The First Sino-Japanese War

What secrets lay behind the war between China and Japan? What crucial role did Korea play?

Centered on Yuan Shikai, Li Hongzhang, Japan's Mutsu Munemitsu, and Korea's Kim Ok-gyun, this novel begins with the background to the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War. It recounts in detail the Imo Mutiny and Gapsin Coup in Korea, Japan's painstaking preparations for war, and finally Li Hongzhang's efforts to clean up the aftermath and sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, which stripped China of its sovereignty. With its grand scope and large cast of characters, the novel draws on an abundance of historical sources to objectively portray the tangled relationships among the various interest groups of that extraordinary era. It depicts how the aging Qing dynasty was defeated by a Meiji Japan brimming with youthful vitality, prompting readers to reflect on and question history.