THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

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land  were  miserably  armed,  and  badly  officered.  China
had  made  but  little  progress  in  the  art  of  modern  warfare,
whereas  Japan  had  a  most  efficient  army.  On  land,  the
Chinese  troops  were  defeated  in  every  engagement,  and
were  driven  out  of  Korea.
In  the  Naval  battle  at  the  month  of  the  Yalu,  the
Chinese  fleet  fought  with  determination,  but  were  at  a  great
disadvantage  on  account  of  the  want  of  proper  ammunition.
Five  of  their  vessels  were  sunk  and  the  rest  were  put  to
flight.
Port  Arthur,  strongly  fortified  by  the  Chinese  and
deemed  impregnable,  was  next  assaulted  by  the  Japanese,
under  General  Oyama,  from  the  land  side.  The  Japanese
surmounted  all  obstacles,  and,  owing  to  the  poor  defence
made  by  the  Chinese,  soon  succeeded  in  taking  possession
of  the  fortress.
After  the  capture  of  Port  Arthur,  the  Japanese  fleet
attacked  Weihaiwei.  Although  Admiral  Ting  of  the  Chinese
fleet,  who  had  fled  thither  after  the  battle  of  the  Yalu,
offered  a  determined  resistance,  he  was  finally  forced  to
surrender  all  the  forts  to  the  Japanese.  After  this  China
was  powerless  to  continue  the  war,  and  accordingly  Li
Hung-chang  was  sent  to  Japan  to  sue  for  terms  of  peace.
The  treaty  of  Shimonoseki  was  signed  on  April  17,  1895.
By  it  (1)  The  independence  of  Korea  was  to  be  recognised  ;
(2)  The  Liaotung  Peninsula  (including  Port  Arthur),  Formosa, ­
  and  the  Pescadores  Islands  were  to  be  ceded  to
Japan  ;  (3)  An  indemnity  of  200,000,000  taels  was  to  be
paid  in  seven  years  ;  and  (4)  Shasi,  Chungking,  Soochow,
and  Hangchow  were  to  be  opened  as  Treaty  Ports  to
foreign  trade  and  residence.  A  large  part  of  the  fruits  of
Japan’s  victory  was  wrested  from  her  by  Russia,  Germany,
and  France  uniting  to  compel  her  to  waive  her  claims  to
the  Liaotung  Peninsula  in  exchange  for  a  payment  of
30,000,000  taels.
The  result  of  the  war  was  disastrous  to  China  in  many
ways.  It  dispelled  the  idea  from  the  minds  of  Westerners
that  China  had  really  entered  on  the  path  of  reform,  and