In 1871, a ship of the Ryukyu Kingdom was hit by a hurricane and drifted to the coast of Taiwan, and more than 50 people on board were killed by the local "Shengfan". According to common sense, this matter should be negotiated between the Qing Dynasty and the Ryukyu State, but Japan sent 3,000 people to invade Taiwan, which is known as the "Peony Incident". The Peony Incident was a test of Japanese aggression against China to force the Qing Dynasty to recognize Japan's annexation of Ryukyu. This event had an important impact on military deployments throughout East Asia.
Before the Qing Dynasty, China regarded both Taiwan Island and the Ryukyu Islands as "Ryukyu", such as the early Ming Dynasty referred to the Ryukyu Kingdom as "Great Ryukyu" and the Island of Taiwan as "Little Ryukyu". During the Southern Song Dynasty, the Ryukyu Kingdom was established, and by 1372, it had established a tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty and accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization. However, in 1609, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent satsuma domains to conquer Ryukyu, and Ryukyu had to submit to both countries at the same time.
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national strength flourished, and its ambitions for foreign expansion were gradually exposed. In 1868, Japan placed the Ryukyu Kingdom under the jurisdiction of Kagoshima Prefecture and tried to administer it directly. The move was not agreed to by the Ryukyu king. At that time, the Ryukyu Kingdom was also a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and if Japan wanted to truly occupy Ryukyu, it had to be recognized by the Qing Dynasty.
In October 1871, a tribute ship of the islanders of Miyako Island in Ryukyu encountered a typhoon on its way back to Naha and drifted to the "Ikuban" Peony Society in southern Taiwan, with a total of 69 people on board, 3 people drowned, and 66 people landed. However, they accidentally broke into the taiwanese aboriginal area, were killed 54 people, and the 12 people who escaped arrived in Tainan under the rescue of the Han Chinese in Taiwan, and were transported back to China by the Qing Dynasty.
At that time, many areas of Taiwan had been developed by immigrants, but there were still many mountainous areas that were indigenous areas, and the Qing Dynasty called these indigenous peoples "Shengfan", which is now called the Mountain Tribe. Taiwan Island is a transit hub for trade in East Asia, where a large number of Chinese and foreign merchant ships are killed by typhoons every year, and local "Shengfan" often brutally kills them. In 1867, the Western merchant ships and the leader of the "Eighteen-Fan Society", Zhuo Qidu, reached an agreement, known in history as the "Alliance of the Southern Capes". However, Zhuo Qidu cannot restrain all "shengfan", so the killing of refugees occurs from time to time.
After the Peony Incident, the Ryukyu Kingdom was no longer able to deal with it. As Japan continued to erode Ryukyu sovereignty, "the Ryukyu Royal Palace was unable to deal with this matter, because for more than two centuries, under the control of the Japanese Satsuma Lord, the Ryukyu Nakayama King had no power to exercise sovereignty alone." So Ryukyu asked Japan for help. In 1872, Prince Shangken of Ryukyu Ie led a delegation to Tokyo to congratulate Emperor Meiji on his protégé and was canonized as a Chinese. Since then, Ryukyu has officially become a dependency of Japan.
The following year, Japan sent Vice Foreign Secretary Of State Shima Taneshi to China to try to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty on the Peony Society, and Prime Minister Yamon believed that Ryukyu was a Chinese vassal state and had nothing to do with Japan, so he refused Japan's request. Qing officials also mentioned that "Ryukyu islanders have been killed in Taiwan, but no Japanese have ever been killed in Taiwan." At that time, the great powers also did not recognize Japan's sovereignty claims over Ryukyu, as the British minister to Japan, Parkes, repeatedly emphasized that Ryukyu belonged to China.
The early 1970s was also the time when Sino-Japanese relations were formally established. As early as 1871, Japan sent a mission to visit China, and after some bargaining, finally signed the Sino-Japanese Reconciliation Regulations, which is an equality treaty. During the negotiations, Japan did not allow the Qing Dynasty to use the name "China", believing that "China is concerned about the absurdity of its own frontiers", and the representative of the Qing Dynasty believed that "my name of China has been called China for a long time since ancient times, and there has never been a case of rewriting the name of the country." "At one point, the two sides fell apart. In the end, Li Hongzhang compromised, using "China" in The Chinese text and "Great Qing Dynasty" in the Japanese text. This incident proves that Japan ostensibly reconciled with China, but in fact secretly created and propagated the "Yuanqing non-China theory" and plotted to split China.
"China and Japan Repair Rules"
In March 1873, a Ship on the Japanese island of Kyushu struck a reef in the Mawu Caves area off the southeast coast of Taiwan, and its crew was plundered by the local aborigines, but did not lose their lives. It was finally the Japanese who suffered this time, so Japan seized the opportunity to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty sent Mao Changxi, Dong Ke and Japan to negotiate, and the two mentioned in the negotiation that "all murderers belong to Shengfan, and they are foreign people."
As a result, the Japanese representative took advantage of this to make a big play, saying that "the Qing government is not responsible for the first residents in the south" and vigorously publicizing internationally that "the Qing State neither exercises nor claims control over the Shengfan area, which is a well-known matter in the world, so the Japanese side does not believe that it is necessary to obtain any commitment in all words." Moreover, the map of the Qing Dynasty defined the territory it controlled only as a land surrounded by houshan Mountains, which excluded the indigenous residential areas. "Japan uses this to create public opinion in order to prepare for aggression.
In February 1874, Japan adopted the "Outline of the Punishment of Taiwan", which revived the old matter and sent troops to Taiwan under the pretext of the Peony Society Incident. Subsequently, the Japanese 3600 army landed in Taiwan and began to attack the village of Shengfan in Taiwan. Taiwan fought bravely, and the Japanese army suffered 500 casualties. Although the Japanese army defeated Ikuban with advanced weapons, it could not adapt to the local climate, and a large-scale disease occurred. As a result, the Japanese army could only withdraw to Guishan, where the "Governor's Office for Taiwan Affairs" and the "Taiwan Affairs Bureau" were established to prepare for tun tian.
The Qing Dynasty also immediately made Shen Baozhen, the minister of shipping in Fujian, the minister of Qincha, in charge of Taiwan and southeast coastal defense affairs. Deng Tingzhen mobilized more than 10,000 troops in Taiwan to prepare for war against Japan. Fearing that war with China could threaten Japan's sovereignty, Japan turned to Anglo-American mediation. Li Hongzhang and others did not dare to go against the "mediation" of Britain and the United States and vigorously advocated peace with Japan. After a month of negotiations, China and Japan signed the Special Article on Taiwan Affairs in September 1874. The treaty recognized Japan's "righteous act of defending the people" and gave the Japanese army 500,000 taels of compensation as a condition for withdrawal.
The signing of this treaty fully reflects the softness of Li Hongzhang's bones, but whether there are bones or not is still unknown. Through this treaty, the Qing Dynasty de facto recognized Japan's occupation of Ryukyu, and Japan's purpose was achieved. The following year, Japan sent troops to Ryukyu, ending the clan relations between Ryukyu and the Qing Dynasty. The Ryukyu Kingdom sent Shang Dehong to China for help, but the Qing court did not ask any questions, indicating that it gave up. In 1879, Japan officially "abolished the prefecture" in Ryukyu, and the Ryukyu Kingdom became Okinawa Prefecture.
Li Hongzhang was frightened by Japan's military threat, and he openly demanded at the imperial court that Xinjiang be abandoned, that all the military expenses for border defense in the northwest should be used for coastal defense, and that a modern fleet be built. Fortunately, Zuo Zongtang argued on the basis of reason, and finally the Qing Dynasty agreed to attach equal importance to Sai defense and coastal defense, and let Zuo Zongtang send troops to retake Xinjiang.
After the Peony Society incident, the Qing Dynasty realized the importance of Taiwan and began to vigorously operate and develop the island of Taiwan. The first is that Taiwan's officials and people began to build fortresses on a large scale to strengthen their defense forces. Subsequently, Luo Dachun implemented the "opening of mountains and caress" in Taipei, built the road from Su'ao to Hualien, and carried out large-scale reclamation and establishment of righteous schools, which accelerated the development of the Taipei area. Finally, the Qing Dynasty established Taiwan Province in 1885, with Liu Mingchuan as the first governor.
Liu Mingchuan vigorously engaged in the foreign affairs movement in Taiwan, training the new army, building railways, developing minerals, founding telecommunications, reforming postal services, and developing shipping, making Taiwan one of the most advanced provinces in the Qing Dynasty, so Liu Mingchuan was known as "the father of Taiwan's foreign affairs movement" and "the father of Taiwan's modernization." ”
But how could a small Ryukyu feed Japan? In 1878, Japan established the General Staff Headquarters and made China the first target of aggression. In 1884, Japan began a 10-year war preparation against China, and in 1887, Japan introduced the "National Policy of Conquest", which mentioned "dividing the Qing state and making it a number of small states." "Japan's policy has determined that there will be a life-and-death showdown between China and Japan.