갑오전쟁이 중국 및 한국에 주는 교훈과시사점

Abstract

Many commemoration activities took place on the 120th anniversary ofthe first Sino-Japanese War. Not only did the academic institutions take partbut society as a whole participated in the activities. People wish to draw alesson from the war that fundamentally changed the fate of the NortheastAsian countries and the regional order. For the most part, the Chineseacademic circles focused on the lessons of why the giant―China―wasdefeated by a small country of Japan. They especially examined China’s outdated military command system and the low morale of her militaryforces while putting much emphasis on the institutional limitations. Thecurrent worsening of relations between the two countries has fueledhatred instead of contributing to the reflection. I, however, believe thatChina should reflect beyond the war and draw some lessons for a lastingacademic dialogue between China, Japan and Korea in a situation ofworsening relationship between Japan and China and between Japan andKorea. The Japanese victory of the Chinese-Japanese war in 1894 also initiatedJapanese Militarism to deal with China, Korea and other East Asian statesand consolidated its ideology of ‘Departing from Asia for Europe.’ Thisstance is still a supporting foundation to the evolution of the Japanesecurrent national identity. On the other hand, similar experiences of China and Korea since the Sino-Japanese war in 1894 and the fast growinginterdependence between these two countries since 1992 has promotedmore sharing of values and promotion of mutually beneficial ways towardsdeveloping a prosperous community. This has also consolidated the socialfoundations for an attributive collected identity for East Asians as a whole.