your endeavour' saith he." "'If it be not good, it is no matter. '" "You can't deny that William Adams did have a certain amount of influence when he was told to build these two ships." "They were the first foreign... first European ships to be built in Japan." "They were built with Japanese workers, of course, under his supervision." "And then afterwards, they sailed to Mexico and they sailed back, quite safely." "Ieyasu now had the leverage he desired." "When the Catholic missionaries continued to gain converts and create problems, he expelled them." "Life was complicated enough without these pesky foreigners interfering and so that probably was the reason why he did not want Christians in Japan." "Ieyasu replaced his Catholic interpreter with William Adams, who had been quick to learn Japanese." "He was a Protestant, of course." "Ieyasu knew that he had no interest in helping the missionaries." "And so he was rather a valuable man to have around." "Ieyasu still wanted to trade with the West, but on his own terms." "Adams convinced Ieyasu that the Protestants did not want to convert his people." "Ieyasu soon made him his commercial agent, and Adams negotiated especially favourable terms for the growing Dutch East India Company." ""The Holland has been now settled and I have got them trading privileges" ""as the Spaniards and Portugals could never get" ""in their 50 years in Japan"." "Adams married and settled down into Japanese life." "He adopted Japanese dress and was awarded the right to wear the two swords of the samurai." "And he was given an estate with about 70 or 80 servants, which is pretty good going." "Far better than his standard of living in England would have been." "I think, towards the end, he lost his desire to go back to England because he knew he would just be a working-class man in England, where, back in Japan, he has 80 servants to wait hand and foot on him." "It was possible that Adams visited Ieyasu at his tea-house for intimate conversation away from the politics of the court." "The tea ceremony was much admired by a Western observer." ""The guests open the gate," ""walk along the path through the wood, up to the tea-house," ""quietly contemplating everything they see." ""They remove their fans and daggers, depositing them in a kind of cupboard" ""placed there, outside, for that purpose"." "If Adams and Ieyasu had private political discussions, the tea-house was also a retreat where they could replenish their souls." ""This gathering for tea and conversation" ""is not intended for lengthy talk," ""but rather, to contemplate within their souls," ""with all peace and modesty," ""the things that they see there." ""And thus, through their own efforts," ""to understand the mysteries locked therein"." "For Ieyasu, unsettling foreign influences could jeopardise the peace he worked so hard to forge." "But the biggest challenge would be to maintain control of the 260 fiercely independent war lords and their formidable samurai armies." "Tokugawa leyasu became shogun in 1603 and united Japan after generations of civil war." "All of the great lords had been fighting, uh... for a century." "They were tired of fighting and wanted to secure their own positions." "But as a court chronicler documented, the task ahead would not be easy." ""Although he had conquered the country on horseback," ""being a man of wisdom, he fully appreciated the impossibility" ""of governing the country on horseback." ""He was interested only in discovering the key to government..." ""how to govern oneself, the people and the country"." "What made Ieyasu superior as a leader was that he surrounded himself with capable people who believed in him." "There's a story about a low-ranking samurai who asked to meet with him." "Ieyasu listened attentively." "After the man left, a higher-ranking lord said to Ieyasu" ""What a waste of your time"." "Ieyasu replied "It took great courage for that man to approach me." ""If I didn't listen, he would never come again"." "Peace would not be secured by leadership alone." "Ieyasu had to curb the power of the daimyo, the feudal lords." "These lords are building enormous, territorial, centralised domains." "What the feudal lords are trying to do is essentially control everything and everybody within their territories." "They control all the fighting men, they control all the peasants, they control all the resources." "Ieyasu allowed the daimyo to rule their own domains but he prohibited them from doing anything that might enhance their power or status relative to each other." "In Tokugawa Japan, a daimyo was restricted to only one castle and to enlarge it, he had to receive permission." "A new ship?" "Ask the shogun." "Arrange a new alliance through marriage?" "Only if the shogun approved." "Ieyasu would maintain the peace through this ordered control and it extended through all levels of society." "The Japan that Ieyasu fashioned was built on the ancient teachings of Confucianism..." "Obey the traditions of hierarchy and respect authority." "A Japan in keeping with the samurai traditions." "It was a rigid society, with lots of rules and regulations." "Everybody must know their place in society and stick to it." "That was the theory." "Didn't always work out in practice, of course." "But that, at least, was the theory." "All samurai were members of the elite class, whether he be a daimyo war lord or a lowly foot soldier." "Next in line were the farmers." "Then the artisans." "At the very bottom were the tradesmen, considered the parasites of society." "The Tokugawa shogunate would issue many rules to control and maintain the rigid class structure, from what you could eat to what you must wear." ""Lords and vassals, superiors and inferiors," ""must observe what is proper within their position in life." ""Without authorisation, no retainer may wear fine white damask," ""white wadded silk garments, purple silk kimonos, purple silk linings" ""and kimono sleeves which bear no family crest"." "The rules and regulations kept everyone in their place." "But for the daimyo, at least, there were still ways to earn special privileges." "Ieyasu decreed that the lords must help build his castle and the surrounding city of Edo." "The construction became a grand competition as each daimyo vied for the shogun's favour." "Soon they transformed the small castle and backwater village of Edo into a magnificent domain." "The city later known as Tokyo." ""The streets are far broader, longer and straighter" ""than the streets of Spain." ""They are kept so clean" ""that you may well think that nobody every walks along them"." "The emerging splendours of Edo were recorded by Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco, the governor of the Philippines, who had been shipwrecked off the coast of Japan." "He spent several months in the capital, as a guest of the shogun." "What makes this man interesting is that he wrote a report about Japan after he left Japan." "And he was a very discerning man." "He saw aspects of Japanese life which other people had not seen." ""The people live in particular streets" ""according to their trade and station." ""One street, for example, is reserved for carpenters." ""In other streets, there are cobblers, blacksmiths," ""tailors and traders." ""The nobles and people of quality" ""live in streets and districts quite different from the rest of the town." ""And no commoner or person of the lower classes mixes with them"." "Those daimyo who had gained most favour lived closest to the castle and were granted more audiences with the great ruler himself." "While Vivero y Velasco was in the castle being received in audience by Ieyasu... he saw a powerful daimyo come into the castle to pay homage to Ieyasu." ""There entered one of the greatest nobles of Japan," ""whose rank was evident from the gifts he brought." ""Bars of silver and gold." ""Silk robes." ""All this was first placed on some tables," ""but I do not believe the ruler even looked at it." ""A hundred paces from the throne, the daimyo prostrated himself," ""bowing his head so low" ""that it looked as if he wanted to kiss the ground." ""Nobody said a word to him," ""nor did he raise his eyes towards the ruler"." "And then, finally somebody clapped." "End of audience." "Not a word had been said." "End of audience." "And he goes out backwards on his knees." "And Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco was very much impressed by what he had seen, because he realised the power Ieyasu had." "Here was a powerful daimyo who had power of life and death in his own region, but when he comes to pay tribute to the shogun, what a lowly position he adopts." "The great ruler had realised his vision." "All of Japan was under his control." "At 72, he was still remarkably vigorous." "Then, on one of his regular hawking expeditions, he fell seriously ill." "As he lay dying, he planned the details of his funeral." "It would be a simple ceremony, his ashes taken to the top of a mountain overlooking the land where he so often went with his hawks." "Here, he felt, his spirit could soar over his beloved land, holding the realm together." "Ieyasu had carefully forged his well-ordered society." "He would not leave the future of Japan to whim." "He called his family to his side." "He told his children and grandchildren, gathered around," ""Because you are my descendants, you will become shogun." ""As shogun, it is important that you rule the country" ""for the benefit of the people," ""or you will be punished by heaven." ""As shogun, you must govern for the good of the country." ""This world does not belong to the Tokugawas" ""and cannot be ruled just to satisfy your whims"." "Among the family members was a young grandson destined to become shogun." "The child, lemitsu, would grow up determined to carry on in the footsteps of his famous grandfather." "Iemitsu, the third shogun, would keep Japan under Tokugawa rule using any means necessary." "The third Tokugawa shogun, lemitsu, worshipped his late grandfather." "He had numerous mystical experiences, that whenever he got sick," "Ieyasu would appear in his dream and he would wake up feeling better the next morning." "So his respect for Ieyasu transformed into worship." "Iemitsu always carried a charm containing a piece of paper saying "To live according to the way his grandfather would have lived"." "But though lemitsu tried to emulate his grandfather, his tactics were much more severe." "It was reported after he became shogun," "Iemitsu summoned the daimyo to his palace." "The lords waited all day in the cold without food or shelter." "They began to fear for their lives." "Until, at last, they were called into lemitsu's inner sanctum, where he delivered his ultimatum." ""I have been in the position" ""of a superior and a master from my birth." ""I shall henceforth treat all daimyo as my subjects." ""Those of you who may disobey me may quickly return to your provinces," ""repair your castles and prepare for arms." ""I shall act accordingly"." "Iemitsu's a fascinating shogun." "He's the first shogun who doesn't lead troops in battle." "He had not proved himself on the battlefield, he did not have his own men who came with him into office when he became shogun." "Iemitsu inherited a nation at peace." "Yet he would rule with an iron hand." "He listened to few and spared no one." "He would not tolerate competition, not even sibling rivalry." "He ordered his younger brother to commit suicide." "The Tokugawa shogunate under his rule acts much more capriciously towards lords that disobey their orders or flout any of the rules and regulations which bound them." "A European merchant who once tutored lemitsu observed the shogun's court." ""No one dares attempt any opposition to the will of the shogun." ""Whatever injustice the shogun may commit" ""or into whatever extravagance of excesses he may plunge," ""they praise or approve of all"." "But ruling by fear alone could also breed revolt." "Iemitsu had to keep the daimyo lords' allegiance, all 260 of them." "In peacetime, there was no common enemy, no spoils of war to reward the daimyo for their loyalty." "Iemitsu had to find some other way to control the daimyo lords." "They were commanded to appear at lemitsu's court in Edo." "And they did not journey alone, as witnessed by a German traveller." ""The bodyguards and bearers put on a swaggering gait when they pass." ""With every step, they kick up their heels nearly to their backsides" ""and at the same time, thrust the opposite arm forward." ""It looks as if they are swimming in the air"." "These elaborate processions often numbered in the thousands." "They were part of a system known as "alternate attendance"." "The alternate attendance system had been evolving over the decades of Tokugawa rule, and primarily what it meant is that great lords had to spend part of the year in Edo and part of the year back in their domains." "They had to travel back and forth according to strictly set schedules, while their wives and children had to spend all their time in Edo." "This was the single greatest administrative control on the outer lords during the Tokugawa shogun era." "Alternate attendance had another advantage for the shogun." "It kept the daimyo lords financially powerless." "It was said a daimyo could spend more than three-quarters of his income maintaining the processions and supporting his army of samurai once they reached Edo." "What this also does, by the way, is cause Edo to explode in size." "And, in fact, there grows up in Edo a class of samurai who only know Edo, even though their domain may be in the farthest reach of Japan." "They're born in Edo, they work in Edo and they only know Edo." "For the samurai warrior, life in peacetime Edo was the catalyst that changed the very nature of their existence." "Prohibited from bringing their wives and families, the samurai lived a bachelor's life." "They were paid a small stipend to perform their official duties, such as they were." "They would get up in the morning and have their hair dressed by a fellow samurai." "Then they would go to work on the grounds of the lord's estate." "This they would do once every four or five days." "The samurai would work only in the morning and then go home for lunch." "At around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, they would go out on the town." "It was a life that the once-proud warrior could never have imagined." "Edo was becoming a city of samurai whose job description was rapidly changing from soldier to bureaucrat." "The life of a samurai..." "They aren't allowed to work, they're given enough money to live on, and mostly what they do is spend every day at the house of a friend, drinking and talking and studying and doing tea and reading books of old war tales" "and imagining what it would have been like to live in the 1500s." "Life in 17th-century Japan did not include the hazards of war." "Yet peace brought its own perils." "Rules and regulations were strict and the penalties could be severe for any who dared disobey." ""Fluttering our papers, the spring winds blow." ""When through the open barriers, how gratefully we go"." "Five government highways led to the shogun's capital of Edo, all with inspection barriers to enforce lemitsu's laws." "The shogun had improved the road so his messengers could quickly reach any part of Japan." "These roads also made it easier for the daimyo and their samurai warriors to travel to Edo." "But for most Japanese, travel was an arduous process." "A multitude of rules and regulations monitored who came in and who went out of the city of Edo." "Almost everyone needed a passport." "The few exceptions included itinerant performers, who proved their identity by showing off their talent." "Or sumo wrestlers, whose girth was ample proof of their profession." "Farmers were routinely denied permission to travel from village to village." "The government preferred to keep them working in the fields." "Those without the proper papers often tried to avoid the inspection posts by slipping by on side roads." "If caught, there was severe penalties." "A traditional Japanese-style punishment meant crucifixion for a man, for a woman, enslavement or enforced servitude." "With so many laws and restrictions, one never knew when the shogun's edicts might actually be enforced." "It's sort of like a theatre of punishment to try to scare people into behaving." "Some ruler might decide that morals are going to hell in a hand basket and suddenly grab one person and punish them severely." "Despite the uncertainty, against all odds, travel grew in popularity." "Now that the roads were safer, more and more Japanese began to journey from village to village." "The most travelled road was the Tokaido which ran for 300 miles from Kyoto to Edo." "53 rest stops dotted the highway." "And so these post towns along the five great roads of Japan grew up to be very substantial towns themselves." "They had inns, they had brothels, they had restaurants, they had places that sold medicine." "There essentially grew up a post town culture." "People in the Tokugawa period, they were driven by a curiosity." "People were beginning to think about Japan as a nation." "Travel diaries became bestsellers." "Inoue Tsujo was a young samurai woman writer who kept a diary as she travelled the Tokaido Road." ""A mountain range rises above the clouds" ""and splashing water gushes over the rocks," ""making an ear-splitting noise"." ""On the way up, we feel that we are being knocked down backwards" ""and on the way down, we feel that we are slipping all the way." ""Thus, we are often fearful"." "Inns along the way offered welcome respite to travellers like Tsujo." "She was on her way to Edo to serve in the residence of a high-ranking samurai." "Although Tsujo travelled on official business, accompanied by her brother, she still encountered disturbing difficulties." "All travellers faced strict regulations, but women had an especially hard time." "It was very difficult for women to travel in the 17th century, firstly because they had to get the permission of the household, who usually thought they would be better cleaning and cooking." "And women's travel permits were much more elaborate." "Many checkpoints wouldn't permit women to pass because women had to have a thorough inspection, a body-search, and many checkpoints had no female officers to conduct that body-search." "Officials were always on the lookout for women who disguised themselves as boys." "When Tsujo arrived at the barrier station, she was ordered to appear before an older woman guard." ""A rough-looking woman examined me," ""ran her hand through my hair and said something with a heavy accent." ""It was very unpleasant, but I had no choice." ""I was afraid of what she might do"." "At another post, she experienced difficulties due to the wording of her permit." ""When I presented my official document at the barrier," ""they refused my passage." ""Because in the permit, I was only identified as a woman," ""rather than a young woman with long, open sleeves." ""I had to go back to the inn"." ""I was heartbroken"." "T sujo worried if she would be allowed to continue her journey." "It was a sleepless night, as she wrote in her diary." ""My tears darkened the light of a candle." "How restless I feel." ""Everything is depressing beyond description." ""In the dawn, around 4 o'clock," ""I heard travellers gathering around and calling each other," ""a horse neighing and the sounds of stirrups." ""I feel envious." ""I have spent days and nights" ""brooding over the obstacles facing women"." "Tsujo's plight was not uncommon." "Under lemitsu's reign, anybody who did not follow his rules could be punished." "But there was one group persecuted simply because of their beliefs... the Christians." "The shogun lemitsu offered rewards for the arrest of any Japanese who preached or practised the Christian faith." ""Any informer revealing the whereabouts" ""of the followers of priests" ""must be rewarded accordingly." ""If anyone reveals the whereabouts of a high-ranking priest," ""he must be given 100 pieces of silver"." "One has to bear in mind in this period of Japanese history, that there was repression and that the Tokugawa authorities, the shogun, wanted to keep Japanese society as it was." "And that did lead some people to believe that Christianity was subversive and was upsetting the social framework, the social pattern of Japan." "By lemitsu's time, all foreign missionaries had been deported." "But the converts they left behind, the Japanese Christians, remained devout." "For many of the Japanese Christians, the faith ran very, very deep indeed, especially in those areas where Christianity had set down roots for three or four generations." ""The shogun is a great enemy to the name of Christians"." "A European merchant observed the growing persecutions." ""I saw 55 martyred" ""because they would not forsake their Christian faith." ""And amongst them, there were little children of five or six years old," ""burned in their mother's arms," ""crying out 'Jesus, receive their souls. '" "I would say the third shogun, Iemitsu," "I think became morbidly pathological... pathologically fearful of Christianity." "They thought that this was a threat to our power." "They pulled out all the plugs, so to speak, to eradicate Christianity." "Christianity was said to be evil, a wicked, subversive religion, and so that is why they took such extreme steps to eliminate the religion." "Despite the persecutions," "Christianity had struck a chord amongst many disaffected Japanese." "They grew defiant, even willing to be martyred for their beliefs." ""I am a Japanese and Jesuit brother." ""I have not committed any crime" ""but die only for having preached" ""the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ." ""I greatly rejoice to die for this cause." ""For me, this is a great blessing." ""I guarantee and affirm that there is no other way to salvation" ""except by the Christian path"." "Iemitsu was increasingly disturbed by the Christian situation, especially in the south, where a large number lived." "Even worse, many of the Christians were former samurai, now forced to work as labourers or farmers." "But they were samurai in their hearts and well-versed in the use of weapons." "For lemitsu, this was unacceptable." "The shogun's iron hand extended to every detail of a peasant's life." ""Farmers must work in the fields from dawn to dusk." ""Wives and daughters must make meals three times a day," ""put on red headbands and take the meals to the fields." ""Once men are home after dusk," ""sisters-in-law and female cousins" ""must put the chapped feet of the man on the stomach of his wife" ""and massage them"." "If the shogun's intolerable edicts weren't bad enough, the farmers were also heavily taxed." "There were taxes on windows and shelves, a head tax on each newborn child and a hole tax to bury the dead." "The farmers were taxed in rice, the currency of the day." "Ironically, farmers were not allowed to eat the rice they grew." "These taxes were collected by the daimyo to finance their elaborate processions to Edo." "And to pay the stipends which supported the samurai class." "The farmers were in dire straits, as a Japanese writer lamented." ""Year by year, the farmers grew more exhausted." ""How could they sustain life itself under those circumstances?" "In the Shimabara Peninsula in the far south of Japan, drought and famine further depleted the meagre harvest." "Those who could not pay the taxes were punished severely." "In mid-December 1637, a single event ignited the long-smouldering fuse." "The young daughter of a farmer who owed taxes was seized and tortured." "Furious with grief, the father and his friends killed the local governor and the whole village, samurai, peasants and Christians, rose in revolt." "Soon the whole area was in the hands of the rebels, nearly 40,000." "So what began as a social upheaval, a social revolt against the tremendously harsh taxation against the peasants, leaving the peasants almost starving... what began as that somehow developed into a Christian rebellion." "A European merchant reported on the rebellion." ""A few days after the outbreak, the Christians joined the farmers." ""They cry out throughout the whole country that the time had now come" ""to revenge the innocent blood of so many Christians and priests" ""and that they are prepared to die for their faith"." "The rebels swarmed into an abandoned castle surrounded on three sides by the sea." "Feeling protected, they brought in their wives and children and barricaded themselves inside." "This was very upsetting." "The peasants, who were the lowest of the low of the poor people, they had no right to rebel." "Not only had they rebelled and revolted but they were doing darned well militarily." "And so, no wonder the shogun was worried about this because this might set an example to other parts of the country that had become unsatisfied with the crushing taxes which the peasants were paying." "The shogun didn't tolerate dissidents, especially any who looked to Jesus for help." "He sent his troops to Shimabara to quell the rebellion." "But for four bloody months, even as food ran out, the rebels managed to hold off the government attacks." "The shogun was so incensed at the continuing rebellion that he asked the Dutch to send a ship with cannons against the besieged castle." "The Dutch were reluctant to take part in this campaign but, nevertheless, they desperately wanted to hold on to this toehold which they had in trade with Japan." "And so, if they didn't obey the order of the shogun, he might well say "Well, okay, you can pack up and go home"." "The shogun ordered the castle set ablaze." "Still the rebels fought back." "But in the end, their fate was sealed." "And the castle fell, finally, through starvation." "And then followed a dreadful slaughter." "And that was the last battle, really, in Japanese history." "The Shimabara rebellion was the excuse the shogun needed to finally eradicate Christianity from Japan." "The shogun decided draconian measures." ""We will cut off Japan from all Christian influence"." "Now, how can you do that?" ""We will isolate Japan"." ""These foreigners have caused so much trouble" I suppose he was thinking." ""They are an unnecessary complication to our life." ""So why not try to preserve Japanese society as is now?" ""We don't want changes"." "The third shogun issued laws restricting travel outside of the country." "On penalty of death, no Japanese could leave Japan and those who were already abroad could not return." "To ensure his edicts were obeyed, he destroyed all ships of sea-going capacity." "Then he forbade the entry of any ship of European origin." "Only the Dutch were allowed to stay and trade, but with severe restrictions." "The maritime restrictions are designed to prevent any unauthorised contact with the outside world." "They're designed to control trade and they're designed to prevent, um..." "Christian missionaries from reaching Japan and being able to proselytise." "And they formed the bedrock of Tokugawa foreign policy for the life of the shogunate... which is sometimes called the beginning of the isolation of Japan." "Two years later, in defiance of the shogun's ban, an official Portuguese trade delegation arrived in Japan." "The shogun showed no mercy and ordered the execution of 57 of those aboard, ambassadors and their crew." "He ordered the ship burned." "The few survivors were sent back with this warning..." ""A similar penalty will be suffered" ""by all who come to these shores from Portugal," ""whether they be ambassadors or sailors," ""whether they come by error or driven by storm." ""Even more, if the King of Portugal" ""or even the God of the Christians were to come," ""they would all pay the very same penalty"." "The doors of Japan clanged shut and were not opened again to the West for 200 years." "The will of the shogun had prevailed." "But many wondered how this isolated empire would survive in a rapidly changing world."