130th anniversary of the Treaty of peace between Japan and China (“Treaty of Shimonoseki”): The Hidden Side of the Battle between Japan and China: Shedding Light on Korea

Introduction

The year 2025 marks the 130th anniversary of the conclusion of the peace treaty ending the First Sino-Japanese War. Ten years ago in 2015, on the occasion of the 120th year since the war’s start, JACAR presented an internet exhibition titled, “The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: As Seen in Prints and Archives.” In this issue of the newsletter, we will now shed a light on another aspect of the war that was not taken up—that was not “depicted,” so to speak—in earnest in that exhibition a decade ago. We wish to focus on the goings on backstage to the peace treaty negotiations surrounding the treatment of Korea, as well such developments as popular uprisings on the Korean Peninsula, domestic affairs, and Japan’s responses.

The First Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1894 and ended in peace concluded in Shimonoseki in April 1895. It can be described as a conflict between Japan and Qing China over the right to control Korea. On the face of it, as is often said, this war was one in which Japan used a disciplined army modeled on those of Europe, was victorious in major battles such as the Battle of the Yalu River, and defeated the Asian great power that had been called the “Sleeping Lion.” But what lay behind the scenes?

While the war may have been fought between Japan and Qing China, battles took place at many locations around the Korean Peninsula including Pyongyang, Asan, and Seonghwan. Furthermore, during the war a peasant army launched an anti-Japanese uprising in southwestern Korea and the central government pursued internal administrative reforms. Still further, as a consequence of the war, the first article of the Treaty of Shimonoseki established that “China recognizes definitively the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea.”

What had happened in Korea, which could be called the hidden side of the battle between Japan and China? Here, we will travel back 130 years to the era of the Treaty of Shimonoseki between Japan and China, to close in on the background and origins to this conflict that produced great changes in East Asia.

 

1. The Treaty of Peace between Japan and China (The Treaty of Shimonoseki) and the First Sino-Japanese War

1-1. The Shimonoseki Peace Talks and the Treaty of Peace between Japan and China (The Treaty of Shimonoseki)

On March 19, 1895, a Qing delegation led by Li Hongzhang arrived in Shimonoseki (known at the time variously as Akamanoseki [written either as 赤間関 or 赤馬関] or Bakan) (see map) (Item: “Ri Kōshō rai-Chō” [Arrival of Li Hongzhang in Japan], Ref. B06150070300, image 149). Image 1 is a New Year picture (Ch. níanhùa) that depicts the scene at Shimonoseki of Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi and his entourage greeting a Qing delegation comprising Beiyang Trade Minister and Viceroy of Zhili Li Hongzhang and his entourage. New Year pictures are decorative paintings that celebrate the lunar New Year. Originally, they depicted auspicious things, but eventually they came to deal with a variety of subjects. By the waning years of the Qing dynasty they also came to take up subjects such as wars, and more than a few of those depicted the First Sino-Japanese War. This Sino-Japanese War-themed New Year painting shows Itō and his entourage wearing clothing that differs from that worn by Li and his entourage. They were depicted in this way so the two sides can be distinguished from one another. The flags of various countries are also depicted across the painting toward the top.

[Image 1] “Li Fuxiang [Li Hongzhang] being greeted” (1895, Qing China) [British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.2(10)]. According to the text inscribed on this New Year painting, a year had already passed since the start of the war between Japan and China. In response to a request the Western countries made to the Qing court asking that he be sent to Japan for peace negotiations, Li Hongzhang went to Japan. There, he was welcomed by Itō Hirobumi and his entourage.

 

The Shimonoseki peace talks began on March 20, the day after Li’s arrival. The talks were held at a kappo cuisine inn in Shimonoseki called Shunpanrō. The Japanese plenipotentiaries (minister plenipotentiaries) were Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi and Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu. The plenipotentiaries for Qing China were Imperial Commissioner Li Hongzhang (Beiyang Trade Minister and Viceroy of Zhili) and Imperial Commissioner Li Jingfang (former resident envoy to Japan). It was at this meeting that the peace negotiations over the First Sino-Japanese War would take place. Since the origins of the war lay in the conflict over Korea, the peace would include many elements related to it.

In fact, Japan and Qing China had conducted exchanges geared toward peace before the talks in Shimonoseki were held. First, Qing China dispatched two envoys to Hiroshima on January 31 where Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters was located. However, Japan did not recognize these envoys as comprising an official plenipotentiary mission and the dispatch failed to lead to peace negotiations. The nature of the exchanges leading up to Li’s coming to Shimonoseki in March is also described in Mutsu’s diplomatic memoirs, Kenkenroku (File: Kenkenroku [Ref. B03030022400). Image 2 presents a passage from Kenkenroku summarizing the notification sent to the Qing government by way of the U.S. envoy.

The passage states, “The Japanese government should be able to negotiate with Qing China on the basis of concluding a definite treaty as a result of the war for the cession of land and the regulation of future relations, in addition to confirming reparations for war expenditures and Korean independence.” This shows us that Japan saw a confirmation of Korean independence and reparations from the Qing court for war expenditures were preconditions for peace negotiations. The notification then went on to request the dispatch of an official plenipotentiary mission.

[Image 2] Item: “Dai-jūnana-shō: Shimonoseki danpan (jō) [Chapter 17 The negotiation in Shimonoseki (1/2)]” (Ref. B03030024500, image 2).

 

The Qing government appointed Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang to be its plenipotentiaries. As will be discussed later, for Qing China the military situation had grown severe with the fall of Weihaiwei on February 17. Li and his entourage then traveled to Japan to participate in the peace talks. The talks began in Shimonoseki on March 20, and unfolded over seven rounds (see Image 3). In the first meeting held March 20, both parties confirmed who their respective plenipotentiaries were. In the second meeting held the following day, the talks they held were about a ceasefire. Images 4 contains Li Hongzhang’s statements at the second meeting from the record of the first half of the peace talks. The statements made by all speakers are recorded in detail in these meeting records, and from them we can get a glimpse of the state of the negotiations.

According to these records, Li Hongzhang said, “Originally, this war started in Korea. Korea is already occupied by your forces, and now Manchuria has been overrun. We have suffered heavy defeats both on land and at sea. We now are at the point where we request peace talks. I hope that Your Excellency will remember the past, think about my sincerity, and consider the most lenient method of handling this matter.” The comment demonstrates an awareness that while the war had begun over Korea, Korea was already occupied by Japanese forces, the war had spread to Qing China, and the Qing forces were being defeated in battle.

[Image 3] “Foreign countries work with the imperial commissioner Li Fuxiang [Li Hongzhang]” (Qing China) [British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.2(14)]. This is a New Year painting created in Qing China that depicts the peace talks at Shimonoseki. However, we can see some points that appear to differ from the scene at the actual peace talks. For example, Koyama Toyotarō (Rokunosuke) who took a shot at Li Hongzhang on March 24 kneels before Itō and Li. Representatives from Korea, the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries are also shown attending the talks.

 

[Images 4] Item: “Partition 1” (Ref. B06150073200, images 39 and 40)

 

Following the third round of talks that took place on March 24, Li Hongzhang was shot and wounded by Koyama Toyotarō while on his back to the temple Hiken-ji where he was staying (Item: “Li Kōshō sōnan [Li Hongzhang in distress],” Ref. B06150070400, image 2). On the Japanese side, out of consideration for feelings in various countries regarding this incident, some argued that out of consideration for Qing China’s wishes an armistice treaty should take priority and be concluded. With this also having an impact, an armistice treaty between Japan and Qing China was concluded on March 30, 1895 (Item: “Chōinsho [Treaty signing], Ref. B13090893100). The fourth round took place on April 1 after the armistice treaty had been signed. Li Jingfang represented Qing China in place of the wounded Li Hongzhang. However, for the fifth round and after Li Hongzhang returned to the negotiations. . In the sixth round held on April 16, the cession of Taiwan (see map) and the Penghu Islands (see map)—an item that had been pending due to opposition from the Qing court—was settled as a special agreement related to the implementation of Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the peace treaty (“The island of Formosa, together with all the islands appertaining or belonging to said island of Formosa”) (Nis-Shin kōwa jōyaku teiketsu ikken/Kaiken yōroku: Kenmei “Bunkatsu 2” [Items Related to the Conclusion of the Peace Treaty between Japan and Qing China/Meeting abstracts; Item: “Partition 2”], Ref. B06150073300, images 72–74). As a result of these negotiations, the plenipotentiaries from both countries concluded the Treaty of Peace between Japan and China (the Treaty of Shimonoseki) at the seventh round of talks held on April 17 (see images 5–7).

[Image 5–7] Item: “Goshomei genpon, Meiji 28-nen, Jōyaku 5-gatsu 10-ka, Nis-Shin ryōkoku kōwa jōyaku oyobi betsuyaku” [Signed master copy, 1895, treaty of May 10, Treaty of Peace between Japan and Qing China and separate agreement] (Ref. A03020213100, images 2, 3, and 15). These images show the areas with the signatures on the signed master copy of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the location where the plenipotentiaries put their signatures.

 

Image 8 shows the text of Article 1 of the treaty. In English translation, it reads: “China recognizes definitely the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea, and in consequence the payment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China, in derogation of such independence and autonomy, shall wholly cease for the future.” Here, it clearly states that China acknowledges Korea’s independence from China (the so-called renunciation of suzerainty over Korea). The text of the treaty as written in Chinese likewise stipulates Korea’s independence and autonomy from China, hence both the Japanese and Chinese texts carry the same content (Item: “Chōinsho (fuzoku chizu ari) [“Signed copy (with maps attached)”], Ref. B13090893700, image 20).

[Image 8] Item: “Goshomei genpon” [“Signed master copy”], Ref. A03020213100), image 4).

 

1-2. The First Sino-Japanese War

Let us turn now to look at how the war between Japan and China that led to the conclusion of the Treaty of Shimonoseki unfolded. Here we will focus on the battles in Korea, which was the setting for the war (see Chronology). On July 25, 1894, Japanese and Chinese squadrons encountered one another near Pungdo (see map) off Incheon on the Korean Peninsula, triggering a gun battle between the two forces (the Battle of Pungdo). An incident occurred during this naval battle wherein the British-flagged merchant vessel Kowshing, which had been transporting Chinese troops just off of Pungdo, was sunk by the Japanese squadron. This is known as the Kowshing Incident. (Item: “Kōshō-gō jiken hōkoku/1894” [“Report on the Kowshing Incident/1894”], Ref. B10070276100).

[Image 9] “Chōsen Hōtō oki kaisen no zu” [“The Battle of Pungdo”] (Japan), British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.2(76). This colored woodblock print depicts the sinking by the Japanese squadron of the British-flagged merchant ship Kowshing, which had been transporting Chinese troops just off of Pungdo.

 

Images 10 through 12 are telegrams sent from Busan on July 27 and 28 by Army Lieutenant Shiba Gorō to the the chief of the General Staff at Imperial General Headquarters back in Japan. The telegrams talk of the the naval battle that occurred on the morning of July 25, saying he had received reports that the Japanese forces were victorious.

[Images 10–12] Item: “Hōtō-oki kaisen no hōkoku, Shiba-chūi, Meiji 27-nen ji-7-gatsu shi-12-gatsu” [“Report on the Battle of Pungdo by Lieutenant Shiba, from July to December 1895”] (Ref. C06061829100, images 1–3).

 

Following the naval battle in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, the first ground battle of the Sino-Japanese War took place on July 29. The fighting took place between Japanese forces that were headed to attack a Chinese base located in Asan, Korea (see map) and Chinese forces encamped near Seonghwan Station (Item: “Konsei ryōdan hōkoku Dai-21-gō, Konsei ryōdan sentō shōhō” [“Mixed Brigade Report No. 21, Detailed battle report by the Mixed Brigade”], Ref. C06060164900, Image 13). From the map and the drawing in Images 14 and 15 showing the topography near Seonghwan Station, we can get a sense of the movements of the Japanese forces and the position of the Chinese encampment.

[Image 13] “Gazan tsuigeki Nisshin ryōgun Seikan daigekisen no zu” [“The Battle of Seonghwan near Asan”], British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.1(13). This colored woodblock print depicts the battle at Seonghwan.

 

 

[Images 14–15] Item: “7-gatsu 29-nichi Seikan-eki fukin sentō ryakuzu” [“Outline map of the July 29 battle near Seonghwan Station”] (Ref. C06062139600, images 2–3).

 

After the Japanese forces had subjugated Seonghwan (located in what was then Chungcheong Province, now in South Chungcheong Province near Cheonan City) (see map), they quickly moved on to Asan. However, they arrived after the Chinese forces that had been there had moved to get away from the unfavorable terrain. After the battle on August 1, Japan and China declared war on one another, marking the formal start of the First Sino-Japanese War. Images 16 and 17 show the text of Japan’s declaration of war, and Image 18 shows that of China’s. Both talk of Korea where the war broke out and of the uprising that occurred there. In Images 16 through 18, Japan condemns China’s interference in the internal affairs of Korea, an independent nation, and declares that it will fight to secure Korea’s independence.

 

[Image 16]

[Image 17]

[Images 16–17] Item: “Goshomei genpon, Meiji 27-nen, Shōchoku 8-gatsu tsuitachi, Shinkoku ni taishi sensen” [“Signed master copy, 1894, Imperial Proclamation of August 1, Declaration of war on Qing China”] (Ref: A03020165600, images 2–4).

 

[Image 18] Item: “Nis-Shin ryōkoku sensen no shōchoku kōfu ikken” [“The promulgation of imperial edicts by Japan and China declaring war”] (Ref. B07090537400, image 9). The record of the declaration of war by Qing China.

 

Just before dawn on September 15, the Japanese forces that had surrounded Pyongyang (see map) where the Chinese forces were building up launched an all-out attack. This battle was the first large-scale land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War (see Image 19). That evening, the Chinese forces offered their surrender and fled. Before dawn on the following day, the Japanese forces proceeded to enter Pyongyang.

 

[Image 19] “Heijō yasen waga hei daishōri” [“Japanese victory in a night attack on Pyongyang”] (Japan). British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.2(71). This colored woodblock print depicts night combat at Pyongyang.

 

The First Sino-Japanese War has been described as a war between Japan and China for control of Korea. As we have seen from the examples of ground combat in such places as Seonghwan and Pyongyang, the battleground at the start was the Korean Peninsula. Later, the setting for the war would move to locations in China. On September 17, the Japanese Combined Fleet and the Chinese North Sea (Beiyang) Fleet encountered one another off the mouth of the Yalu River (sometimes written as near Dagushan) (see map) in the Yellow Sea, setting off the Battle of the Yalu River. Both sides suffered heavy losses in the battle, but the numbers of ships and crew lost by Qing China in particular were enormous (Item: “9-gatsu 19-nichi, Taedong-kō nite, Itō Rengō kantai shirei-chōkan kara” [“September 19, From Commander Itō of the Combined Fleet, at the mouth of the Taedong River”], Ref. C06061781100, images 1–4). On November 21, Japanese and Chinese forces engaged in a fierce battle over three days at Port Arthur (Lüshun), which was the base for China’s North Sea (Beiyang) Fleet (Battle of Port Arthur). At the end, the Japanese forces occupied Port Arthur (“Rinji kōjōshō, Meiji 27-nen 11-gatsu 12-nichi ni okeru sentō shōhō dai-1-gō” [Temporary siege barracks, Detailed battle report no. 1, as of November 21, 1894”], Ref. C13110344300). Following on Port Arthur, Weihaiwei (see map) on February 17, 1895 (Item: “Rikusan Dai-214-gō 2-gatsu 7-ka, Wagagun wa Weihaiwei oyobi nangan no hōdai ha teikō naku ryakushu seri, sono ta, Tōjō-chūsa” [“Rikusan no. 214. 7 February. “Our army has captured Weihaiwei and the batteries on the south coast without resistance” etc. Lieutenant Colonel Tōjō”], Ref. C06061919800).

As mentioned earlier, as the fighting between Japan and China continued, negotiations between two aimed at achieving peace had been taking place with Qing China’s dispatch of envoys to Hiroshima at the end of January. As a result, an end to the First Sino-Japanese War was announced by the conclusion on March 30 of armistice treaty between the two parties and the conclusion on April 17 of the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Thus, the independence of Korea—the issue that was the origin of the war—was acknowledged in Article 1 of the treaty, and Japan was ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands. In the next section, we will look at what triggered the First Sino-Japanese War and how it began.

 

2. The First Sino-Japanese War and Korea

2-1. The Gabo Revolution

Japan and China clashed furiously with one another during the First Sino-Japanese War, but the trigger for the outbreak of hostilities lay in the social unrest in Korea.

In February 1894, there was a popular uprising in Gobu, Jeolla Province, in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. Many of the participants in the uprising were adherents of a religion known as Donghak, so the event is frequently referred to as the “Donghak Peasant Rebellion.” Curently, given that many peasants who were not Donghak adherents also took part in the uprising, scholars today refer to it as the Gabo (in reference to the year according to the sexagenary cycle in which the uprising began) Revolution.

In Gobu where the uprising broke out, people were in desperate circumstances due to the despotic behavior of the local magistrate. The rebellion’s leader Jeon Bong-jun expelled the magistrate and distributed stolen rice to the peasants. However, the Korean government (i.e., the then-Joseon Dynasty) dealt harshly with the uprising’s participants. As a result, the peasant army insurrection with Donghak adherents at the core spread.

The Gobu peasant army defeated both local Jeolla Province forces and central government forces dispatched to the area, and by the end of May (see chronology) they had occupied the provincial capital Jeonju (see map). Image 20 is an item that the Navy Ministry collected to prepare for compiling a military history. The item is said to be a report written by the Jeonju “observer” (a Korean government official who would observe local governments) that talks of the entry into Jeonju of the peasant army. In response to this development, the Korean government asked China to dispatch troops. Japan, also, decided to dispatch troops in order to protect both resident nationals and guard its legations.

Learning of the Japanese and Chinese troop dispatches, the peasant army reached a peace agreement with the Korean government on June 11. With the agreement in hand, the Korean government asked both China and Japan to withdraw their troops. With this, negotiations began.

 

[Image 20] Item: “Meiji 27-nen 6-gatsu 2-ka Tōgakutō-ran kyō hōkoku” [2 June 1894: Report on the state of the Donghak Rebellion] (Ref: C08040589200, image 1). The text reads, “At 10 a.m. yesterday, tens of thousands of Donghak followers stormed into [Jeonju] castle. They fired shots, set it on fire, and the castle was left in ruins.”

 

However, troop withdrawal negotiations between these two countries that sought control over Korea were difficult. By late June, China had assembled some 2,800 troops in Korea and Japan had some 8,000.

On this occasion, Japan proposed to China that they work together to put down the civil unrest in Korea, and that once it was suppressed they leave their troops in place and work on internal administrative reforms (in areas including public finance, personnel issues, and military affairs) of the Korean government. However, China, which saw itself as suzerain over Korea, refused. In response, Japan presented its own proposal for internal reforms to the Korean government. It was a wide-ranging one that covered such matters as reforms to the central and local governments, adjustments to financial affairs, and the development of laws. Meanwhile, it also brought up the text of the Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity and asked the Korean government to reexamine its subordinate-suzerain relationship with Qing China. Furthermore, on July 20, as a last warning, it asked the Korean government to “break off the subordinate-suzerain relationship with Qing China and force the Chinese forces to withdraw.” Image 21 shows the Korean reaction to the Japanese proposal for internal administrative reforms.

 

[Image 21] Item: “4. Meiji 27-nen 7-gatsu 2-ka kara Meiji-27-nen 7-gatsu 23-nichi” [4. From July 2, 1894, to July 23, 1894] (Ref. B03050308400, image 50). The text contains the Korean reaction to Japan’s reform proposals: “First, withdraw the troops, and retract the Otsu plan [immediately setting a deadline and hastening implementation of the reform].” In short, they called for troop withdrawals to precede internal administrative reforms.

 

On July 23, having not gotten a satisfactory response from the Korean government, Japan used a regiment of troops to seize the royal palace (Gyeongbok Palace) (see map). They toppled the regime of Queen Myeongseong (Queen Min) and established a new Korean government. Furthermore, having secured a request from the new Korean government asking that the Qing forces be expelled, on July 25 Japan began a fierce gunbattle with a Chinese squadron near Pungdo Island off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. Images 22 and 23 are a New Year painting and a colored woodblock print depicting the scene created respectively in China and Japan.

 

[Image 22] “Ya shan da jie tu /Wo nu zhan ju han jing tu” [ Victory at Asan / the occupation of the Korean capital by the Japanese Army] (Qing China) [British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.4(33)].
A New Year painting created in China. The fighting at Asan is shown on the upper right, while the fall of Gyeongbok Palace is depicted on the lower left. The result is a single decorative painting showing events that occurred at different times and places.

 

[Image 23] “Chōsen ibun: shōsen no tenmatsu” [News from Korea: an account of a skirmish [involving Minister Ōtori]” (Japan) [British Library Shelfmark: 16126.d.2(92)].
A colored woodblock print made in Japan, it depicts a clash between Japanese forces and the garrison guarding Gyeongbok Palace at the time of its fall. Minister Plenipotentiary Ōtori Keisuke is shown at center right, while shown at center left is Daewongun, the birth father of King Gojong. The pair are depicted in a dramatic fashion as they make their way to the royal palace.

 

The peasants, who at one point had made peace with the Korean government, gradually began to resume their activities after Japan seized the royal palace. At the start of the war between Japan and China, Japanese forces landed at Busan. They then moved north along the Nakdong River and extended their supply lines as far as Incheon (see map). As the Japanese forces laid military roads and telegraph lines for military use, the Korean populace began to resist these troops that had penetrated the country. Image 24 shows the text of a telegram dated August 30, 1894, from second consul Uchida Sadatsuchi in Gyeongseong to Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Tadasu informing him that resistance activities were spreading.

 

[Image 24] Item: “Bunkatsu 3” [Partition 3] (Ref: B08090159000, image 1). The text describes the state of the resistance by the peasant army. It reads, “At present, the [Donghak] are showing up everywhere, including even Gyeongsang Province. They are advancing from Busan overland to Gyeongseong. They are causing no small interference with the hiring of men and horses for the passage of our troops.”

 

The peasant army rose up again in mid-October, and began to clash in various locations with the Japanese and the Korean government forces working to suppress them.

The peasant army grew larger, while the Japanese forces were short on troops and several times requested reinforcements. At first, Commissary General Kawakami Sōroku dispatched only a portion of the Hanseong (Seoul) garrison. In light of trends in other countries, he could not leave Hanseong lightly defended. However, the frequent cutting of telegraph lines and poles by the peasant army was dealing a blow to the prosecution of Japan’s war with China. On October 27, Kawakami decided, “Measures taken against the Donghak must be ruthless and fierce.” From this point forward, a joint army of Japanese forces dispatched from Imperial General Headquarters together with Korean government forces in support would begin to put together full-scale operations against the peasant army. Images 26 through 28 show a telegram from Minister Plenipotentiary Inoue Kaoru to Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi requesting an immediate increase in the dispatch of troops. Skipping over the minister of foreign affairs to send a telegram directly to the prime minister was unusual.

 

[Images 25] Item: “Denshin yakubun: 10-gatsu 27-nichi gogo 6-ji 50-pun Keijō hatsu, 10-gatsu 28-nichi gozen 7-ji Pusan hatsu, 10-gatsu 28-nichi shōgo setsu” [Translation of telegraph sent at 06:50 p.m., October 27 from Seoul, sent at 07:00 a.m., October 28, from Pusan, and received noon, October 28] (Ref. C08040505400, images 1–3). The second and third pages of this telegram from Minister Inoue to Secretary Nabeshima contain a request for the immediate troop increase, saying, “It is essential that we defeat and suppress the Donghak now. When can you dispatch the aforementioned five units?” Nabeshima served as the intermediary for telegrams sent to Prime Minister Itō.

 

Following this, the peasant army engaged in hard-fought battles from November through December and continued to be routed. In spring 1895, the peasant army was cornered in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. There, it was wiped out, and its leader Jeon Bong-jun was captured.

 

2-2. The Gabo Reforms: Internal Administrative Reforms of the Korean Government

As the uprising unfolded, the central Korean government pursued internal administrative reforms. Today, the reform drive is referred to collectively as the Gabo Reforms. They were one of the modernization policies backgrounded by Japanese involvement.

By the eve of the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and China, Japanese forces had already captured the Korean royal palace. After the regime of Queen Myeongseong had fallen, a new Korean government regime was born that centered on Kim Hong-jip, a member of the pro-Japanese, pro-modernization faction. On August 20, the Japanese and Korean governments concluded a “Japan-Korea Provisional Joint Agreement” and a “Japan-Korea Alliance Pact.” On their basis, Japan could offer “recommendations on internal administrative reforms” to Korea, and the Korean government was obliged to cooperate with the Japanese military. Image 26 shows the Japan-Korea Provisional Joint Agreement.

 

[Image 26] Item: “Nihon, Chōsen ryōkokukan zantei gōdō jōkan” [Japan-Korea Provisional Joint Agreement] (Ref. B13091011600, image 3). The text of the pact comprises both all-Chinese character and mixed-Japanese character versions.

 

Immediately after it came into force, the Kim Hong-jip government carried out a wide range of reforms, including administrative (such as the separation of the royal court and government and the elimination of the Chinese-style civil examination system) and financial (such as the reorganization and unification of items of taxation and the switch to a cash payment system) reforms. These were pursued against a backdrop of the pronounced relationship with Japan. On October 25, Inoue Kaoru replaced Ōtori Keisuke as Japanese minister to Korea. Soon thereafter, the hiring of Japanese advisors by the Korean government began. In March 1895, at Inoue’s recommendation, Japan made a three-million yen loan to Korea, which deepened Japan’s involvement financially as well. Image 27 is the memorial to the emperor that replaced Ōtori Keisuke with Inoue Kaoru as minister.

 

[Image 27] Item: “Chōsenkoku-chūsatsu tokumei zenken kōshi hakushaku Inoue Kaoru e go-shinninjō dō tokumei zenken kōshi Ōtori Keisuke e go-kaininjō go-shitatsuke no ken” [Issuance of credentials to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Inoue Kaoru to Korea and issuance of a letter of dismissal to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Ōtori Keisuke] (Ref: A04010010300, image 1).

 

Among the reforms pursued amid all this were the abolition of the use of Qing China era names and revisions to the honorific titles for members of the Korean royal family. The king was now referred to as “His Majesty,” and the queen as “Her Majesty the Queen.” By thus showing them to be on equal footing with the Qing emperor and empress, it moved toward the breaking off of the subordinate-suzerain relationship between Korea and China. The first article of the Treaty of Shimonoseki officially forced China to recognize this.

 

Conclusion

In this edition of “Special Feature,” we have focused on Korea in the context of the First Sino-Japanese War. We have introduced the fighting that took place in Korea, along with the peasant army uprisings and internal administrative reforms to the Korean government that unfolded behind the scenes of that war. The peasant uprising was the trigger to the First Sino-Japanese War. At the same time, it was also a conflict that continued to spread in the background behind that war. Furthermore, the internal changes that unfolded due to the Gabo Reforms led to the breaking up of Korea’s subordinate relationship to China, and resulted in a deepening of Japan’s involvement with the Korean government.

From the perspective of Japanese history, the First Sino-Japanese War has frequently been spoken of as the “starting point of a radiant modern Japan.” With the victory, Japan gained a foothold on continental Asia, and with the reparations it laid the cornerstone for domestic industry. However, for China and Korea it was a watershed of a different sort. From the perspective also of how it changed the military and political makeup of the east Asian world, the First Sino-Japanese War marked the start of a new era.

 

Yakubo Noriyoshi, Assistant Researcher, and Saitō Ryōko, Assistant Researcher, Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

 

*When citing materials in the original Japanese text, some changes were made for ease of reading. These included replacing obsolete characters and adding punctuations marks. Except where otherwise noted, the English translations are based entirely on the modified Japanese versions of the text.