First Sino-Japanese War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Qing dynasty | Empire of Japan | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Guangxu Emperor Empress Dowager Cixi Li Hongzhang Liu Kunyi Song Qing Ding Ruchang † |
Meiji Emperor Yamagata Aritomo Itō Sukeyuki Nozu Michitsura Ōyama Iwao |
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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 | |||||||
War of Jiawu – referring to the year 1894 under the traditional sexagenary system | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 甲午战争 | ||||||
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Japan–Qing War | |||||||
Kanji | 日清戦争 | ||||||
Kyūjitai | 日清戰爭 | ||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Jiǎwǔ Zhànzhēng |
Transcriptions | |
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Romanization | Nisshin sensō |
Japanese victory
The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing government sued for peace in February 1895.
The war demonstrated the failure of the Qing Empire's attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially when compared with Japan's successful Meiji Restoration. For the first time, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan; the prestige of the Qing Empire, along with the classical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. The humiliating loss of Korea as a vassal state sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within China, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei, culminating in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.
The war is commonly known in China as the War of Jiawu (Chinese: 甲午戰爭; pinyin: Jiǎwǔ Zhànzhēng), referring to the year (1894) as named under the traditional sexagenary system of years. In Japan, it is called the Japan–Qing War (Japanese: 日清戦争 Hepburn: Nisshin sensō?). In Korea, where much of the war took place, it is called the Qing–Japan War (Korean: 청일전쟁; Hanja: 淸日戰爭).