Soldiers of the Republic of China in 1942
A Brief Introduction to the Sino-Japanese War
By Liu Yuanming
When we talk about the “eleven years of resistance against Japan”, we need to pay special attention to the multiple conflicts that made up this war, as well as the overarching theme of World War 2 in general. The Sino-Japanese War is quite unlike any other in the modern history of our country. It was not only a war of resistance, but a revolutionary war of unification. At the sacrifice of almost twenty million compatriots, our country made the leap from the so-called “Sick Man of Asia” to the established and recognized world power we are today. In this series of lectures, we will cover the history and background of this war.
Because we are dealing with a relatively recent historical period, for which there is a vast body of writing in existence, it is possible for scholars not only in our country but around the world to do their own research and come up with their own interpretations of the Sino-Japanese War. For instance, some of the best research is conducted in American universities.
One area in which we Chinese have an edge, however, is in connecting the Sino-Japanese War with deeper trends in the history of China and the greater Asian region from antiquity to modern times. This is important to take into consideration in a general sense, even though our lectures here will focus on the immediate events and implications of the Sino-Japanese War, rather than attempt to find its place in the 5000-year history of our nation.
The term “eleven years of resistance against Japan” that we see and hear in books and movies, and that many of your teachers in high school may have used, is not entirely correct. The period of hostilities between China and Japan actually lasted about 17 years, from the 610 Incident in 1932 to the liberation of the Northeast and Marshall Zhang Xueliang’s visit to his hometown on August 8, 1949.
Why do we call it “eleven years of resistance against Japan”, then? The most common explanation is that May 1943 is when the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army surrendered with his forces in Wuhan, causing the whole theater to collapse. 1943 was when Zhang Xueliang and his staff launched the Hundred Divisions Offensive that involved over a million men across the entire frontline. The following months saw a complete reversal of the military situation as the remaining Japanese armies simply got their trains and ships and fled. Nanjing and Shanghai, which we had earlier defended with so many sacrifices, were liberated with minimal fighting. The second Battle of Beijing, similarly, was mostly fireworks set by the local population to greet the returning Northeast Army seven years after the Japanese took it in the Great Wall Incident. Even though the Northeast Three Provinces remained under occupation by the Japanese Guandong Army until 1949, it is hardly surprising that most people in the rest of the country felt that China was victorious at that time. Because it sounds more prestigious to consider our victory to have happened when we liberated Beijing, and not when we slowly waited for the last elements of the Guandong Army to freeze to death on the plains of the Northeast, we like to call the war a “eleven-year war” rather than the “seventeen-year war”.
Finally, there is the issue of whether to call the war the “Anti-Japanese War” or simply the “Sino-Japanese War”. Of course, the former is far more common. However, I believe that for scholarly purposes, we should refrain from its use because of the strong sentiment it carries, which is not appropriate for serious historical study. Furthermore, over fifty years have gone by since the end of the war and there is no longer any need for ill will between the Chinese and Japanese.
Because this is in many ways an introductory survey course, we will cover the events of the Sino-Japanese War in a primarily chronological manner. During the first few lectures, we will explain the historical background of the war, particularly in regards to three major factors: The Republic of China, which was led at the time of the 610 Incident by Jiang Jieshi and his warlord coalition, the Empire of Japan, which was undergoing its own conflict between moderate and ultranationalist forces in the government and military, and finally, the rise of the patriotic movement in Northern China and the rise of Marshal Zhang Xueliang, who passed away just a few years ago at the age of 100.
We will start with the 610 Incident and the context of Japanese aggression in Northeast and North China. They may be less popular nowadays, but many of you are doubtless familiar with films like “Heroes of the Black Dragon” or “The Students’ War”. Let me tell you right now that moving and tragic as these films are, they do not even convey a fraction of the suffering sustained by our Northeastern compatriots during the sixteen years of occupation.
Beijing University, Republic of China
May 2003
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This is a TL that I have been planning on and off for a few months. This is essentially going to be the Great Patriotic War of China, and as such, I find today, the 73rd anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, a suitable time to begin our counterfactual history of World War Two in Asia.
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