28 KOREA Japanese cruiser Naviwa.Two days later,the imprisoned king was THREE forced to declare war against his suzerain.On July 31,the tenno declared war against China;the Chinese emperor responded with a declaration the next day. The Army,1895-1899 China and Japan fought from July 1894 to March 1895,first in Korea and then in Manchuria and on the Yellow Sea.China was soundly defeated in all three major campaigns.Sir Robert Hart commented,"China has given no offense-has done no wrong does not wish to fight,and is willing to make sacrifices:She is a big'sick man,'convalescing very slowly from the sickening effects of peaceful centuries,and is being jumped on when down by this THE WAR and peace of 1895 ended China's suzerainty over Korea, agile,healthy,well-armed Jap-will no one pull him off?" as well as her sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu (the Pesca- Early in July 1894,after the failuire of the four-power mediation, dores).In addition,China was to pay Japan an indemnity of 200 Yuan had asked the Tsungli Yamen to recall him,since his pres- million taels of silver in eight installments,a debt that virtually ence in Seoul was no longer necessary.His request denied,the reduced her maritime customs service to a collection agency.for once powerful resident became a pathetic figure.No one called Japan.She was forced to allow Japan to build factories on her on hi,and all his servants deserted him.He soon fell ill,and soil;and by the application of the most-favored-nation clause, T'ang sil ao-i carried on the routine work of his office.Finally, many other countries gained this right as well.A period of intense through Li Hung-chang's efforts,the Tsungli Yamen summoned competition was thus inaugurated-in Lord Salisbury's words,the Yuan to report on the situation in Korea.He was to go directly to "battle of concessions."One of the war's most profound effects was Peking without stopping to see Li in Tientsin,a reversal of nor- the sense of panic that now seized the Chinese mind.The defeat mal procedure that signified Li's declining power.Yuan began had revealed serious defects in the policy of self-strengthening this melancholy journey on July 19 and arrived a week later.On that China had pursued since the 1860's. August 4,Li sent Yuan to Pyongyang as quartermaster of the Chi- Under the self-strengthening policy,new armies had been nese army.47 Before reaching the city,Yuan received news of its trained,a navy established,and arsenals and factories built.With fall.He stayed in Manchuria with Chou Fu and Hu Yi-fen,two. these as security,China had enjoyed peace and order for nearly Chinese officers,supplying provisions and equipment to the forces go years.But the peace was a precarious one.The dynasty's safety fighting there.This gave him another opportunity to witness the depended largely on the strength of the Hwai Army and the North- corruption and utter inefficiency of the Hwai Army-and its shat- ern Fleet.It was because Li Hung-chang knew the real limitations tering defeat.A provocative experience,it may have helped him of those forces that he had accepted the Japanese challenge so re- decide to resume his career as a military instructor.Indeed,even luctantly.Others with less precise knowledge blamed Li for follow- as the Chinese were retreating from Manchuria,Hu Yu-fen sug ing a weak,irresolute policy and urged him to be firmer. gested to Yuan that he organize an army of his own. After his ruin,Li was sent on a long tour.Wang Wen-shao The signing of the Shimonoseki Treaty on April 17,1895, assumed the positions of viceroy of Chihli and commissioner for marked the end of the war and the beginning of a new epoch in trade;but the real power fell into the hands of Jung-lu.Jung-lu's China,indeed in the Far East as a whole.In many ways,it was to immediate task was to secure the imperial capital,not so much be the worst period China had seen since being opened to the West. against a foreign invasion as against a possible internal uprising of those disaffected by the government's policy.Stunned by the defeat of 1895,most government officials-including Chang Chih-