Port Arthur massacre (1894)
Encyclopedia
The Port Arthur massacre occurred during the First Sino-Japanese War
from 21 November 1894 for two or three days, when advanced elements of the First Division of the Japan
ese Second Army under command of the one-eyed General Yamaji Motoharu (1841-1897) killed somewhere between 1,000 to 20,000 Chinese
servicemen and civilians, leaving only 36 to bury bodies, in the Chinese coastal city of Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou)
. The higher estimates are suspect, however, since a contemporary account of the war estimated Port Arthur's total population at 6,000 (13,000 including garrison troops). Later accounts estimate that 18,000 from each side engaged in the conflict with Chinese dead numbering 1,500.
and then Pyongyang
in September 1894, winning decisive victories on both occasions. Following the victory at Pyongyang the Japanese Second Army under Marshal Oyama Iwao (1842-1916) moved northward towards Manchuria, the plan being to seize Port Arthur, headquarters to China's Beiyang Fleet
and a highly fortified city that dominated the sea passage from Korea to northeast China. In September the Japanese navy heavily damaged the Beiyang Fleet at the Battle of the Yalu River, though the Chinese troopships were successful in landing their troops not far from the Sino-Korean border. With the Beiyang Fleet eliminated, the Japanese navy began a siege of Port Arthur while the Japanese Second Army advanced on the city through Manchuria and the Japanese First Army crossed the Yalu River to form another advance by land. After a series of battles on the Liaodong Peninsula the First Division of the Second Army led by General Yamaji drew up around Port Arthur in late November. On November 18, 1894 the Japanese movement down the peninsula was temporarily frustrated and returned to find that their wounded that had previously had to be abandoned horribly mutilated with hands and feet cut off. Others had been burned alive. With preparations in place, an artillery bombardment commenced on the night of November 20, 1894 with an infantry assault beginning the following morning. A good part of the city had already been evacuated and fled westward by land or sea into China. The Chinese had mutilated several Japanese bodies and displayed them at the entrance of the city, infuriating the Japanese. After only token resistance the city fell to Japanese troops late on the morning of November 21. What followed was a massacre
of the remaining inhabitants of Port Arthur by the storming Japanese troops, though the scale and nature of the killing continues to be debated.
and disemboweled
, infants skewered
and left hanging on walls and counters, heads placed on posts and racks, and other gruesome displays of depravity. The account further describes a scene where civilians were forced into a deep pond and shot at will. Those who tried to escape were stabbed with bayonets as they tried to climb out. A mother holding a small child was killed in the pond while begging for the life of a small child she held in her arms. All the while the Japanese soldiers laughed and reveled in the killing, according to the account.
A quote from the author follows:
, writing for The New York World
, and Frederic Villiers
, a writer and illustrator for the London Black and White, described a wide scale and cold-blooded massacre. While Amédée Baillot de Guerville
alleged in the pages of the New York Herald
that no such massacre had occurred, he later admitted that it had.
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
from 21 November 1894 for two or three days, when advanced elements of the First Division of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Second Army under command of the one-eyed General Yamaji Motoharu (1841-1897) killed somewhere between 1,000 to 20,000 Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
servicemen and civilians, leaving only 36 to bury bodies, in the Chinese coastal city of Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou)
Lüshunkou
Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
. The higher estimates are suspect, however, since a contemporary account of the war estimated Port Arthur's total population at 6,000 (13,000 including garrison troops). Later accounts estimate that 18,000 from each side engaged in the conflict with Chinese dead numbering 1,500.
Background
As part of its wartime strategy during the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan had advanced through Korea, engaging Chinese troops at Asan near SeoulSeoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
and then Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
in September 1894, winning decisive victories on both occasions. Following the victory at Pyongyang the Japanese Second Army under Marshal Oyama Iwao (1842-1916) moved northward towards Manchuria, the plan being to seize Port Arthur, headquarters to China's Beiyang Fleet
Beiyang Fleet
The Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trusted vassals of Empress Dowager Cixi and the principal patron of the "self-strengthening movement" in northern...
and a highly fortified city that dominated the sea passage from Korea to northeast China. In September the Japanese navy heavily damaged the Beiyang Fleet at the Battle of the Yalu River, though the Chinese troopships were successful in landing their troops not far from the Sino-Korean border. With the Beiyang Fleet eliminated, the Japanese navy began a siege of Port Arthur while the Japanese Second Army advanced on the city through Manchuria and the Japanese First Army crossed the Yalu River to form another advance by land. After a series of battles on the Liaodong Peninsula the First Division of the Second Army led by General Yamaji drew up around Port Arthur in late November. On November 18, 1894 the Japanese movement down the peninsula was temporarily frustrated and returned to find that their wounded that had previously had to be abandoned horribly mutilated with hands and feet cut off. Others had been burned alive. With preparations in place, an artillery bombardment commenced on the night of November 20, 1894 with an infantry assault beginning the following morning. A good part of the city had already been evacuated and fled westward by land or sea into China. The Chinese had mutilated several Japanese bodies and displayed them at the entrance of the city, infuriating the Japanese. After only token resistance the city fell to Japanese troops late on the morning of November 21. What followed was a massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
of the remaining inhabitants of Port Arthur by the storming Japanese troops, though the scale and nature of the killing continues to be debated.
Massacre
One eye-witness account describes the massacre as indiscriminate and completely barbaric. The account reports that men, women, children, and infants were killed in ways that, according to the author, were too horrific to describe, all while prostrated and begging for mercy. The author describes rooms in which pooled blood covered the floor completely, bodies decapitatedDecapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
and disemboweled
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
, infants skewered
Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body...
and left hanging on walls and counters, heads placed on posts and racks, and other gruesome displays of depravity. The account further describes a scene where civilians were forced into a deep pond and shot at will. Those who tried to escape were stabbed with bayonets as they tried to climb out. A mother holding a small child was killed in the pond while begging for the life of a small child she held in her arms. All the while the Japanese soldiers laughed and reveled in the killing, according to the account.
A quote from the author follows:
Western press coverage
The string of Japanese victories at Pyongyang and then at the Battle of the Yalu River had warmed up what had until then been only lukewarm Western interest in the war. By the time of the assault on Port Arthur, a number of western reporters were attached to the Japanese Second Army. Western reporting on the massacre was controversial. Most correspondents such as the American James CreelmanJames Creelman
James Creelman , was a reporter during the height of yellow journalism. He was born in Montreal, Province of Canada, the son of a boiler inspector, Matthew Creelman, and homemaker, Martha Dunwoodie....
, writing for The New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
, and Frederic Villiers
Frederic Villiers
Frederic Villiers , British war artist and correspondent.Along with William Simpson and Melton Prior, Villiers was one of the most notable 'special' artists of the later 19th century...
, a writer and illustrator for the London Black and White, described a wide scale and cold-blooded massacre. While Amédée Baillot de Guerville
Amédée Baillot de Guerville
Amédée Baillot de Guerville, or A.B. de Guerville , was a free-lance war correspondent, editor, and commercial agent, most frequently cited for his travel writing...
alleged in the pages of the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
that no such massacre had occurred, he later admitted that it had.
Further sources
- Allan, James. Under the Dragon Flag. London: William Heinemann, 1898. (This purports to be a true account of the massacre by a young Englishman who had been trapped in the city at the time of its fall.)
- Creelman, James. On the Great Highway, the Wanderings and Adventures of a Special Correspondent. Boston:Lothrop Publishing, 1901.
- De Guerville, A.B. Au Japon. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1904.
- De Guerville, A.B. “In Defense of Japan. The Alleged Atrocities at Port Arthur Denied,” Leslie’s Weekly (3 January 1895).
- Dorwart, Jeffrey M. “James Creelman, the New York World and the Port Arthur Massacre,” Journalism Quarterly, 50 (4) (1973):697-701.
- Hardin, Thomas L. “American Press and Public Opinion in the First Sino-Japanese War,” Journalism Quarterly, 50 (1) (1973):53-59.
- Kane, Daniel C. "Each of Us in His Own Way: Factors Behind Conflicting Accounts of the Massacre at Port Arthur," Journalism History, vol. 31 (1) (Spring 2005):23-33.
- Lone, Stewart. Japan’s First Modern War. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.
- Paine, S.C.M. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Villiers, Frederic, The Truth about Port Arthur The North American Review, vol. 160, no. 460 (March 1895):325-331.