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The Ganghwa Island incident or the Japanese Battle of Ganghwa ((朝鮮語:운요호 사건 ()) ''Unyo-ho sageon'' meaning "''Un'yō'' incident"; ''Kōkatō jiken''), was an armed encounter between the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and Japan which occurred in the vicinity of Ganghwa Island on September 20, 1875. ==Background== In the second half of the 19th century, the Korea peninsula was the scene of a power struggle between several imperial powers including the Russians and the French, as well as the Chinese and the Japanese. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 ended the 265-year-old feudalistic Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. The new government of Japan sent a messenger holding a letter with the sovereign's message which informed of the founding of a new administration of Japan to the government of the Korean Joseon Dynasty on December 19, 1868. However, the Koreans refused to receive the letter because it contained the Chinese characters 皇 ("royal, imperial") and 勅 ("imperial decree").〔国史大辞典編集委員会編, ed. 國史大辭典. Vol. 9. Tokyo: 吉川弘文館, 1988, p 503 (Japanese)〕 According to the political system of the day, only the Chinese emperor was allowed to use these characters, as they signified the imperial authority of China.〔 Hence, their use by a Japanese sovereign was considered unacceptable to Joseon Korea, as it implied he was an equal of the emperor of the China.〔吉田光男編『日韓中の交流』, 山川出版社, 2004, p 22 (Japanese)〕 The Chinese suggested to the Koreans to receive the sovereign letter from Japan, because China knew the power of Japan at that moment.〔OH, Bonnie. Sino-Japanese Rivalry in Korea. p.43〕 Despite government-level negotiations held in 1875 at Busan, no substantial progress was made. Instead, tension grew as the Koreans continued to refuse to recognize Japan's claims of equality with China. 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「Ganghwa Island incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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