Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)

Taiwan Expedition of 1874
Part of the Formosa Conflict

Commander-in-chief Saigo (sitting at the center) pictured with leaders of the Seqalu tribe.

The Assault at Sekimon (石門進撃), May 22, 1874.
Date6 May – 3 December 1874
Location
Result Japanese military victory
Occupation of southern Taiwan
Payment of indemnity by China to Japan
Territorial
changes
Qing renunciation of suzerainty over the Ryukyu Islands
Belligerents
 Japan Botan
Commanders and leaders
Empire of Japan Saigō Tsugumichi
Empire of Japan Sakuma Samata
Empire of Japan Douglas Cassel[2]
Empire of Japan Noriyoshi Akamatsu
Unknown  (DOW)
Strength
Land:
3,600
Sea:
6 warships
Unknown
Casualties and losses
12 killed
~30 wounded
561 died from disease[3]
89 killed
Many wounded
  • 561 Japanese troops and Douglas Cassel[4] died of disease during the expedition and occupation.

The Japanese punitive expedition to Taiwan in 1874, referred to in Japan as the Taiwan Expedition (Japanese: 台湾出兵, Hepburn: Taiwan Shuppei) and in Taiwan and Mainland China as the Mudan incident (Chinese: 牡丹社事件), was a punitive expedition launched by the Japanese ostensibly in retaliation for the murder of 54 Ryukyuan sailors by Paiwan aborigines near the southwestern tip of Taiwan in December 1871. In May 1874, the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the indigenous Taiwanese peoples in southern Taiwan and retreated in December after the Qing dynasty agreed to pay an indemnity of 500,000 taels, with Japan conceding that China had sovereignty over Taiwan. Some ambiguous wording in the agreed terms were later argued by Japan to be confirmation of Chinese renunciation of suzerainty over the Ryukyu Islands, paving the way for de facto Japanese incorporation of the Ryukyu in 1879.

  1. ^ "WASHINGTON.; OFFICIAL DISPATCHES ON THE FORMOSA DIFFICULTY. PARTIAL OCCUPATION OF THE ISLAND BY JAPANESE THE ATTITUDE OF CHINA UNCERTAIN CHARACTER OF THE FORMOSAN BARBARIANS. THE RAILROAD AND THE MAILS. THE VACANT INSPECTOR GENERALSHIP OF STEAMBOATS. THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. THE CURRENCY BANKS AUTHORIZED CIRCULATION WITHDRAWN. POSTMASTERS APPOINTED. APPOINTMENT OF AN INDIAN COMMISSIONER. THE WRECK OF THE SCOTLAND, NEW-YORK HARBOR. NAVAL ORDERS. TOLL ON VESSELS ENGAGED IN FOREIGN COMMERCE. THE TREASURY SECRET SERVICE. TREASURY BALANCES". New York Times. Washington. August 18, 1874.
  2. ^ Eskildsen, Robert (2010). "An Army as Good and Efficient as Any in the World: James Wasson and Japan's 1874 Expedition to Taiwan" (PDF). Asian Cultural Studies (36): 52–56.
  3. ^ アジア歴史資料センター, A03030094100, 正院修史局ヘ征台ノ節出兵総数死傷人員其外問合ニ付回答(国立公文書館)「JACAR(アジア歴史資料センター)Ref.A03030094100、単行書・処蕃書類追録九(国立公文書館)」。
  4. ^ Cunningham p. 7

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