I find it interesting that two similar and closely related countries which began Westernization around the same time had such different results. From the First Sino-Japanese War it's clear that Japan was by far more capable militarily than China, even in spite of its size, and was able to surpass China's power less than three decades after reforms began. Not only that, but ten years later, Japan was able to face Russia and win, distinguishing itself as a peer to Western imperial powers. From what little I've read, it seems that the Meiji Restoration was astoundingly successful, and achieved more than could ever have been hoped for at the time reforms began.

In contrast, the reforms happening under the Qing Dynasty seemed to accomplish very little. This is especially striking because the impetus for change was seemingly much stronger in China (the Opium Wars as compared to Japan's encounter with Matthew Perry). How did an enormous country with an urgent need for military modernization and Westernization wind up weaker than a relatively small country with a more distant need for Westernization, after just a few short decades?