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''The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894'' is a 2012 Chinese historical war film directed and written by Feng Xiaoning, starring Lu Yi, Xia Yu and others. It is based on the events in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894 )〕 with emphasis on the naval battles and the career of the Chinese naval officer Deng Shichang. The film premiered in China at the International Convention Centre in Weihai, Shandong, on 26 June 2012. ==Plot== ''The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894'' is set in the late 19th century and revolves around the events of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan. A young Deng Shichang enrols in the Fujian Naval Academy, where he meets his future colleagues such as Liu Buchan and Fang Boqian. In 1877, Liu, Fang and others travel to Britain to further their studies at the Royal Naval College in London while Deng remains in China. Some years later, Deng visits his classmates in London and meets Itō Sukeyuki, who is also studying there. The Guangxu Emperor wants to modernise and reform China but his efforts are hindered by Empress Dowager Cixi, who effectively controls the emperor and the Qing government. The Qing Empire's Beiyang Fleet is formed in the 1880s and is one of the largest naval fleets in Asia at the time. In 1886, after the Nagasaki Incident breaks out, the Meiji Emperor of Japan feels threatened by the Beiyang Fleet's prowess, so he initiates a plan to develop and enhance the capabilities of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Meanwhile, in China, the state funds originally designated for upgrading the Beiyang Fleet are used to renovate the Summer Palace to celebrate the empress dowager's 60th birthday. The First Sino-Japanese War breaks out in 1894. The navies of the two empires clash at the battles of Pungdo and the Yellow Sea. At the Yellow Sea, after an exchange of gunfire between warships from both sides over a few hours, most of the Beiyang Fleet is destroyed while not a single Japanese ship is sunk even though the Japanese ships also sustained heavy damage. Deng Shichang's ship, the ''Zhiyuan'', has been badly damaged. Deng gives orders for the ''Zhiyuan'' to ram the Japanese flagship ''Yoshino'', but the ''Zhiyuan'' is sunk before it makes contact with the ''Yoshino''. Deng stubbornly refuses to escape with the survivors and eventually drowns at sea. After their victory at the Yellow Sea, the Japanese follow-up by launching a land invasion and win the Battle of Lüshun, after which they massacre the city's population. In the following year, the Japanese score another victory at the Battle of Weihaiwei; the Qing admiral Ding Ruchang commits suicide after his defeat. Itō Sukeyuki writes to Liu Buchan, his old classmate from the Royal Naval College, and asks him to surrender. Liu refuses and kills himself after blowing up his own warship. On 14 January 1895, the Japanese annex the Diaoyu Islands and rename them "Senkaku Islands". The Qing Empire agrees to hold peace talks with Japan and appoints Li Hongzhang as its representative to negotiate with Itō Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu in Shimonoseki. Japan demands that the Qing Empire cedes to it Taiwan, Penghu and the Liaodong Peninsula, and pay war reparations amounting to 250 million silver taels, among other things. Li rejects the terms and leaves. He is shot in the cheek by a Japanese fanatic on the way back. While recovering in hospital, he receives a telegraph from the Qing government instructing him to accept Japan's terms. He signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki on 17 April 1895. Before the film ends, the narrator of the film drops an old photograph of Deng Shichang and his classmates at the Fujian Naval Academy into the sea. The photograph sinks to the bottom of the sea and comes to rest in the wreckage of a warship. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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