Politics4th day of the 3rd lunar month, 1885 (18 April)(Lunar)

Convention of Tianjin

After the Gapsin Coup, Li Hongzhang of Qing and Itō Hirobumi of Japan agreed to withdraw both armies from Korea and to notify each other before sending troops again.

Text of the Convention of Tientsin signed by Li Hongzhang and Itō Hirobumi, 1885
大日本國, 大清國 · Public domain · Source

Japan had already extracted an indemnity and funds for a new legation from Korea in the Treaty of Hanseong (1884). The Tianjin convention gave Japan the same right as Qing to send troops to Korea.

When Qing troops landed at Asan at the Korean government’s request during the Donghak uprising of 1894, Japan invoked the convention to land troops at Incheon, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War.

People

Li Hongzhang1823 – 1901

diplomat · Qing viceroy who steered policy toward Korea after 1882 and signed the Tianjin Convention and the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Itō Hirobumi

Itō Hirobumi1841 – 1909

diplomat · First prime minister of Japan who forced the 1905 protectorate treaty and became the first Resident-General; shot by Ahn Jung-geun at Harbin

Convention of Tianjin

The map in 1885

People

Before and after