First Sino-Japanese War

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First Sino-Japanese War

Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese war

First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop

movements

Date 1 August 1894 17 April 1895

(8 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)

Location Korea, Manchuria, Taiwan, Yellow

Sea

Result Japanese victory; a significant loss of

prestige for the Qing Dynasty.

First Sino-Japanese WarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 17 April1895) was fought between Qing Dynasty China and MeijiJapan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than sixmonths of continuous successes by the Japanese army andnaval forces, as well as the loss of the Chinese port ofWeihai, the Qing leadership sued for peace in February1895.

The war was a clear indication of the failure of the Qingdynasty's attempts to modernize its military and fend offthreats to its sovereignty, especially compared with Japan's

successful post-Meiji restoration[1] For the first time,regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China toJapan; the prestige of the Qing Dynasty, along with theclassical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. Thehumiliating loss of Korea as a vassal state sparked anunprecedented public outcry. Within China, the defeat was acatalyst for a series of revolutions and political changes ledby Sun Yat-Sen and Kang Youwei. These trends wouldlater manifest in the 1911 Revolution.

The war is commonly known in China as the War of Jiawu(simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese:

; pinyin: Jiw Zhnzhng), referring to the year (1894)as named under the traditional sexagenary system of yearreckoning. In Japan, it is commonly known as the JapanQing War (Nisshin sens ()). In Korea, wheremuch of the war took place, it is commonly known as theQing-Japan War (Korean: ; Hanja:).

Contents

1 Background

1.1 Conflict over Korea

1.2 1882 crisis

1.3 Gapsin Coup

1.4 Nagasaki Incident

1.5 Bean Controversy

1.6 Kim Ok-gyun affair

2 Tonghak Rebellion



Joseon Korea removed from

Qing vassalage.

Korean Peninsula transferred

to Japanese sphere of

influence.

Territorial

changes

China cedes Taiwan, Penghu, and the

Liaodong Peninsula to the Empire of

Japan.

Belligerents

Qing Dynasty Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Guangxu Emperor

Empress Dowager

Cixi

Li Hongzhang

Ding Ruchang

Deng Shichang

Emperor Meiji

It Hirobumi

Yamagata Aritomo

It Sukeyuki

Strength

630,000 men 240,616 men

Casualties and losses

35,000 dead or wounded 1,132 dead,

3,758 wounded

285 died of wounds

11,894 died of disease

First Sino-Japanese War

Chinese name

Simplified Chinese

Traditional Chinese

Transcriptions

Mandarin

Hanyu Pinyin Jiw Zhnzhng

3 Status of combatants

3.1 Japan

3.1.1 Imperial Japanese Navy

3.1.2 Imperial Japanese Army

3.2 China

3.2.1 Beiyang Army

3.2.2 Beiyang Fleet

3.3 Foreign opinions of Chinese and

Japanese forces

3.4 Contemporaneous wars being fought by

China

4 Early stages of the war

5 Events during the war

5.1 Opening moves

5.2 Sinking of the Kow-shing

5.3 Conflict in Korea

5.4 Defeat of the Beiyang fleet

5.5 Invasion of Manchuria

5.6 Fall of Lshunkou

5.7 Fall of Weihaiwei

5.8 Occupation of the Pescadores Islands

6 End of the war

6.1 Japanese invasion of Taiwan

7 Aftermath

8 In popular culture

9 See also

10 Notes

11 References

12 Filmography

13 Further reading

14 External links

Background



Japanese name

Japanese JapanQing War

Chinese name

Chinese War of Jiawu - referring

to the year 1894 under

the

traditional sexagenary

system

Satirical drawing in Punch

Magazine[3] (29 September 1894),

showing the victory of "small" Japan

over "large" China.

After two centuries, the Japanese policy of seclusion underthe shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when thecountry was forced open to trade by American intervention in1854. The years following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 andthe fall of the Shogunate had seen Japan transform itself froma feudal society into a modern industrial state. The Japanesehad sent delegations and students around the world in orderto learn and assimilate western arts and sciences; this wasdone not only to prevent Japan from falling under foreigndomination but to enable Japan to compete equally with the

Western powers.[2] Korea continued to try to excludeforeigners, refusing embassies from foreign countries andfiring on ships near Korea. At the start of the war, Japan had been reforming for three decades, whereas Koreahad suppressed attempts at reform, leaving it in a vulnerable situation.

Conflict over Korea

As a newly emergent power, Japan turned its attention toward Korea. Inorder to protect its own interests and security, Japan wanted to blockanother power from annexing Korea or maintaining dominance in Korea,or at least ensure Korea's effective independence by developing itsresources and reforming its administration. As Prussian advisor MajorKlemens Meckel put it to the Japanese army, Korea was "a dagger

pointed at the heart of Japan".[4] Japan felt that another power having amilitary presence on the Korean peninsula would have been detrimentalto Japanese national security, and so resolved to end the centuries-oldChinese suzerainty over Korea. Moreover, Japan realized that havingaccess to Koreas coal and iron ore deposits would benefit Japan'sgrowing industrial base. Korea was also seen as a source of agriculturalimports to Japan, helping to feed the growing Japanese population.

On February 27, 1876, after certain incidents and confrontation involvingKorean isolationists and the Japanese, Japan imposed the JapanKorea Treaty of 1876; forcing Korea to openitself to Japanese trade. Similar treaties were signed between Korea and other nations.

Korea had traditionally been a tributary state and continued to be so under the influence of China's Qing Dynasty,which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials gathered around the royal family of the JoseonDynasty. Opinion in Korea itself was split; conservatives wanted to retain the traditional subservient relationshipwith China, while reformists wanted to establish closer ties with Japan and western nations. After two Opium Warsin 1839 and 1856 against the British Empire and the Sino-French War, China was unable to resist politicalintervention and territorial encroachment by western powers (see Unequal Treaties). Japan sought to prevent anymajor power from dominating Korea, fearing that would allow another power to threaten Japan, but this became adesire to replace Chinese influence in Korea with its Japanese influence.

1882 crisis

Main article: Imo Incident



The flight of the Japanese Legation in 1882

In 1882, the Korean peninsula experienced a severe droughtwhich led to food shortages, causing much hardship and discordamong the population. Korea was on the verge of bankruptcy;the government was not able to pay its debts, particularly to itsmilitary. There was deep resentment amongst the soldiers of theKorean army who had not been paid for months. On July 23, amilitary mutiny and riot broke out in Seoul; troops, assisted bythe population, sacked the rice granaries there. The next morningthe royal palace and barracks were attacked. The crowd thenturned on the Japanese legation. The Japanese legation staffmanaged to escape to Chemulpo and then Nagasaki via the British survey ship HMS Flying Fish.

In response the Japanese sent four warships and a battalion of troops to Seoul to safeguard Japanese interests anddemand reparations. The Chinese also deployed 4,500 troops to counter the Japanese. Tensions subsided,however, with the Treaty of Chemulpo which was signed on the evening of August 30, 1882. The agreementspecified that the conspirators involved would be punished and 50,000 yen would be paid to the families of theJapanese killed. The Japanese government would also receive 500,000 yen, a formal apology, and permission toconstruct barracks and station troops at their diplomatic legation in Seoul.

Gapsin Coup

Main article: Gapsin Coup

In 1884 a group of pro-Japanese reformers briefly overthrew the pro-Chinese conservative Korean government ina bloody coup d'tat. However, the pro-Chinese faction, with assistance from Chinese troops under General YuanShikai, succeeded in regaining control with an equally bloody counter-coup. These coups resulted not only in thedeaths of a number of reformers, but also in the burning of the Japanese legation and the deaths of several legationguards and citizens in the process. This caused an incident between Japan and China, but was eventually settled bythe Sino-Japanese Convention of Tientsin of 1885 in which the two sides agreed to (a) pull their expeditionaryforces out of Korea simultaneously; (b) not send military instructors for the training of the Korean military; and (c)notify the other side beforehand should one decide to send troops to Korea. The Japanese, however, werefrustrated by repeated Chinese attempts to undermine their influence in Korea. After this treaty, Chinese andJapanese troops left, diplomatic relations were restored between Japan and Korea. Yuan Shikai, remained asChinese Resident," in what the Chinese intended as a sort of Viceroy role directing Korean affairs. (He remainedin that position until the Sino-Japanese War.) Yuan Shikai attempted to encourage Chinese trade and hinderJapanese trade, though Japan remained Korea's largest trading partner. Telegraphs under Chinese control wereintroduced to Korea, linking Korea to the Chinese network. Loans were provided to Korea by the Qing.

Nagasaki Incident

Main article: Nagasaki Incident

The Nagasaki Incident was a riot in Nagasaki caused by Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet soldiers stopping by the portcity in 1886. Several Japanese policemen confronting the rioters were killed. After the incident, the Qing did notapologize to Japan, and behaved with confidence in the superiority of their navy. At that time, the Qing possessedthe Dingyuan, a relatively modern pre-dreadnought battleship built in Germany. It was thought that the Japanesenavy could not match this ship at this time, as Japan lacked battleships and the Dingyuan had a heavier tonnage than



Kim Ok-gyun

photographed in Nagasaki

in 1882. His assassination

in China would contribute

to tensions leading to the

First Sino-Japanese War.

the most modern Japanese cruisers of the time. (The Dingyuan was eventually scuttled after the Battle ofWeihaiwei.) Japan's setback during the Gapsin Coup, in which 400 Japanese soldiers had been driven off by 2000Qing soldiers, was still recent and fresh.

But on the Qing Government's part, they wrote that the Japanese had attacked the Chinese, and had injured manyQing soldiers when they were bringing presents to Nagasaki. China also believed that Japan didn't do anything toprotect them.

Bean Controversy

A poor harvest in 1889 caused a governor of Hamgyong province to prohibit soybean exports to Japan. Japanrequested compensation in 1893 for their importers, and eventually received it. The incident highlighted the growing

dependence Japan felt on Korean agriculture imports.[5]

Kim Ok-gyun affair

On March 28, 1894, a pro-Japanese Korean revolutionary, Kim Ok-gyun, wasassassinated in Shanghai. Kim had fled to Japan after his involvement in the 1884coup and the Japanese had turned down Korean demands that he be extradited.Ultimately, he was lured to Shanghai where he was killed by a fellow Korean, HongJong-u, at a Japanese inn in the international settlement. His body was then takenaboard a Chinese warship and sent back to Korea, where it was quartered anddisplayed as a warning to other rebels. The Japanese government was outraged,

taking this as a direct affront to its stature and dignity.[6]

Tonghak Rebellion

Tension was high by June 1894, but war was certainly not yet inevitable. A rebellionin Korea caused the Korean king to request Chinese troops on June 4 to aid insuppressing the Tonghak Rebellion. The rebellion proved not to be as dangerous asinitially thought and the Chinese troops were not required to put down the rebellion.The Chinese government sent General Yuan Shikai as its plenipotentiary at the headof 2,800 troops. According to the Japanese, the Chinese government did not informthe Japanese government of its decision to send troops to the Korean peninsula, and

in doing so failed to comply with the Convention of Tientsin.[7] In the face of China'sviolation of the convention, the Japanese countered and sent their own 8,000-man expeditionary force (the OshimaComposite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on June 9 en route to Seoul, and 3000 landed at

Inchon on June 12.[8] However, according to the Chinese, the Japanese encouraged the Chinese to honor theKoreans' request by sending in the troops. In addition, Japanese officials also implied that Japan had no intention tointervene. As a result, the key Chinese official Li Hongzhang "was lured into believing that Japan would not wage

war, whereas Tokyo was fully prepared to act." [9] Japan requested that China and Japan co-operate to reform theKorean government, which China refused. Korea requested that Japan withdraw its troops which Japan refused.The Japanese force of 8,000 strong subsequently seized the king, occupied the Royal Palace in Seoul by early June1894, and replaced the existing government with members from the pro-Japanese faction. A new government was

formed July 25.[8] Though Chinese troops were already leaving Korea, finding themselves unneeded there, the new



Major Combatants

Protected Cruisers

Matsushima (flagship)

Itsukushima

Hashidate

Naniwa

Takachiho

Yaeyama

Akitsushima

Yoshino

Izumi

Cruisers

Chiyoda

Armored Corvettes

Hiei

Kong

Ironclad Warship

Fus

It Sukeyuki was the

Commander-in-Chief of the

Combined Fleet.

pro-Japanese Korean government granted Japan the right to expel the Chinese troops forcibly, while Japan shippedmore troops to Korea. The legitimacy of the new government was rejected by China, and the stage was thus set forconflict.

Status of combatants

Japan

Japan's reforms under the Meiji emperor gave significant priority to naval construction, and the creation of aneffective modern national army and navy. Japan sent numerous military officials abroad for training and evaluation ofthe relative strengths and tactics of European armies and navies.

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was modeled

after the British Royal Navy,[10] which at thetime was the foremost naval power in theworld. British advisors were sent to Japan totrain, advise and educate the navalestablishment; while students were in turn sentto the United Kingdom to study and observethe Royal Navy. Through drilling and tuitionby Royal Navy instructors, Japan was able topossess a navy expertly skilled in the arts of

gunnery and seamanship.[11]

At the start of hostilities, the ImperialJapanese Navy contained a fleet of 12modern warships, (Izumi being added duringthe war), one frigate (Takao), 22 torpedoboats, and numerous auxiliary/armedmerchant cruisers and converted liners.

Japan did not yet have the resources to acquire battleships and so planned to employthe Jeune cole doctrine which favoured small, fast warships, especially cruisersand torpedo boats, with guns powerful enough to destroy larger craft.

Many of Japans major warships were built in British and French shipyards (eightBritish, three French and two Japanese-built) and 16 of the torpedo boats wereknown to have been built in France and assembled in Japan.

Imperial Japanese Army

The Meiji era government at first modeled the army on the French Army. French advisers had been sent to Japanwith two military missions (in 18721880 and 1884; these were the second and third missions respectively, the firsthaving been under the shogunate). Nationwide conscription was enforced in 1873 and a western-style conscript



The French-built Matsushima,

flagship of the Imperial Japanese

Navy during the Sino-Japanese

conflict.

army was established; military schools and arsenals were also built.

In 1886 Japan turned toward the German Army, specifically the Prussianmodel as the basis for its army. Its doctrines, military system andorganisation were studied in detail and adopted by the IJA. In 1885 JakobMeckel, a German adviser, implemented new measures, such as thereorganization of the command structure of the army into divisions andregiments; the strengthening of army logistics, transportation, and structures(thereby increasing mobility); and the establishment of artillery andengineering regiments as independent commands.

By the 1890s Japan had at its disposal a modern, professionally trainedwestern-style army which was relatively well equipped and supplied. Itsofficers had studied in Europe and were well educated in the latest tacticsand strategy. By the start of the war, the Imperial Japanese Army could fielda total force of 120,000 men in two armies and five divisions.

Imperial Japanese Army Composition 18941895

1st Japanese Army

3rd Provincial Division (Nagoya)

5th Provincial Division (Hiroshima)

2nd Japanese Army

1st Provincial Division (Tokyo)

2nd Provincial Division (Sendai)

6th Provincial Division (Kumamoto)

In Reserve

4th Provincial Division (Osaka)

Invasion of Formosa (Taiwan)

Imperial Guards Division

China

Although the Beiyang Forces Beiyang Army and Beiyang Fleet was the best equipped and symbolized thenew modern Chinese military, corruption was a serious problem. Military leaders and officials systematicallyembezzled funds, even during the war. As a result, the Beiyang Fleet did not purchase any battleships after itsestablishment in 1888. The purchase of ammunition stopped in 1891, with the funding being embezzled to build theSummer Palace in Beijing. Logistics were a huge problem, as construction of railroads in Manchuria had beendiscouraged. The morale of the Chinese armies was generally very low due to lack of pay and prestige, use ofopium and poor leadership which contributed to some rather ignominious withdrawals, such as the abandonment ofthe very well-fortified and defensible Weihaiwei.

Beiyang Army

Main article: Beiyang Army



Empress Dowager Cixi took a portion

of military fund for palace renovation

Dingyuan, the flagship of the Beiyang

Fleet.

Qing Dynasty China did not have a national army. Following the Taiping Rebellion the army had been segregated

into separate Manchu, Mongol, Hui[12] (Muslim) and Han Chinese armies, which were further divided into largelyindependent regional commands. During the war, most of the fighting was done by the Beiyang Army and BeiyangFleet; pleas calling for help from other Chinese armies and navies were completely ignored due to regional rivalry.The Huai and Anhwei armies made up the larger Beiyang Army.

Qing Muslim General Zuo Baogui () (18371894), from Shandong province, died in action in Pyongyang in

Korea from Japanese artillery in 1894 while securing the city. A memorial to him was constructed.[13]

Another General, Ma Yu-kun, who commanded a separate unit, was believed to be the son of the Muslim GeneralMa Rulong by the Europeans. Ma Yu-kun fought with some success against Japan at Pyongyang during the war

and after the war went on to fight in the Boxer Rebellion.[14][15]

Beiyang Fleet

Main article: Beiyang Fleet

The Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in thelate Qing Dynasty. The navies were heavily sponsored by Li Hongzhang,the Viceroy of Zhili. The Beiyang Fleet was the dominant navy in EastAsia before the first Sino-Japanese War. However ships were not

maintained properly and indiscipline was common.[16] Sentries spent theirtime gambling, watertight doors were left open, rubbish was dumped ingun barrels and gunpowder for explosive shells was sold and replacedwith cocoa. At the Yalu river, a battleship had one of its guns pawned by

Admiral Ting .[17]

Beiyang

Fleet Major combatants

Ironclad

battleshipsDingyuan (flagship), Zhenyuan

Armoured

cruisersKing Yuen, Lai Yuen

Protectedcruisers

Chih Yuen, Ching Yuen

CruisersTorpedo Cruisers Tsi Yuen, Kuang Ping/Kwang

Ping | Chaoyong, Yangwei

Coastal

warshipPingyuan

Corvette Kwan Chia

13 or so torpedo boats, numerous Gunboats and chartered merchant vessels



Zhenyuan.

Foreign opinions of Chinese and Japanese forces

The prevailing view in the West was that the modernized Chinese armies and navies would crush and defeat theJapanese. Chinese armies like the Anhui Army and Beiyang Fleet were commended and admired by the Western

observers. They perceived China as militarily stronger.[18]

Japan looked like it would lose, according to the German General Staff.A British advisor to the Chinese military, William Lang, was interviewedby Reuter. He praised the state of the Chinese armed forces and itstraining, modern ships, guns, and equipment. He stated that "in the end,there is no doubt that Japan must be utterly crushed", and viewed Japan

as fated to lose the war.[19]

Contemporaneous wars being fought by China

At the same time China was fighting the First Sino Japanese War, other parts of the Chinese army were fighting inthe Dungan revolt (18951896) against rebels in Northwestern China, in which thousands were killed.

Early stages of the war

1 June 1894 : The Tonghak Rebel Army moves toward Seoul. The Korean government requests help from theChinese government to suppress the revolt.

6 June 1894: Approximately 2,465 Chinese soldiers are transported to Korea to suppress the Revolt. Japanasserts that it was not notified and thus China has violated the Convention of Tientsin, which requires that China andJapan must notify each other before intervening in Korea. China asserts that Japan was notified and approved ofChinese intervention.

8 June 1894: First of approximately 4,000 Japanese soldiers and 500 marines land at Jemulpo (Incheon).

11 June 1894: End of Tonghak Rebellion.

13 June 1894: The Japanese government telegraphs the commander of the Japanese forces in Korea, toriKeisuke, to remain in Korea for as long as possible despite the end of the rebellion.

16 June 1894: Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu meets with Wang Fengzao, Chinese ambassador toJapan, to discuss the future status of Korea. Wang states that the Chinese government intends to pull out of Koreaafter the rebellion has been suppressed and expects Japan to do the same. However, China also appoints a residentto look after Chinese interests in Korea and to re-assert Koreas traditional subservient status to China.

22 June 1894: Additional Japanese troops arrive in Korea. Japanese Prime Minister It Hirobumi tells MatsukataMasayoshi that he did not think that negotiations would work, and since the Qing appeared to be making militarypreparations, there was probably "no policy but to go to war." Mutsu tells tori to press the Korean governmenton the Japanese demands.

26 June 1894: tori presents a set of reform proposals to Gojong, which the Korean government rejects, and inreturn insists on troop withdrawals.



Footage of a naval battle during the

First Sino-Japanese War (1894).

7 July 1894: Mediation between China and Japan arranged by the British ambassador to China fails.

19 July 1894: Establishment of Japanese Combined Fleet, consisting of almost all vessels in the Imperial JapaneseNavy, in preparation for upcoming war. Mutsu cables tori to take whatever steps he thought necessary to compelthe Korean government to carry out a reform programme.

23 July 1894: Japanese troops enter Seoul, seize the Korean King and establish a new pro-Japanese government,which terminates all Sino-Korean treaties and grants the Imperial Japanese Army the right to expel the ChineseBeiyang Army troops from Korea.

25 July 1894: First battle of the war Battle of Pungdo / Hoto-oki kaisen

Events during the war

Opening moves

China first sent troops into Korea on the invitation of the Koreangovernment to suppress a rebellion. In response, Japan had sent 500troops to Seoul on June 9, then 3000 on June 12th, and continued tobring reinforcements. By July 1894 Chinese forces in Korea werenumbered 30003500 and were outnumbered by Japan. They couldonly be supplied by sea through the Bay of Asan. The Japanese objectivewas first to blockade the Chinese at Asan (south of Seoul, South Korea)and then encircle them with their land forces.

Sinking of the Kow-shing

Main article: Battle of Pungdo

On 25 July 1894, the cruisers Yoshino, Naniwa and Akitsushima of the Japanese flying squadron, which had been

patrolling off Asan, encountered the Chinese cruiser Tsi-yuan and gunboat Kwang-yi.[20] These vessels hadsteamed out of Asan in order to meet another Chinese gunboat, the Tsao-kiang, which was escorting a transporttoward Asan. After a brief, hour-long engagement, the Tsi-yuan escaped while the Kwang-yi became stranded onrocks, where its powder-magazine exploded.

The Kow-shing was a 2,134-ton British merchant vessel owned by the Indochina Steam Navigation Companyof London, commanded by Captain T. R. Galsworthy and crewed by 64 men. The ship was chartered by the Qinggovernment to ferry troops to Korea; the Kow-shing was on her way to Asan to reinforce Chinese forces there:1,200 troops plus supplies and equipment were on board the vessel. A German artillery officer, Major vonHanneken, acting as an advisor to the Chinese, was also aboard. The ship was due to arrive on 25 July.

The cruiser Naniwa (under the command of Captain Tg Heihachir) intercepted the two ships. The gunboat waseventually captured. The Japanese then ordered the Kow-shing to follow Naniwa and requested that theEuropeans on board be transferred to Naniwa. However the 1,200 Chinese on board desired to return to Taku,and threatened to kill the English captain, Galsworthy, and his crew. After four hours of negotiations, Captain Togogave the order to fire upon the vessel. A torpedo fired from the Naniwa missed the Kow Shing; Naniwa then fireda broadside which hit the Kow shing; this was enough to distract the Chinese guarding the Europeans and allowed



Depiction from the

French periodical Le

Petit Journal (1894) of

the sinking of the Kow-

shing and the rescue of

some of its crew by the

French gunboat Le Lion.

Japanese soldiers of the Sino-Japanese War,

Japan, 1895.

Korean soldiers and Chinese captives

The battle of the Yalu river

some of the Europeans to jump overboard, only to be fired upon by the

Chinese.[citation needed] The Japanese rescued three of the 43 crew (the captain,first officer and quartermaster) and a German passenger, and took them to Japan;the rest died in the sinking. The sinking of the Kow-shing almost caused a diplomaticincident between Japan and Great Britain, but the action was ruled in conformity withinternational law regarding the treatment of mutineers. Only three ships rescued anyChinese troops. The German gunboat Iltis rescued 150 Chinese soldiers. TheFrench gunboat Le Lion rescued 43 Chinese soldiers. The British Cruiser HMSPorpoise also rescued an unknown number of troops. No Japanese ships rescued

Chinese troops in the water and it is estimated over 900 died in the sinking.[21]

Conflict in Korea

Main articles: Battle of Seonghwan and Battle of Pyongyang

Commissioned by the new pro-Japanese Korean government to expel the Chineseforces from Korean territory by force, Major-General shima Yoshimasa led mixedJapanese brigades numbering about 4,000 on a rapid forced march from Seoul southtoward Asan Bay to face 3,500 Chinese troops garrisoned at Seonghwan Stationeast of Asan and Kongju.

On 28 July 1894, thetwo forces met justoutside Asan in anengagement thatlasted till 0730 hoursthe next morning.The Chinesegradually lost groundto the superiorJapanese numbers,and finallybroke and fledtowardsPyongyang.Chinese

casualties amounted to 500 killed and wounded, compared to 82Japanese casualties.

War between China and Japan was officially declared on 1 August1894.

The remaining Chinese forces in Korea, by August 4, retreated to the northern city of Pyongyang, where theyeventually joined troops sent from China. The 13,00015,000 defenders made extensive repairs and preparationsto the city, hoping to check the Japanese advance.



An illustration of Japanese soldiers

beheading Chinese soldiers.

The Imperial Japanese Army converged on Pyongyang from several directions on 15 September 1894. TheJapanese assaulted the city and eventually defeated the Chinese by an attack from the rear; the defenderssurrendered. By taking advantage of heavy rainfall and using the cover of darkness, the remaining troops marchedout of Pyongyang and headed northeast toward the coast and the city of Uiju. Casualties were 2,000 killed andaround 4,000 wounded for the Chinese, while the Japanese lost 102 men killed, 433 wounded and 33 missing. Theentire Japanese army entered the city of Pyongyang on the early morning of 16 September 1894.

Defeat of the Beiyang fleet

Main article: Battle of the Yalu River (1894)

On September 17, 1894, Japanese warships encountered the larger Chinese Beiyang Fleet off the mouth of theYalu River. The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyed eight out of the ten Chinese warships, assuring Japan'scommand of the Yellow Sea. The Chinese were able to land 4,500 troops near the Yalu River.

The Battle of the Yalu River was the largest naval engagement of the war and was a major propaganda victory for

Japan.[22]

Invasion of Manchuria

Main article: Battle of Jiuliancheng

With the defeat at Pyongyang, the Chinese abandoned northernKorea and instead took up defensive positions in fortifications alongtheir side of the Yalu River near Jiuliancheng. After receivingreinforcements by 10 October, the Japanese quickly pushed northtoward Manchuria.

On the night of 24 October 1894, the Japanese successfully crossedthe Yalu River, undetected, by erecting a pontoon bridge. Thefollowing afternoon of 25 October at 5:00 pm, they assaulted theoutpost of Hushan, east of Jiuliancheng. At 10:30 pm the defendersdeserted their positions and by the next day they were in full retreatfrom Jiuliancheng. With the capture of Jiuliancheng, General Yamagata's 1st Army Corps occupied the nearby cityof Dandong, while to the north, elements of the retreating Beiyang Army set fire to the city of Fengcheng. TheJapanese had established a firm foothold on Chinese territory with the loss of only four killed and 140

wounded.[citation needed]

The Japanese 1st Army Corps then split into two groups with General Nozu Michitsura's 5th Provincial Divisionadvancing toward the city of Mukden (now Shenyang, China) and Lieutenant General Katsura Tar's 3rdProvincial Division pursuing fleeing Chinese forces west along toward the Liaodong Peninsula.

By December the 3rd Provincial Division had captured the towns of Ta-tung-kau, Ta-ku-shan, Xiuyan, Tomu-cheng, Hai-cheng and Kang-wa-seh. The 5th Provincial Division marched during a severe Manchurian wintertowards Mukden.



First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop

movements.

The Japanese 2nd Army Corps under yama Iwao landed on the south coast of Liaodong Peninsula on 24October and quickly moved to capture Kin-chow and Talienwan on 67 November. The Japanese laid siege to thestrategic port of Lushunkou.

Fall of Lshunkou

Main articles: Battle of Lushunkou and PortArthur massacre (China)

By 21 November 1894, the Japanese had takenthe city of Lshunkou (Port Arthur). The Japanesearmy massacred thousands of the city's civilianChinese inhabitants in an event that came to becalled the Port Arthur Massacre (note that the scaleand nature of the killing continues to be debated).By 10 December 1894, Kaipeng (modern-dayGaixian) fell to the Japanese 1st Army Corps.

Fall of Weihaiwei

Main articles: Battle of Weihaiwei andBattle of Yingkou

The Chinese fleet subsequently retreated behind theWeihaiwei fortifications. However, they were thensurprised by Japanese ground forces, whooutflanked the harbor's defenses in coordination

with the navy.[23] The battle of Weihaiwei would bea 23-day siege with the major land and navalcomponents taking place between 20 January and12 February 1895.

After Weihaiwei's fall on 12 February 1895, and an easing of harsh winter conditions, Japanese troops pressedfurther into southern Manchuria and northern China. By March 1895 the Japanese had fortified posts thatcommanded the sea approaches to Beijing. This would be the last major battle to be fought; numerous skirmisheswould follow. The Battle of Yinkou was fought outside the port town of Yingkou, Manchuria, on 5 March 1895.

Occupation of the Pescadores Islands

Main article: Pescadores Campaign (1895)

On 23 March 1895, Japanese forces attacked the Pescadores Islands, off the west coast of Taiwan. In a brief andalmost bloodless campaign the Japanese defeated the islands' Qing garrison and occupied the main town ofMakung. This operation effectively prevented Chinese forces in Taiwan from being reinforced, and allowed theJapanese to press their demand for the cession of Taiwan in the negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Treatyof Shimonoseki in April 1895.



Revisionist depiction of Chinese

delegation, led by Admiral Ding

Ruchang and their foreign advisors,

boarding the Japanese vessel to

negotiate the surrender with Admiral

It Sukeyuki after the Battle of

Weihaiwei. In reality, Ding had

committed suicide after his defeat and

never surrendered.

JapanChina Peace Treaty, 17 April

1895.

End of the war

The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895. Chinarecognized the total independence of Korea and ceded the LiaodongPeninsula (in the south of the present day Liaoning Province), Taiwan andthe Penghu Islands to Japan "in perpetuity". The disputed islands knownas "Senkaku / Diaoyu" islands were not named by this treaty, but Japanannexed these uninhabited islands to Okinawa prefecture in 1895. Chinaasserts this move was taken independently of the treaty ending the war,and Japan asserts that they were implied as part of the cession ofTaiwan.

Additionally, China was to pay Japan 200 million Kuping taels asreparation. China also signed a commercial treaty permitting Japaneseships to operate on the Yangtze River, to operate manufacturing factoriesin treaty ports and to open four more ports to foreign trade. The TripleIntervention, however, forced Japan to give up the Liaodong Peninsula inexchange for another 30 million Kuping taels (450 million yen).

After the war, according to the Chinese scholar, Jin Xide, the Qing government paid a total of 34,000,000 taels (13,600 tons ) of silver to Japan for both the reparations of war and war trophies. This was equivalent to (then)510,000,000 Japanese yen, about 6.4 times the Japanese government revenue.

Japanese invasion of Taiwan

Main article: Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895)

Several Qing officials in Taiwan resolved to resist the cession of Taiwan to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki,and on 23 May declared the island to be an independent Republic of Formosa. On 29 May Japanese forces underAdmiral Motonori Kabayama landed in northern Taiwan, and in a five-month campaign defeated the Republicanforces and occupied the island's main towns. The campaign effectively ended on 21 October 1895, with the flight ofLiu Yung-fu, the second Republican president, and the surrender of the Republican capital Tainan.

Aftermath

The Japanese success during the war was the result of the modernization

and industrialization embarked upon two decades earlier.[24] The wardemonstrated the superiority of Japanese tactics and training as a resultof the adoption of a Western-style military. The Imperial Japanese Armyand navy were able to inflict a string of defeats on the Chinese throughforesight, endurance, strategy and power of organization. Japaneseprestige rose in the eyes of the world. The victory established Japan as

the dominant power in Asia.[25][26]

For China, the war revealed the ineffectiveness of its government, itspolicies, and the corruption of the Qing administration. TraditionallyChina viewed Japan as a subordinate part of the Chinese cultural sphere.



Convention of retrocession of the

Liaotung peninsula, 8 November

1895.

Although Qing China had been defeated by European powers in the 19th century defeat at the hands of an Asianpower and a former tributary state was a bitter psychological blow. Anti-foreign sentiment and agitation grew andwould later culminate in the form of the Boxer Rebellion five years later.

Although Japan had achieved what it had set out to accomplish, mainly toend Chinese influence over Korea, Japan reluctantly had been forced torelinquish the Liaodong Peninsula, (Port Arthur), in exchange for anincreased financial indemnity. The European powers (Russia especially),while having no objection to the other clauses of the treaty, did feel thatJapan should not gain Port Arthur, for they had their own ambitions inthat part of the world. Russia persuaded Germany and France to join herin applying diplomatic pressure on the Japanese, resulting in the TripleIntervention of 23 April 1895.

Japan succeeded in eliminating Chinese influence over Korea, butironically, it was Russia who reaped the benefits. Korea proclaimed itselfthe Korean Empire announcing its independence from China. TheJapanese sponsored Gabo reforms (Kabo reforms) from 1894-1896transformed Korea: legal slavery was abolished in all forms; the yangban class lost all special privileges; outcasteswere abolished; equality of law; equality of opportunity in the face of social background; marriage ages were raised,abolishing child marriage; Hangul was to be used in government documents; Korean history was introduced inschools; Ming calendar was replaced with the western (common era); education was expanded and new textbooks

written.[8]

In 1895, a pro-Russian official tried to remove the king of Korea to the Russian legation and failed, but a secondattempt succeeded so for a year the King reigned from the Russian legation in Seoul. The concession to build aSeoul-Inchon railway had been granted to Japan in 1894 was revoked and granted to Russia. Russian guardsguarded the king in his palace even after he left the Russian legation.

In 1898, Russia signed a 25-year lease on the Liaodong Peninsula and proceeded to set up a naval station at PortArthur. Although this infuriated the Japanese, they were more concerned with Russian encroachment toward Koreathan in Manchuria. Other powers, such as France, Germany and Great Britain, took advantage of the situation inChina and gained port and trade concessions at the expense of the decaying Qing Empire. Tsingtao and Kiaochowwas acquired by Germany, Kwang-Chou-Wan by France and Weihaiwei by Great Britain.

Tensions between Russia and Japan would increase in the years after the First Sino-Japanese war. During theBoxer Rebellion an eight-member international force was sent to suppress and quell the uprising; Russia sent troopsinto Manchuria as part of this force. After the suppression of the Boxers the Russian government agreed to vacatethe area. However, by 1903 it had actually increased the size of its forces in Manchuria. Negotiations between thetwo nations (19011904) to establish mutual recognition of respective spheres of influence (Russia over Manchuriaand Japan over Korea) were repeatedly and intentionally stalled by the Russians. They felt that they were strongand confident enough not to accept any compromise and believed Japan would not dare go to war against aEuropean power. Russia also had intentions to use Manchuria as a springboard for further expansion of its interestsin the Far East. In 1903, Russian soldiers began construction of a fort at Yongnampo but stopped at Japanese

protests.[8]



In 1902 Japan formed an alliance with Britain, the terms of which stated that if Japan went to war in the Far Eastand that a third power entered the fight against Japan, then Britain would come to the aid of the Japanese. This wasa check to prevent either Germany or France from intervening militarily in any future war with Russia. Japan soughtto prevent a repetition of the Triple Intervention that deprived her of Port Arthur. The British reasons for joining thealliance were: to check the spread of Russian expansion into the Pacific area; to strengthen Britain's hand to focuson other areas and to gain a powerful naval ally in the Pacific.

Increasing tensions between Japan and Russia as a result of Russia's unwillingness to enter into a compromise andthe prospect of Korea falling under Russia's domination, therefore coming into conflict with and undermining Japan'sinterests, compelled Japan to take action. This would be the deciding factor and catalyst that would lead to theRusso-Japanese War of 190405.

In popular culture

The first Sino-Japanese War was reminded in some movies like Mga Bakas ng Dugo sa Kapirasong Lupa by thePhilippines, and currently Japanese film Saka no Ue no Kumo in 2009, or Chinese film Deng Shichang: The Martyr.

In South Korea, where the war mostly happened, two movies: Empress Myeongseong and The Sword with NoName have reviewed the time of Empress Myeongseong last life during the war.

See also

History of China

History of Japan

History of Korea

History of Taiwan

Military history of China

Military history of Japan

Second Sino-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

Sino-Japanese relations

Notes

This article incorporates text from The living age ..., Volume 226, by Eliakim Littell, Robert S.

Littell, Making of America Project, a publication from 1900 now in the public domain in the United

States.

This article incorporates text from Eclectic magazine: foreign literature, by John Holmes Agnew,

Walter Hilliard Bidwell, a publication from 1900 now in the public domain in the United States.

1. ^ "Japan Anxious for a Fight; The Chinese Are Slow and Not in Good Shape to Go to War,"

(http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=950DEEDE1531E033A25753C3A9619C94659ED7CF) New



York Times. July 30, 1894.

2. ^ Jansen 2002, p. 335.

3. ^ www.ocu.mit.edu (http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027j/throwing_off_asia_01/punch.html)

4. ^ Duus, P. (1976). The rise of modern Japan (p. 125). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

5. ^ Seth, p. 445

6. ^ Jansen 2002, p. 431.

7. ^ James McClain, "Japan a Modern History," 297

8. ^a b c d Seth, Michael J (2010). A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present

(http://books.google.ca/books/about/A_History_of_Korea.html?id=WJtMGXyGlUEC). Rowman & Littlefield

Publishers. p. 225. ISBN 978-0742567160.

9. ^ John King Fairbank and Kwang-Ching Liu, ed. The Cambridge History of China: Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911.

Volume 11, Part 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980),105.

10. ^ Evans & Peattie 1997, p. 12.

11. ^ "The skills of the Japanese officers and men was [sic] astronomically higher those of their Chinese

counterparts." [1] (http://www.steelnavy.com/HasegawaMikasa.htm)

12. ^ Michael Dillon (1999). China's Muslim Hui community: Migration, settlement and sects

(http://books.google.com/?

id=hUEswLE4SWUC&pg=PA72&dq=ma+anliang#v=snippet&q=hui%20officers%20and%20men%201894%20sin

o%20japanese%20war&f=false). Richmond: Curzon Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7007-1026-3. Retrieved 2010-06-

28.

13. ^ Aliya Ma Lynn (2007). Muslims in China (http://books.google.com/books?

id=s4Lp8tgr3esC&dq=ma+wanfu+exile+xinjiang&q=ma+fuxiang#v=onepage&q=zuo%20baogui%20killed%20sino

-japanese%20war&f=false). Volume 3 of Asian Studies. University Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-88093-861-7. Retrieved

2010-06-28.

14. ^ Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell, Making of America Project (1900). The living age ..., Volume 226


id=uEoTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA757&dq=ma+julung+tung+fu#v=onepage&q=ma%20julung%20tung%20fu&f=false)

. BOSTON: The Living Age Co. Inc. p. 757. Retrieved 2010-06-28.(Original from the University of Michigan)

15. ^ John Holmes Agnew, Walter Hilliard Bidwell (1900). The Eclectic magazine: foreign literature


id=TmnfUKQTym8C&pg=PA620&dq=ma+julung+tung+fu#v=onepage&q=ma%20julung%20tung%20fu&f=false)

. Leavitt, Throw and Co. p. 620. Retrieved 2010-06-28.(Original from the University of Michigan)

16. ^ Sondhaus 2001, pp. 169-170.

17. ^ Geoffrey Regan, Naval Blunders, page 28

18. ^ John King Fairbank, Kwang-Ching Liu, Denis Crispin Twitchett, ed. (1980). Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911

(http://books.google.com/books?id=pEfWaxPhdnIC&q=Liu+Chin-t%27ang%27s+big+German+guns+Pai+Yen-

hu+without+resistance#v=onepage&q=eve%20Sino-

Japanese%20War%20respectable%20%20praise%20favourable%20comment%20advantage&f=false). Volume 11,



Part 2 of The Cambridge History of China Series (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-

521-22029-7. Retrieved 2012-01-18. "On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, China appeared, to undiscerning

observers, to possess respectable military and naval forces. Praise for Li Hung-chang's Anhwei Army and other

Chinese forces was not uncommon, and the Peiyang Navy elicited considerable favourable comment.179 When

war between China and Japan appeared likely, most Westerners thought China had the advantage. Her army was

vast, and her navy both out-"

19. ^ John King Fairbank, Kwang-Ching Liu, Denis Crispin Twitchett, ed. (1980). Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911

(http://books.google.com/books?id=pEfWaxPhdnIC&q=Liu+Chin-t%27ang%27s+big+German+guns+Pai+Yen-

hu+without+resistance#v=onepage&q=german%20general%20staff%20considered%20japanese%20victory%20im

probably%20interview%20reuter%20william%20lang%20predicted%20defeat%20for%20japan&f=false). Volume

11, Part 2 of The Cambridge History of China Series (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 269. ISBN 0-

521-22029-7. Retrieved 2012-01-18. "numbered and outweight Japan's. The German general staff considered a

Japanese victory improbable. In an interview with Reuters, William Lang predicted defeat for Japan. Lang thought

that the Chinese navy was well-drilled, the ships were fit, the artillery was at least adequate, and the coastal forts

were strong. Weihaiwei, he said, was impregnable. Although Lang emphasized that everything depended on how

China's forces were led, he had faith that 'in the end, there is no doubt that Japan must be utterly crushed'.180"

20. ^ Evans & Peattie 1997, p. 41.

21. ^ Sequence of events, and numbers of rescued and dead, taken from several articles from The Times of London

from 2 August 1894-25 October 1894

22. ^ Paine, S. C. M. (2003). The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy. Cambridge

University Press. pp. 179189. ISBN 0-521-61745-6.

23. ^ Evans & Peattie 1997, p. 46.

24. ^ Schencking 2005, p. 78.

25. ^ Paine, The Sino-Japanese War of 18941895: Perception, Power, and Primacy.

26. ^ "A new balance of power had emerged. China's millennia-long regional dominance had abruptly ended. Japan had

become the dominant power of Asia, a position it would retain throughout the twentieth century". Paine, The Sino-

Japanese War of 18941895: Perception, Power, and Primacy.

References

Duus, Peter (1998). The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea. University of

California Press. ISBN 0-52092-090-2.

Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4977-9.

Evans, David C; Peattie, Mark R (1997). Kaigun: strategy, tactics, and technology in the Imperial

Japanese Navy, 18871941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.

Jansen, Marius B. (2002). The Making of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-6740-0334-

9.



Jansen, Marius B. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5214-

8405-7.

Paine, S.C.M (2002). The Sino-Japanese War of 18941895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy.

Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81714-5.

Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 18151914. Routledge. ISBN 0-41521-477-7.

Chamberlin, William Henry. Japan Over Asia, 1937, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston.

Colliers (Ed.), The Russo-Japanese War, 1904, P.F. Collier & Son, New York.

Kodansha Japan An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993, Kodansha Press, Tokyo ISBN 4-06-205938-X

Lone, Stewart. Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 18941895,

1994, St. Martin's Press, New York.

Mutsu, Munemitsu. (1982). Kenkenroku (trans. Gordon Mark Berger). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.

10-ISBN 0860083063/13-ISBN 9780860083061; OCLC 252084846

(http://www.worldcat.org/title/kenkenroku-engl/oclc/252084846)

Paine, S.C.M. The Sino-Japanese War of 18941895: Perception, Power, and Primacy, 2003,

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 412 pp.

Sedwick, F.R. (R.F.A.). The Russo-Japanese War, 1909, The Macmillan Company, NY, 192 pp.

Theiss, Frank. The Voyage of Forgotten Men, 1937, Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1st Ed., Indianapolis &

New York.

Warner, Dennis and Peggy. The Tide At Sunrise, 1974, Charterhouse, New York.

Urdang, Laurence/Flexner, Stuart, Berg. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, College

Edition. Random House, New York, (1969).

Filmography

See also: List of war films and TV specials First Sino-Japanese war

Dugo sa Kapirasong Lupa A 1930- Philippine film

Saka no ue no kumo (2009)

Deng Sichang: The Martyr-A chinese film about the battle in Yellow Sea.

Further reading

Military Heritage did an editorial on the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 (Brooke C. Stoddard, Military

Heritage, December 2001, Volume 3, No. 3).

External links

""Peter Perdue



(http://ncn.org/view.php?id=74846) (Chinese)

Detailed account of the naval Battle of the Yalu River

(http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1894YaluBattle.htm) by Philo Norton McGiffen

Under the Dragon Flag My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War by James Allan' at Project

Gutenberg

Print exhibition at MIT (http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_02/index.html)

The Sinking of the Kowshing Captain Galsworthy's Report

(http://www.russojapanesewar.com/galsworthy.html)

SinoJapaneseWar.com A detailed account of the Sino-Japanese War (http://SinoJapaneseWar.com)

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