It gives you a sense of the time that photography daguerreotypes were starting to be in use. It was inconceivable that China would deteriorate to such a degree. Remember, we're talking about the Opium Wars, we're talking about the Taiping Rebellion. With its vast territory and population, there could not have been a dearth of loyal and devoted patriots. Yet since the Opium War, its administration has been in disorder and ineffective. It has been plagued by rebellion while England and France have invaded it from without. Japan lies to the east of China and is in such a position as to necessitate immediate steps to prepare against meeting the same fate as that which has befallen the Chinese.