The Tragic Life of Guangxu Emperor----Part III. Sino-Japnanese War

'Big China defeated by small Japan'

From the aspect of Guangxu Emperor himself, the First Sino-Japanese War was undoubtedly the turning point of his political career. Just as the American woman painter Carl who later painted the portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi commented, ‘before the war in 1894, the young Emperor had no idea of reforming China and didn’t really know what to do to fulfill his responsibility, however, after enduring the humiliating result of the war, he determinately took on the responsibility of saving an Empire and her people on his shoulders.’ On the other hand, the breach and conflict between the Emperor’s party and Empress Dowager’s party during the war worsened the personal relationship between Guangxu Emperor and Cixi.

The seed of the First Sino-Japanese War had been rooted long before it broke out in 1894, the Korean government managed to suppress The reformist Gapsin coup with the help of the Qing government in 1884, however, such an event allowed Japan to coerce China by asking her to sign the ‘Convention of Tianjin’ , enhancing Japan’s status in the matters of Korea, which paved its way to wage invasions to China. Finally, the ‘Donghak Rebellion’ in Korea in 1894 incited the spark of war, for Japan transported far more troops to Korea than China did and then unilaterally attacked Chinese naval vessels in the sea near Pungdo on July 25th, formally declaring war on China.

The common cliché was that the Emperor’s party, led by minister of Grand Council Weng Tonghe had always been in favor of war with Japan while the Empress Dowager’s party, led by Minister of Beiyang Navy Li Hongzhang had always been seeking for humiliating peace. The historical fact was far more complicated than that. Before real war broke out, Cixi also showed her aggressive attitude towards the potential Japanese invaders along with Guangxu, insisting that the Chinese army should not decline. However, after real battle broke out on July 25th, Li Hongzhang managed to persuade Cixi that seeking peace with Japan by means of demanding the interference of other powers (notably Russia and Britain, who showed such inclination) would be the better strategy. (It has been a common cliché to regard Li Hongzhang a traitor to his country by bribing foreign powers and being responsible for the defeat by Japan, however, recent studies show that it’s unfair for Li to bear those blames as his Beiyang Fleet was in fact the only force to fight the Japanese while the other generals didn’t respond to the orders to fight but rather removed the military fees for personal enrichment). About to celebrate her own 60-year-old birthday at that time (which also removed money supposed to finance the navy), Cixi soon favored Li’s proposals. Guangxu Emperor (with the support by the ‘Emperor’s party’, notably Weng Tonghe), on the other hand, was furious about Li’s ambiguity and sluggishness that he constantly urged Li to fight the Japanese with every effort, as any interference by foreign powers would be unreliable and likely to cause further coerce. In the end, Guangxu would deprive Li from his honorable title as a punishment (but could not deprive his real post) and would banish two members belonging to the Empress’s party out of the Grand Council.

However, Guangxu was far more fable and inexperienced than Cixi in political tricks. Cixi, in return, not only banished several important members of the Emperor’s Party out of Beijing, but also punished Guangxu’s beloved Consort Zhen as a warning to the emperor. The war between China and Japan really incited a fierce political struggle within the Forbidden City. Exhausted and frustrated, Guangxu finally declined his own will to that of the Empress Dowager.
The political struggle between the two factions had resulted in a bizarre panorama: on the one hand, soldiers and sailors at the front were still fighting the Japanese in brutal battles; on the other hand, ministers at the court were about to seek humiliating peace. Because of the inner political fight, in addition to the corruption of generals, China was defeated by Japan bitterly both at sea and on land. Beiyang Fleet was totally destroyed by the Japanese Imperial Navy in the Battle of Weihaiwei. On land, the Japanese army seizured the Korean peninsula and invaded Liaodong peninsula in China, committing atrocities such as the massacre of Port Author. Seeing the defeat at the front, the Empress party sought to end the war more hastily and Li Hongzhang was to negociate with the Japanese. However, some members of the Emperor’s party suggested the idea of ‘protracted warfare’ with Japan so that the enemy’s supplies would run out in a long term. Though Guangxu himself was in favor of this strategy, Cixi wouldn’t agree as then she would not be able to enjoy her life. Thus the first Sino-Japanese War ended with the signing of

‘The Treaty of Shimonoseki’, in which China not only had to pay a large sum of indemnity but also had to cede Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. Liaodong Peninsula was later allowed to be kept by China, however, due to the disapproval from other colonial powers (Russia, Germany and France). But these powers only did that out of their own interest, especially Russia, who largely increased its influence in Manchuria by asking Li Hongzhang to sign a secret treaty.

Guangxu Emperor was more than devastated when he was forced to sign the treaty with his imperial seal, this event would indeed change the whole Chinese ideology: It is unbelievable the Heavenly Kingdom would ever be defeated by the ‘dwarves’ (The way the Chinese had always called the Japanese). This event, as mentioned before, would also change the whole course of Guangxu’s political career.