The Noble Enemy: Bravery, Surrender and Suicide in the First Sino-Japanese War

Abstract

What can be learned from the now largely forgotten first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) about concepts like the heroism of surrender? I show that Japanese depictions, far from being universally contemptuous, treated their main opponent, the commander of the Chinese Beiyang fleet, Admiral Ding Ruchang, with great respect before, during, and even after the war despite his surrender. Why? I use accounts by observers and Ding’s own letters to scrutinize the enduring popularity of his posthumous image in Japan versus China. I argue that Ding showed neither strategic brilliance nor formidability as an opponent. This means he does not fit the “nobility of failure” concept, remaining an anomalous outlier for provoking such hero-worship in Japan despite his mediocre wartime performance. Overall, how Ding and the Beiyang Fleet were treated in popular Japanese accounts suggests that Japanese attitudes towards concepts such as “bravery,” “surrender,” and “suicide” were in flux in the 1890s.