This further cause of quarrel was supplied by Korea.

CHAPTER XXII
China and Korea—War with China—Naval Reform—Defeat of China—Treaty of Shimonoséki—Peace Terms.

Those who are at all familiar with Chinese history will scarcely have failed to notice one persistent feature of it—the suzerainty that China has either exercised, or claimed to exercise, over neighbouring States which at one time or another have fallen under her domination. This has been the common experience of nearly all countries whose situation on the frontiers of the Chinese Empire has exposed them to invasion by their restless and powerful neighbour. At the time of which we are speaking some of these States had already recovered their independence, which was not, however, always recognized formally by China; in others Chinese suzerainty had been replaced by that of another Power; while in a few instances China, in the wish to evade the responsibilities of a protectorate, had of late years allowed her suzerainty to become almost nominal. This last-mentioned position was that of Korea, when Japan in 1876 concluded the Treaty with that country, to which reference has already been made. For many years previously Chinese suzerainty had ceased to be effective, but it was still asserted by China, and acknowledged by Korea. The despatch from time to time of missions to Peking bearing presents, which the Chinese were justified in regarding as tribute, the form given to correspondence between the two countries, and the ceremonies observed on official occasions, constituted an admission of the status of vassalage. With this acknowledged status the Treaty of 1876 was inconsistent, since its first Article contained the declaration that Korea was an independent State; and in 1882—when Great Britain and America followed Japan’s example by negotiating treaties with that country—China, with an inconsistency equal to that displayed by Korea, weakened her own position as suzerain by making a Treaty with her nominal vassal on the lines of those already concluded between Korea and the three Powers above mentioned. This false step on the part of China strengthened the attitude adopted by Japan in declining to recognize Chinese suzerainty. At the outset, therefore, of Japan’s new relations with Korea the situation as between herself, Korea, and the latter’s nominal suzerain, China, was anomalous and contradictory. In this fact alone lay the seeds of future trouble. Nor was the aspect of affairs in Korea itself such as to offer any assurance that the difficulties which there was every reason to anticipate would not shortly occur.

Its condition was that of an Oriental State in complete decay. Long years of misrule had broken the spirit of the people; the occupant of the Throne was a nonentity in the hands of unscrupulous and incompetent Ministers, who were supported by rival factions struggling with each other for power; there were no regular forces, nor police, worthy of the name; intrigue and corruption prevailed everywhere unchecked; and the resources of the country were wasted by swarms of rapacious officials intent only on enriching themselves.

In these circumstances the appearance on the scene of two neighbouring Powers, each bent on obtaining a predominant influence in the peninsula, could only result in making matters worse than they were before. The introduction of foreign elements into the intrigues of contending factions gave fresh force to domestic quarrels, until increasing disorder in the country culminated in anti-foreign disturbances, in the course of which the Japanese, against whom popular feeling was chiefly directed, were driven out of Seoul, and their Legation destroyed. The puppet King, accused of favouring Japan, was also compelled to abdicate, his father, the Tai-wön-kun, one of the few Koreans who possessed both character and ability, assuming charge of the administration. Thereupon China intervened. Exercising her acknowledged authority as suzerain, she sent a military force, supported by some men-of-war, to Korea to restore order. The Korean capital (Seoul) was occupied, and the Tai-wön-kun arrested and taken to China. This was in 1883. It was then that Yuan Shih-kai, afterwards President of the Chinese Republic, first came into public notice on his appointment as Chinese Resident in Seoul. For a short time after the reassertion of her authority by China, and the restoration of order in the Korean capital, affairs remained quiet, both the Chinese and Japanese Governments maintaining garrisons in Seoul; but in the following year a conspiracy fomented by the pro-Japanese party led to the outbreak of further disturbances, in the course of which a collision occurred between the Chinese and Japanese garrisons, the latter, which was greatly outnumbered, withdrawing to the port of Chemulpo.

The critical situation produced by this collision between the troops of the two Powers in the Korean capital impressed on both Governments the necessity, if further and more serious trouble were to be avoided, of arriving at some understanding in regard to action in Korea. With this object negotiations were opened early in 1885, and in the spring of that year a convention was signed at Tientsin between China and Japan, by which the independence of Korea was recognized. Both Governments agreed to withdraw their forces from Korea, leaving only small detachments as guards for their Legations, and to give each other previous notice “in writing,” should the despatch of troops by either to that country become necessary at any time in the future. A further stipulation provided that the King of Korea should be asked to organize an armed force for the preservation of order and public security, and to engage the services of foreign military experts for this purpose from a foreign country other than China and Japan.

This was still the position of affairs in 1894 under the modus vivendi established by the Tientsin Convention. Though by that agreement China had abandoned her pretensions to suzerainty, the rivalry between the two Powers continued unabated. The interval since 1885 had been marked by constant strife among Korean factions, and the prosecution of busy intrigues between the latter and the Chinese and Japanese, to which the growing interest now taken by Russia in the affairs of the peninsula gave fresh impetus. The Chinese representative in Korea retained the title of Resident, which conveyed, as was intended, the impression of the superiority of his position to those of other foreign representatives; and the influence of China at the Capital—exercised through the masterful Queen, who did not conceal her pro-Chinese sympathies—was predominant. Nevertheless, what advantage China enjoyed in these respects over her rival was more than counterbalanced by the political and commercial activity displayed by Japan. Proof of this had already been given by the prompt action of the Japanese Government in obtaining redress for the results of the disturbances of 1882 and 1884, and by the steadily increasing volume of Japanese trade.

Field-Marshal Prince Yamagata.
Distinguished himself in the Restoration campaign; took an active part in the Government subsequently formed, in the reorganization of the Japanese army, and in the wars with China and Russia; he wielded throughout great influence in State affairs.

In the spring of 1894 the value of the arrangement under which the two Powers had agreed to conduct their relations with Korea was put to the test by the outbreak of an insurrection in the south of Korea. The Korean troops sent from the Capital to quell the revolt having been worsted in several encounters with the insurgents, the Min party, to which the Queen belonged, appealed to China for assistance. The Chinese Government responded to the appeal by sending troops to Asan, the scene of the revolt, informing Japan at the same time, in accordance with the terms of the Tientsin Convention, of its intention to do so. The Japanese Government replied by taking similar action. The tenour of the correspondence that ensued between the two Governments gave little hope of an amicable settlement of the difficulty, China reasserting the suzerainty she had previously waived, and seeking to impose limits upon Japanese action; while Japan insisted on her right to interfere, and supported it by reinforcing the troops she had already despatched. China at once took similar measures, but the reinforcements sent never reached their destination. The British vessel conveying them, under convoy of Chinese men-of-war, was met and sunk at sea by a Japanese squadron commanded by Admiral (then Captain) Tōgō. A day or two later the Chinese and Japanese forces at Asan came into conflict, with the result that the Chinese troops were defeated and were withdrawn to China. Hostilities had, therefore, already commenced on land and sea when simultaneous declarations of war were made by both Governments on the 1st August.