Marco Polo Bridge Incident

Japanese forces bombarding Wanping, 1937

Date

7–9 July 1937

Location

Vicinity of Peking, China
39°50′57″N 116°12′47″E / 39.84917°N 116.21306°ECoordinates: 39°50′57″N 116°12′47″E / 39.84917°N 116.21306°E

Result

Tactical Chinese victory

Japanese attack repulsed
Beginning of the full scale invasion of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War

Belligerents

Republic of China

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Song Zheyuan
Qin Dechun (Mayor of Beijing, Lieutenant-General)

Kanichiro Tashiro

Strength

c. 100 + unknown reinforcements

5,600

Casualties and losses

All, except 4 soldiers killed in action

Unknown

Tactical Chinese victory

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known by several other names, was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. It is often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).

In English, the battle is usually known as the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident". The Marco Polo Bridge is an eleven-arch granite bridge, an architecturally significant structure first erected under the Jin and later restored by the Kangxi Emperor in 1698. It gained its Western name from its appearance in Marco Polo's record of his travels. The name is less often expressed as the Battle of Marco Polo Bridge.

It is also known as the "Lukouchiao", "Lugouqiao", or "Lugou Bridge Incident" from the local name of the bridge, derived from a former name of the Yongding River. This is the common name for the event in Japanese (, Rokōkyō Jiken) and is an alternate name for it in Chinese (t , s , p Lúgōuqiáo Shìbiàn) and Korean (, Nogugyo Sageon). The same name is also expressed or translated as the "Battle of Lugou Bridge", "Lugouqiao", or "Lukouchiao".

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Wikipedia