In the late Qing Dynasty, East Asia experienced a great change that never happened in a thousand years. The conservative Manchu nobles hoped to enrich Qiang Bing by "establishing westernization", while the Japanese chose "Meiji Restoration". As a result, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 clearly came to an end, and the Japanese won an unprecedented brilliant victory over the Asian continent. Naturally, the Korean peninsula caught in the middle had to stand up again after this war. Strictly speaking, the Japanese have a "Korean complex". The mythical "Na Ren Japan House" was a Japanese ruling institution established in the southern part of the peninsula thousands of years ago, but such a legend was recognized as "history" by the Japanese.
Figure-Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul is similar to our Forbidden City concept.
1875, that is, 20 years before the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Japan tried to conquer Korea. At that time, the Japanese ship Yunyang sailed into the waters near Jianghua Island and provoked it. As a result, it was shelled by the Korean defenders. Although the two sides ended in a "peaceful way" in the end, Japan signed the "Japan-DPRK Jianghua Island Treaty" by force, the most important of which is "Japan recognizes and respects North Korea as an independent country". Isn't such a clause good for North Korea? Why are you forced to accept it? The reason is the existence of the Qing Dynasty, which is the suzerain of North Korea.
The Jianghua Island Treaty forcibly changed Korea from a vassal state to an independent state in order to distance itself from the Qing Dynasty, which in fact provided a legal basis for Japan's later invasion of Korea. After the victory of the Sino-Japanese War, the forces of the Qing Dynasty completely withdrew from the Korean peninsula. However, at this time, Japan is not the only controller of North Korea, because the menacing Russia extends from the north. Since the time for annexing Korea is not yet ripe, we should at least show the difference between today and yesterday, and it is obviously the best choice to foster korean king as emperor. So in 1897, Li Xi, korean king, held a complicated and solemn ceremony to ascend to the throne. In order to make a clean break with the past, its country name was changed from "North Korea" to "South Korea".
The name "Korea" was given by the Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. 1392, overthrew the king and sent a special envoy to the Ming dynasty in the same year. At that time, Li Chenggui provided two alternative country names, one was "North Korea" and the other was "Hehe", which Zhu Yuanzhang finally defined as "North Korea" to show the meaning of "bright future". Although Li Han was grateful at that time, by this time, "Korea" had become a symbol attached to China, so it had to be changed. After Li Xi sent people to search for ancient books, he took the meaning of "three Koreas" from the peninsula and named the country "Korea".
Figure-Night view of Seoul
Although it has established the name of "empire", it is recognized by Japan because of the existence of Russia. 1905, the Russo-Japanese War broke out. The Japanese army first conquered the outer defense line of Lushun Port from the land, then destroyed the Russian Pacific Fleet, and then defeated the Baltic Fleet from a distance in the naval battle against Malaysia. Russia can only be out. At this time, Japan had no competitors on the Korean peninsula, and the signboard of "Korean Empire" was naturally taken down at will.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Japan forced the Korean Empire to sign the Korea-Japan Merger Treaty, and all the rights of the Korean royal family were handed over to the Japanese emperor, so the "Korean Empire" ceased to exist.
The Korean peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the north is connected with the Asian land. There are two countries on the Korean peninsula, and the area of Korea is about 122800 square kilometers, which still continues the name of Ming and Qing dynasties. South Korea covers an area of about 654.38+ 10,000 square kilometers, which is the full name of the Republic of Korea and has a faint yearning for the Korean Empire.