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37 - Story of Japan by Robert van Bergen · Story of Japan

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Speaker 1: Section thirty seven of the Story of Japan. This is
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Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: The Story of Japan by Robert van Bergen. War with China.
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Speaker 1: It was twenty six years since eighteen sixty eight when
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Speaker 1: Japan's leading samurai had formed the plan to introduce reforms
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Speaker 1: which would enable the Tenno's realm to hold its own
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Speaker 1: among the civilized nations of the earth. Had success crowned
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Speaker 1: their efforts, Was this country indeed able to brave any
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Speaker 1: of the powers that had humiliated it at Kagoshima and Shimonoseki,
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Speaker 1: had the long forte time at last arrived when deeply
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Speaker 1: resented insults could be wiped out and old scores paid off.
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Speaker 1: You have seen how the refusal of Korea to receive
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Speaker 1: the Tenno's ambassador had been resented by the more impatient samurai,
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Speaker 1: and how the unwillingness of the government to take speedy
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Speaker 1: revenge had led to serious revolts. A few years later,
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Speaker 1: another effort had been made to enter into communication with
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Speaker 1: the King of Korea, and again an insult had been offered.
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Speaker 1: These slights, apparently passed over, had not been forgotten, and
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Speaker 1: when in eighteen seventy six the Japanese had the opportunity
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Speaker 1: to dispatch an armed force without alarming either Russia or England,
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Speaker 1: they compelled the Koreans to enter into a treaty of
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Speaker 1: friendship and commerce, and obtained the right to reside and
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Speaker 1: trade in three seaports and in the capitol Soul. In
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Speaker 1: the opinion of the Japanese Samurai, Korea was a dependency
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Speaker 1: of Japan, owing to the conquest first under Empress Jingu
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Speaker 1: and afterwards under the regent Heidi Yoshi, and it was
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Speaker 1: therefore no wonder that the Japanese minister in Korea used
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Speaker 1: his utmost endeavors to bring that peninsula under the rule
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Speaker 1: of the Teno. Serious disturbances took place twice, and the
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Speaker 1: cause was easily traceable to Japanese intrigues. It was to
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Speaker 1: counteract them that Li hung Chang, the great Chinese statesman,
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Speaker 1: advised the Korean king to enter into treaties with other nations,
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Speaker 1: so that in eighteen eighty two Commodore Shufelt signed a
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Speaker 1: treaty on behalf of the United States, and since that
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Speaker 1: time Americans may reside and trade in that unhappy land
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Speaker 1: of the morning calm. England, France, Germany, and Russia made
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Speaker 1: treaties similar to that with the United States. In eighteen
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Speaker 1: eighty four, a serious disturbance took place. The Japanese had
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Speaker 1: made an agreement with a high Korean official, Kim ok kiun,
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Speaker 1: to capture and carry off the king, but the plot failed,
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Speaker 1: and both the Japanese minister and the Korean with his
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Speaker 1: fellow conspirators, fled to Japan. After that, Kim ok kiun
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Speaker 1: lived in Japan, where he was supported for ten years
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Speaker 1: by the Japanese Is. In March eighteen ninety four, he
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Speaker 1: was induced to come to Shanghai, where he was murdered
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Speaker 1: by a Korean. The honor paid by China and Korea
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Speaker 1: to the murderer made the Japanese furious. It must be
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Speaker 1: stated here that there is no country on Earth, not
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Speaker 1: even China, that is so wretchedly governed as Korea. The
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Speaker 1: officers seem to be appointed for the sole purpose of
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Speaker 1: robbing and stealing. A Korean farmer, when his crop of
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Speaker 1: rice is very bountiful, will harvest only enough to support
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Speaker 1: him and his family until the next season, and to
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Speaker 1: have sufficient for seed, why should I harvest more? A
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Speaker 1: Korean will say that the mandarins or officers may come
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Speaker 1: and rob me of it. If they want that rice,
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Speaker 1: let them go and cut it themselves. There had been
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Speaker 1: a failure of the crop in a southern province of Korea,
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Speaker 1: and several people, dissatisfied with the officers, had begun a
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Speaker 1: small rebellion. These people called themselves reformers, and they robbed
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Speaker 1: and plundered until the king sent some soldiers against them.
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Speaker 1: But these soldiers accomplished nothing, and the rebels did as
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Speaker 1: they pleased. The foreign ministers in Korea, with the exception
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Speaker 1: of mister J. N. B. Sil, Minister of the United States,
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Speaker 1: Otori Minister of Japan, and Yuan, Minister of China, were
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Speaker 1: all absent on their vacation. When Yuan insisted that the
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Speaker 1: king should ask the Emperor of China for help to
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Speaker 1: subdue them rebels, the king resisted for three weeks, but
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Speaker 1: when the Queen and her cousin men the Prime Minister,
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Speaker 1: also begged him to do so, he submitted and the
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Speaker 1: request was sent. The Japanese kept themselves well informed, and
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Speaker 1: the fact was soon known to the Tokyo government. Japan
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Speaker 1: had entered into a treaty with China by witch. Each
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Speaker 1: agreed to send no troops into Korea without notifying the
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Speaker 1: other power. And when Japan knew that China was preparing
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Speaker 1: to dispatch a force, it was decided that now or
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Speaker 1: never was the time to try the efficiency of army
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Speaker 1: and navy, and at the same time to satisfy the
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Speaker 1: war party of the Samurai, and incidentally, to settle old
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Speaker 1: scores with Korea. No better time could have been chosen.
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Speaker 1: Neither Europe nor America expected any disturbance, and no single
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Speaker 1: power was prepared to interfere, while jealousy prevented the great
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Speaker 1: powers of Europe from acting together. When at last China
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Speaker 1: was ready to send troops and notified Japan, the Japanese
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Speaker 1: Minister in Pe King made a similar communication to the
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Speaker 1: Chinese government, and so much dispatch had been used by
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Speaker 1: the Japanese authorities that OTOI could boast that the Japanese
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Speaker 1: troops had landed at the port of Seoul one hour
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Speaker 1: before the first Chinese soldiers came ashore. And now the
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Speaker 1: Japanese government, knowing that the die was cast, continued its
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Speaker 1: preparations steadily, but as secretly as possible. The reserves of
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Speaker 1: the army were called out, and the navy left for Korea,
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Speaker 1: every man determined to do his duty. The Japanese then
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Speaker 1: gave notice to the Chinese government not to send any
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Speaker 1: more troops, declaring that if it did so, the government
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Speaker 1: would consider it an unfriendly act. In other words, it
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Speaker 1: would mean war. The Chinese government had engaged several English
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Speaker 1: vessels to transport Chinese soldiers, and one of these, and
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Speaker 1: English ship, the Kaushing, was overtaken by a Japanese man
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Speaker 1: of war and ordered to follow her. The captain signalled
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Speaker 1: that the Chinese prevented him from obeying, whereupon he was
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Speaker 1: advised to jump overboard. The Japanese now fired upon the
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Speaker 1: transport and unchor. This happened in July eighteen ninety four.
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Speaker 1: The Japanese, in the meanwhile, had continued sending troops to
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Speaker 1: Korea until there were about three thousand men in Seoul,
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Speaker 1: while the Chinese had fortified themselves at Arsan, a port
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Speaker 1: on the western coast of Korea. It was decided to
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Speaker 1: drive out the Chinese troops, and Oti demanded of the
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Speaker 1: king that he should order them to leave. The King
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Speaker 1: replied mildly that he could not very well do so,
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Speaker 1: since they had been sent at his request. But OTOI
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Speaker 1: knew how the Koreans detested the Japanese, so he decided
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Speaker 1: to capture the king and keep him as a hostage
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Speaker 1: while the Japanese army left for the south. At four
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Speaker 1: o'clock of the morning of July the twenty third, eighteen
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Speaker 1: ninety four, the Japanese minister took the necessary measures. The
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Speaker 1: city walls near the palace were occupied by his troops,
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Speaker 1: and a detachment marched to the principal gate of the palace.
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Speaker 1: They first attempted to burn the gate, but when this failed,
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Speaker 1: they scaled the wall with a ladder and opened the
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Speaker 1: gate from the inside. They then entered the grounds and
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Speaker 1: marched upon the palace. Here was the fright and Korean guard,
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Speaker 1: and a shot was fired. Who fired it will probably
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Speaker 1: never be known, but an engagement followed in which one
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Speaker 1: Japanese and seventeen Koreans were killed, and several of each
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Speaker 1: party were hurt. The Japanese occupied the palace and kept
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Speaker 1: the king a prisoner. They were now ready to march
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Speaker 1: upon Arsan, and lost no time in doing so. Have
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Speaker 1: you my young friends, any idea of what a Chinese
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Speaker 1: army is. Try if you can, to imagine soldiers going
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Speaker 1: to war with umbrellas to keep from getting wet if
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Speaker 1: it should rain, And think of officers who have studied
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Speaker 1: tactics that say, when you are in the presence of
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Speaker 1: the enemy, put on hideous masks and make horrible noises
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Speaker 1: so that they may be frightened. I have seen Chinese
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Speaker 1: soldiers going to fight the Japanese armed with bamboo poles
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Speaker 1: sharpened with tenpenny nails at the top. And I have
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Speaker 1: seen others who, when ready to fire off their guns,
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Speaker 1: would close their eyes and pull the trigger. These men
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Speaker 1: were not regular soldiers at all. They were coolies hired
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Speaker 1: for this war. Most of them were stalwart enough, and
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Speaker 1: with plenty of drill, they could have been trained as soldiers.
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Speaker 1: Untrained as they were and led by cowardly and ignorant officers,
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Speaker 1: what chance had they against the well disciplined, drilled, and
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Speaker 1: splendidly commanded troops of Japan, a nation naturally warlike. The
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Speaker 1: Japanese troops had come to fight and went into battle
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Speaker 1: willing to die for their teno and their country. The
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Speaker 1: Chinese had been promised fifty tales about thirty seven dollars
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Speaker 1: fifty cents for every Japanese head they brought to their general,
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Speaker 1: so they wanted to cut off heads, but did not
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Speaker 1: care about losing their own. In the battle near Arsan
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Speaker 1: on July the twenty ninth, eighteen ninety four, the Japanese
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Speaker 1: utterly routed the enemy. The Chinese dispersed the officers and generals,
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Speaker 1: disguised themselves as coolies, and made their way north. China
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Speaker 1: had sent reinforcements, and its troops then occupied a very
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Speaker 1: strong position at Pingyang on the Teitung River. August passed
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Speaker 1: by without further fighting, although war had been regularly declared
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Speaker 1: on the first of that month. On the fourteenth of September,
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Speaker 1: the Japanese army, in command of Field Marshal Yamongata, was
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Speaker 1: opposite the enemy, and on the fifteenth and sixteenth a
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Speaker 1: battle took place. The Manchurian cavalry, a body of five
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Speaker 1: hundred men, made a charge, but that was all the
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Speaker 1: fighting so far as the Chinese were concerned. The Japanese
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Speaker 1: took a steep hill at the point of the bayonet
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Speaker 1: and easily dislodged the Chinese. Pingyang was taken, and Yamangata
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Speaker 1: began his march north to the Yalu River, which forms
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Speaker 1: the boundary between China and Korea. This part of China
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Speaker 1: is called Manchuria and is the cradle of the present
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Speaker 1: House of Chinese emperors. They were very sorry to see
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Speaker 1: this province invaded and prepared to send strong reinforcements to
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Speaker 1: arrest the Japanese march. This led to the first and
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Speaker 1: only naval battle of the war. While the Japanese fleet
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Speaker 1: was scarring the Yellow Sea to intercept the enemy's trans
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Speaker 1: smoke was seen in the distance to the north. Steaming
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Speaker 1: in that direction. Admiralto, in command of the Japanese fleet,
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Speaker 1: discovered it was the famous North China Fleet and that
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Speaker 1: it had been conveying transports. The eager Japanese at once
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Speaker 1: prepared for battle, and since their fleet hemmed the enemy
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Speaker 1: in on the seaside, the Chinese were compelled to engage
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Speaker 1: in a fight for which they had but little taste.
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Speaker 1: They had in reality a stronger force than the Japanese,
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Speaker 1: and their two battleships alone, the teng Yun and the
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Speaker 1: cheng Yun, ought to have defeated the less powerful Japanese fleet.
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Speaker 1: But the weakness of the Tenno's vessels was more than
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Speaker 1: counterbalanced by the patriotism, courage, and seamanship of the officers
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Speaker 1: and crew. Every man from admiral to powder monkey was
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Speaker 1: eager for the fight and firmly resolved to do his duty.
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Speaker 1: The result was easy to foretell. The Chinese lost several vessels,
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Speaker 1: and it was with difficulty that the pride of China's navy,
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Speaker 1: the two battleships from which such great things had been expected,
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Speaker 1: made their way back to weigh Highway. This battle made
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Speaker 1: the Japanese masters of the Yellow Sea, and the Great
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Speaker 1: Chinese Empire could send no more troops by water. Nyamongata
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Speaker 1: had little difficulty in forcing his way across the Yellow
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Speaker 1: River and started upon his long march to Peking. At
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Speaker 1: this time, that is the beginning of November, a second
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Speaker 1: army had left Japan, and without meeting any obstruction, had
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Speaker 1: landed at tar lion Wang, a sheltered bay on the
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Speaker 1: southeast coast of the Liaro Tongue Peninsula. If you will
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Speaker 1: take the map of Japan and look at that large
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Speaker 1: gulf called the Yellow Sea, you will see a smaller
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Speaker 1: body of water, the Gulf of Pechi Lee to the
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Speaker 1: northwest of it. This is the key to Peking, the
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Speaker 1: capital of China. On the north, this entrance was protected
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Speaker 1: by the southern point of the Liaro Tongue Peninsula, known
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Speaker 1: as Port Arthur. The ablest engineers had constructed the walls
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Speaker 1: and forts, and the natural position was so strong that
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Speaker 1: foreign military men had pronounced it impregnable. Right opposite the
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Speaker 1: Liaro Toungue Peninsula, on the southern coast of the Gulf
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Speaker 1: of Pechi Lee is the Shantung Peninsula. West of its
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Speaker 1: northeastern extremity is a small natural harbor defended by steep
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Speaker 1: islands in front. Here, too, the hand of man has
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Speaker 1: aided the forces of nature, and the result as a
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Speaker 1: basin where with the most ordinary precautions a fleet may
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Speaker 1: remain in complete security and mark at the efforts of
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Speaker 1: the boldest enemy. Japan had firmly decided to march upon
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Speaker 1: Pe King and to dictate there the terms of peace
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Speaker 1: to the Solitary Man, as the Chinese called their Emperor.
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Speaker 1: But to prevent being attacked in the rear, she wanted
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Speaker 1: to capture both Port Arthur and Wai Highway, as she
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Speaker 1: could not hope to be able to take Port Arthur
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Speaker 1: by a front attack, she concluded to approach it from
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Speaker 1: the land side, that is, from the rear. That is
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Speaker 1: why Marshal Oyama had landed at tar lion Wang and
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Speaker 1: was now on the march against the strong fortress. Escape
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Speaker 1: by way of land was cut off to the Chinese braves,
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Speaker 1: as the soldiers were called defending the fortress, and the
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Speaker 1: presence of the Japanese fleet prevented their escape by sea.
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Speaker 1: Now driven in a corner, even Chinese soldiers will fight,
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Speaker 1: but what could they do against the well drilled and
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Speaker 1: disciplined troops of Japan. The officers commanding the Tenno's troops
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Speaker 1: were old Satsuma or Choshui samurai, who were now in
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Speaker 1: their true elements field. Marshal Oyama was in supreme command,
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Speaker 1: and General yama Yi, the Blind Dragon, as he was
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Speaker 1: affectionately called by his troops because he had but one eye,
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Speaker 1: commanded the attack. Yamayi gained much honor by his coolness
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Speaker 1: and supreme indifference to danger. On November twenty first, the
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Speaker 1: impregnable stronghold was captured and the Red Sun on the
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Speaker 1: White Field floated over China's strongest fortress up to this time,
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Speaker 1: the Japanese had conducted the war most humanely and had
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Speaker 1: earned the well deserved admiration of the whole civilized world.
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Speaker 1: The discipline had been perfect, no blood had been shed,
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Speaker 1: wantonly peaceful inhabitants had been left undisturbed in life and property,
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Speaker 1: and prisoners taken in battle had been kindly cared for.
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Speaker 1: The wounded Chinese had received the same care and attention
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Speaker 1: as was given to the wounded Japanese, and the severest
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Speaker 1: critic could find no cause for reproach. How differently had
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Speaker 1: the Chinese acted. Wounded Japanese on a battlefield were eagerly
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Speaker 1: sought that they might be robbed of their clothing and valuables,
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Speaker 1: and their heads were cut off for the sake of
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Speaker 1: the promise reward. The cool and brave members of the
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Speaker 1: Red Cross Society, when searching for the wounded, regardless whether
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Speaker 1: they were friends or enemies, had been frequently attacked by
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Speaker 1: these Chinese monsters, and when taken prisoners had been mutilated
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Speaker 1: and put to death. A brave foreign naval officer, who
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Speaker 1: was not in sympathy with Japan told me that if
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Speaker 1: American or European soldiers had conducted this war, they would
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Speaker 1: have laid waste the territory through which they passed to
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Speaker 1: teach the Chinese the lesson that such barbarous cruelty cannot
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Speaker 1: remain unpunished. When the Japanese entered Port Arthur and witnessed
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Speaker 1: there the horrible outragers committed upon their countrymen, they were
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Speaker 1: filled with rage and determined to retaliate. The whole population
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Speaker 1: was put to the sword, the innocent suffering with the guilty,
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Speaker 1: but the Chinese for once received a much needed lesson.
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Speaker 1: Through the inclement climate of Manchuria, in a desert of
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Speaker 1: snow and ices, army corps continued slowly to advance. There
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Speaker 1: was some doubt whether they would proceed to the northeast
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Speaker 1: and capture Mukden, the capital of Manchuria, or continue their
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Speaker 1: way toward the Chinese capital. It was in the latter
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Speaker 1: part of January eighteen ninety five that the Third Army,
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Speaker 1: placed in command of Field Marshal Oyama, left for the
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Speaker 1: Shangtung Peninsula to capture Wai Highway in conjunction with the fleet. Again,
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Speaker 1: the army landed without difficulty some distance east of the
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Speaker 1: Doom Stronghold, and dividing into three corps advanced by rapid marchers.
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Speaker 1: The Chinese had sunk several junks and further strengthened the
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Speaker 1: defenses of the entrance to the basin, containing their crippled
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Speaker 1: fleet by a strong chain. But little did the bold
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Speaker 1: Japanese care Torpedo boats succeeded in effecting an entrance, and
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Speaker 1: one of them rammed one of the great battleships so
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Speaker 1: that she sunk at her moorings. Fleet and fortress surrendered,
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Speaker 1: and the Chinese admiral, knowing that he would be held
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Speaker 1: responsible for the loss of the fleet, committed suicide. At last,
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Speaker 1: Nu Chuang was reached and taken on May the fourth. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: China had grown tired of the war. The Japanese had
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Speaker 1: exposed the incapacity and corruption of the Chinese government, and
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Speaker 1: no foreign power showed any desire to come to its rescue.
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Speaker 1: The Japanese were naturally enough elated over their victories, and
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Speaker 1: the native press began to suggest that it was time
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Speaker 1: to establish a protectorate over the huge empire, and that
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Speaker 1: the Japanese were the people to assume that duty. The
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Speaker 1: Chinese began to express a wish to enter into negotiations
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Speaker 1: for peace, but the Japanese declined receiving anyone who was
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Speaker 1: not provided with full authority to sign a treaty, and
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Speaker 1: in the meanwhile continued their preparations to send a third army.
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Speaker 1: The Emperor had established his headquarters at Hiroshima and had
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Speaker 1: called a session of the Diet to vote the necessary
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Speaker 1: money to carry on the war. There was of course
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Speaker 1: no opposition. Every member, every samurai would gladly have given
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Speaker 1: his last penny and his life had the glory of
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Speaker 1: Japan demanded. Even the people had taken the patriotic fever,
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Speaker 1: and poor jin Rikisha coolis would devote part of their
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Speaker 1: scanty earnings to increase the war fund composed of voluntary contributions.
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Speaker 1: China's old statesman Li hung Chang was now called to
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Speaker 1: Pe King and ordered to proceed to Japan to make peace.
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Speaker 1: Before leaving, he called on the foreign ministers and probably
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Speaker 1: satisfied himself as to how much the Japanese would be
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Speaker 1: allowed to demand. Through the United States minister in Tokyo,
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Speaker 1: the Japanese government was informed of Li's arrival, and Shimono Seki,
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Speaker 1: Japan was appointed as the place where the negotiations should
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Speaker 1: be held. The Chinese government had engaged the services of
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Speaker 1: the Honnerable John W. Foster of Washington, DC on account
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Speaker 1: of his knowledge of international law. Lee Hung Chang arrived
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Speaker 1: in Japan and met our old friend, Itto, the Prime Minister,
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Speaker 1: who was appointed by the Teno to represent Japan. One day,
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Speaker 1: as the Chinese minister was returning from the meeting, a
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Speaker 1: young Japanese fired a small revolver at him. The bullet
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Speaker 1: penetrated above the eye. The murderer was taken prisoner, and
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Speaker 1: upon examination it was found that he was not a samurai,
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Speaker 1: but the son of a poor farmer who had shown
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Speaker 1: a worthless character from early youth. He had joined the soshi,
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Speaker 1: young vagabonds too lazy to work, who openly sell their
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Speaker 1: services to the highest bidder to produce a tat to
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Speaker 1: commit murder or any other lawless act. They are known
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Speaker 1: to the government and to the police, and not only
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Speaker 1: are they tolerated, but it seems they even receive support.
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Speaker 1: The only explanation that can be given is that their
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Speaker 1: leaders are samurai, which would fully account for their immunity.
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Speaker 1: The murderer was arraigned in court and condemned to imprisonment
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Speaker 1: for life. His victim recovered and the peace negotiations were resumed.
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Speaker 1: At last, the two statesmen came to an agreement. By
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Speaker 1: the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed on April seventeen,
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Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five, the independence of Korea was to be acknowledged.
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Speaker 1: China was to give to Japan the island of Foremosa,
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Speaker 1: the Yaro Tongue Peninsula, and other territory, besides paying an
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Speaker 1: indemnity of two hundred million tiles about one hundred and
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Speaker 1: forty eight million dollars. So you see that her incapacity
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Speaker 1: and corruption cost her very dear. But now Russia, France
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Speaker 1: and Germany interfered. The ministers of those countries gave Japan
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Speaker 1: the friendly advice not to take the Liaro Tongue Peninsula,
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Speaker 1: which meant the same thing as saying you shall not
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Speaker 1: do it. The Japanese government understood it in that way, and,
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Speaker 1: knowing that it could not hope to fight those three
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Speaker 1: countries with any chance of success, it submitted, agreeing to
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Speaker 1: accept instead an additional indemnity of thirty million tiles. You
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Speaker 1: can easily understand and how angry the Japanese and especially
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Speaker 1: the Samurai were when they heard of this. Interference, but
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Speaker 1: they could do nothing but disguise their feelings and continue
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Speaker 1: their preparations until at last they might be able to
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Speaker 1: retaliate on all the nations that had thwarted or insulted them.
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Speaker 1: And of Section thirty seven