Mudan incident has effect Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)
The Mudan incident of 1871 (Chinese: 八瑤灣事件、Japanese: 宮古島島民遭難事件、Japanese: 琉球漂流民殺害事件) was the massacre of 54 Ryukyuan sailors in Qing-era Taiwan who wandered into the central part of Taiwan after their ship shipwrecked off of Taiwan's southeastern coast.
Twelve survivors were rescued by local Han people and were later returned to Miyako Island in the Ryukyus. However, because the Ryukyu Kingdom was a tributary state of Qing China as well as within the Japanese sphere of influence, the massacre was used as a pretext for Japan to invade southern Taiwan in 1874 to avenge "Japanese nationals" as well as to annex the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879.Aftermath
The Mudan incident did not immediately cause any concern in Japan. A few officials knew of it by mid-1872 but it was not until April 1874 that it became an international concern. The repatriation procedure in 1872 was by the books and had been a regular affair for several centuries. From the 17th to 19th centuries, the Qing had settled 401 Ryukyuan shipwreck incidents both on the coast of mainland China and Taiwan. Shipwrecks during this time period were common. Between 1701 and 1876, 278 Ryukyuan ships shipwrecked along China's coast, more than Ryukyuan shipwrecks along Taiwan's coast. The Ryukyu Kingdom did not ask Japanese officials for help regarding the shipwreck. Instead its king, Shō Tai, sent a reward to Chinese officials in Fuzhou for the return of the 12 survivors. In September 1872, Japan dethroned the king of Ryukyu.A very real consequence of the Mudan Incident however, was the Taiwan Expedition of 1874. Despite the Ryukyu Kingdom being an independent state at the time, the Japanese government eventually demanded that the Qing government be held responsible for the actions of the Paiwanese, which the Qing government dismissed, on the grounds that "civilization had not been extended to the region." Japanese officials launched an invasion of southern Taiwan in 1874 in the name of avenging the deaths of the 54 deceased Ryukyuans.Legacy
Japan
According to Professor Matayoshi Seikiyo, the Mudan incident was historically important for two reasons: it resulted in the "verdict that the Ryukyu islands belonged to Japan," and it "served as a stepping stone for the later occupation and colonization of Taiwan by Japan."The Japanese expedition army established a memorial tower in front of the tomb where Taiwanese rescuers made, and collected skulls, 44 skulls; 10 skulls could not be recovered. The skulls were transferred first to Nagasaki and then to Naha and buried there and later at Gokoku-ji (Okinawa) in the same city. In 1980, the tomb was made again anew, and related people attended the ceremony from Miyako Island. The tombstone however has been criticized by Paiwan and Okinawans as having a Japan-centric view, as well as being anachronistic. In 1997, Fumio Miyakuni visited the related places and wrote a book.
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