Just two years ago today, war was declared between China and Japan. It all began when a religious sect in Korea, the Tonghak Society, rose up in a rebellion in response to the assassination of a pro-Japanese Korean reformist (1). The rebels defeated the Korean army, and Korea, unable to handle the situation independently, appealed to China for aid. China readily answered Korea's request and sent two thousand troops to Seoul to subdue the rebellion. By the guidelines of a treaty with Japan, which had been signed at the Tientsin Convention of 1885, China was required to inform Japan of its intervention in Korea, and Japan was permitted to send a comparable amount of troops to Korea. Once China had restore order in Korea, China suggested that both countries evacuate their troops from Korea, but Japan refused (2). Japan sent its troops to Seoul in mid-June to seize the royal palace (3). Japan, greedy for land and power, wanted control over Korea, without the interference of European countries, but China had no intentions of giving up a land that was rightfully under her power and influence. Japan began to attack China, and war was officially declared on August 1, 1894.

Despite China's prior domination of Asia and its extensive territory, after eight months of fighting, it had suffered much damage. Japan's modern weapons and steadfast aggressiveness, equal to that of the western nations, were too much for China to compete with; the Qing government in China was forced to sue for peace. On April 17, 1895, Li Hung-chang of China signed the Treaty of Shimonosaki with Japan's Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi and foreign minister Mutse Munsmitsu (4).

As result of the treaty, Korea was given total independence from China; China's Liaodong peninsula, Taiwan and the Penghu islands were ceded to Japan; China was forced to pay Japan twenty million silver teals; and the cites of Shashi, Chongquing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were opened as trading ports (5).

These losses should be a wake-up call for China to take action and step into the new and modern world. Although it is essential to retain a national pride, it is also important that China looks to other countries and follows their example so it will not be left behind. China may have been a great power in the past, but as surrounding counties continue to make steps and leaps toward improvement, China loses it's authority sitting here idly. Although I oppose many of the evil and rapacious ways of the westerners and of Japan, and I am proud of our ancient Chinese traditions, China needs to start revolutionizing itself. If China does not begin to modernize and become more active in trade with those barbarian countries, it will eventually be forced under the control of foreign countries who never cease their attempts to expand their spheres of influence (6).

One strong supporter of Sun Yat-Sen comments, "I love China; China is destined to be a world-leader, but we need to make some necessary reforms in our country in order to reach that destination." The feudal absolute monarch system in China is corrupt and incompetent, and many intellectuals have decided, "the maintenance of China's independence and sovereignty depends on its learning from the West and carrying out political reform"(7). These intellectuals feel that the absolute monarchy is responsible for China's devastating loss to the Japanese, and Japan's constitutional government played a main part in their victory (8). While there is nothing we can do to change the past and alter the outcome of this war, China needs to work for a better future and take action to prevent any further failures.

Sources:

1) "Sino-Japanese War," [http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/sino-war.html], January 27, 2002.

2) "A Very Short History of the Sino-Japanese War, 1894-5," [http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/ince/698/rurik/sino02.html], January 27, 2002.

3) "Sino-Japanese War."

4) Sodbilig, "The Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 And the Political Situation of the late Qing," [http://nias.ku.dk/Neighbours/Sodbiligpaper.htm], January 29, 2002.

5) Sodbilig,

6) Warshaw, Steven. China Emerges: A Concise History of China from Its Origin to the Present. Berkely: Diablo, 1994.

7) Sodbilig,

8) Ibid.

Images:

1) Carolyn Staley, "Senso-e: Images of War/The Sino-Japanese War," [http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/exhibits/senso/index.html], January 31, 2002.

2) Petrie-Rogers Gallery, "Japanese Woodblock Print of Sino-Japanese War," [http://www.trocadero.com/petrierogers/items/10228/en1store.html]. January 31, 2002.