First Battle Between China and Japan: Comprehensive Chronicle of the First Sino-Japanese War (The Truth Deep in History)

Author: Cheng Dong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Looking back at history, we see very clearly that before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, China's defeat was already determined. The failure of the First Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki brought severe consequences to China. The defeat of the war caused a strong shock within China, directly triggering the "Petition on Public Cars" and the "Hundred Days' Reform." The demand for political reform evolved into the anti-Manchu revolution, and the Qing Dynasty's rule became shaky. From then on, China entered an era fraught with crises, disasters, and rising revolutionary winds. For over a century, the Chinese have reflected on this war with deep pain. But whenever they look back at it, that pain has never faded away, nor has it weakened. In the long history that followed, almost everything Japan learned came from China. Later, when both China and Japan began to learn from the West, Japan chose China as the target for its reforms. Defeating China was a crucial step in Japan's strategy to enter the world, yet China remained oblivious, failing to recognize the danger of the "tiny" country to the east. However, being small does not mean being weak, and being large does not mean being safe. History has proven that a vast empire could actually be as fragile as a house of cards. After defeating China, Japan greedily sucked the wealth of this great nation. It grew powerful by extorting huge indemnities from China, which in turn fueled its desire to further subjugate China. As a result, China suffered a devastating blow and entered a path of decline, disintegration, and eventual subjugation by Western powers, especially by Japan, which became a semi-colonial country under its rule.