http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/archives/DM0002/0001/0020/0456/index.djvu
The Nagasaki Incident was a riot involving the arriving Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet soldiers. It is also called the Nagasaki―Qing Navy Incident.
On 1 August 1886, the Qing Dynasty's navy called the Beiyang Fleet(北洋艦隊）, the four warships, the Dingyuan (定遠), the Zhenyuan (鎮遠), the Jiyuan (济远), and Weiyuan (威遠), entered the Nagasaki harbor port on the pretense of "military repairs".
At that time, China (Qing Dynasty) was much stronger than Japan. While the Qing’s warship Dingyuan (定遠) and the Zhenyuan (鎮遠) were both 7,000 toned at full load, all Japanese had, pity of it to say, the cruiser Naniwa (浪速) and the Takachiho (高千穂), both 4,000 toned.
In addition, Japan had suffered a setback during the Gapsin Coup (甲申政変) in which 400 Japanese soldiers were defeated by 2000 Qing soldiers in 1884.
On August 13, five hundred Chinese sailors had their shore leave and began to land on the city.
They went to “Maruyama Yukaku(丸山遊郭)”, the red-light district, which was established in Nagasaki City “Maruyama Yukaku” had flourished as the only one window to the West during the period of national isolation and it had many exotic cultures and people at the time, and we can find it to be still remain nowadays.
Drunken Chinese soldiers went around the city pursuing women and children and caused trouble through lawless violent acts, and looted the city of Nagasaki, causing outrages.
Two police officers of Nagasaki prefecture dispatched from their police box (交番 kōban) and rushed to the scene. The ex-samurais and masters of martial arts were they who kicked around the five hundred Chinese mob without swords. They had only their nightsticks. They finally arrested two sailors who were most lawless ones red-handed. The others escaped from the scene. The officers brought the sailors in their police box.
On August 14, the agreement was made among Kusaka Yoshio, the governor of Nagasaki and Xuan Cai, the Qing consulate as follows;
1. The Qing navy put a ban on sailors’ landing in a group.
2. If need be, they are to be directed by the commissioned officer.
In spite of the yesterday’s agreement, from around 1 p.m. of August 15, about three hundred Chinese sailors came ashore from their ships to Nagasaki city. They armed themselves with clubs and swords. They were shouting and squawking, some even urinated in front of the police box to provoke and harass the Japanese authorities. These three hundred Chinese sailors made an assault on the police box which manned only three officers. All three were beaten up by three hundred mobs. This assault resulted in one death and one serious injured (he died next day).
A driver of a rickshaw (jinrikisha) who happened to be the scene was so furious about these unfair brutal attack that he cannot help but join to help officers beginning to fight against a bunch of Chinese mobs with his own fists. The Chinese sailors also countered against him. Soon the colleagues of the rickshaw’s driver and people around there joined the fighting.
The units of police officers from the main office of Nagasaki city rushed to stop this new big brawl, however, the Chinese sailors never backed off. The brawl was ended up to the killing each others with swords.
The casualties was
On the Qing side, 1 officer died and 3 were injured, and 3 soldiers died and at least 50 were injured.
On the Japanese side, 3 police inspectors were injured, 2 officers died, and 16 were injured.
Several tens of Japanese civilians were also injured).
After the incident, the Qing did not apologize to Japan, on the contrary, it behaved to look down its nose at Japan with confidence believing in the superiority of its military power
The Qing indecently requested the Japanese government that from then on, the Japanese police officers would not be armed with swords. It is very sad to say that this humiliating demand, the intervention in the affairs of another country, was accepted by Japanese government at the time .
At that time, the Qing possessed the newest model of navy battleships, the Dingyuan. It was thought that the Japanese navy could not match this ship at this time, having a heavier tonnage than modern French built Japanese cruisers. While the Qing’s warship Dingyuan (定遠) and the Zhenyuan (鎮遠) were both 7,000 toned at full load, all Japanese had, pity of it to say, the cruiser Naniwa (浪速) and the Takachiho (高千穂), both 4,000 toned.
However, as a result of this incident, anti-Qing sentiment rose in Japan, presaging further confrontation.
That is to say, this incident stirred up anti-Qing sentiment in Japan and was a distant cause to the First Sino-Japanese War.
I’d like to add the fact that the Dingyuan was eventually scuttled after the Battle of Weihaiwei.
Sino-centrism is the way of thinking that China and Chinese are always the center of the world, and they think which is stronger, which is bigger or which has more xxx. They adore the power. They cannot consider which is right, which is more reasonable or which has kindness.
Strong person has always justice. Strong country is always right.
Fuck Sino-centrism!
