Japan Defeats Qing at Pyongyang

Date: September 15, 1894 • Location: Chiyoda-ku, Japan

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1894–1895.

First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats the Qing dynasty in the Battle of Pyongyang, causing the Qing army to withdraw to the Chinese border with Korea.

The First Sino-Japanese War was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily for influence over Korea. In China it is commonly known as the Jiawu War. After roughly 7 months of sustained military gains by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ports of Lüshunkou and Weihaiwei, the Qing government sued for peace in February 1895 and signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki two months later, ending the war.