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as accommodation, as local or major headquarters, staff or Other Rank accommodation and as storage space. Although it was the usual practice for both Russians and Japanese to use Chinese temples as field-dressing stations and even as hospitals, only two or three references to the practice have been found in contemporary books. There are at least two published photographs of wounded Japanese soldiers lying on stretchers in rows on the floors or in the temple courtyard, with one in particular showing a seriously wounded soldier lying at the feet of two large carved and stuccoed Chinese deities, two of four standard images of Guardians and Assistants to the major deity. The role of the fierce Guardians was to protect the temple from malignant forces and must have been either a comfort to the casualty or a frightening figure from the other world.
The difference between Russian and Japanese use of Chinese temples was that the former, when they departed, seldom left anything behind worth carrying away. The Japanese respected Chinese religious statuary, because they too were often Buddhists, but also because, although the deities on altars were different, they were sufficiently similar for Japanese to respect them.
Post-war
We have described a few of the aspects of Chinese problems during the war and the effect the warring armies had on the Chinese officials and commonality on whose territory the war was being fought. The Chinese, who gradually tended to side with the Japanese in the hope of recovering Manchuria, adroitly avoided any involvement in the fighting.
Post-war, Japan assumed the rights in Manchuria that Russia had previously held, with a garrison of some 10,000 men to protect its interests, primarily in southern Manchuria where it was known as the Guandong Army (Kuantung), though its controls extended in practice to the whole of the territory, with the Chinese ostensibly maintaining civil authority.
The change in Chinese official and student circles within the decade following the Sino-Japanese War, i.e. from 1884-1904, was from anti-Japanese and pro-Russian, to pro-Japanese and anti-Russian after the Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese victory clearly signalled to the Chinese in Peking that the Japanese were the model to study and possibly
151
as accommodation, as local or major headquarters, staff or Other Rank accommodation and as storage space. Although it was the usual practice for both Russians and Japanese to use Chinese temples as field-dressing stations and even as hospitals, only two or three references to the practice have been found in contemporary books. There are at least two published photographs of wounded Japanese soldiers lying on stretchers in rows on the floors or in the temple courtyard, with one in particular showing a seriously wounded soldier lying at the feet of two large carved and stuccoed Chinese deities, two of four standard images of Guardians and Assistants to the major deity. The role of the fierce Guardians was to protect the temple from malignant forces and must have been either a comfort to the casualty or a frightening figure from the other world.
The difference between Russian and Japanese use of Chinese temples was that the former, when they departed seldom left anything behind worth carrying away. The Japanese respected Chinese religious statuary, because they too were often Buddhists but also because although the deities on altars were different they were sufficiently similar for Japanese to respect them..
Post-war
We have described a few of the aspects of Chinese problems during the war and the effect the warring armies had on the Chinese officials and commonality on whose territory the war was being fought. The Chinese, who gradually tended to side with the Japanese in the hope of recovering Manchuria, adroitly avoided any involvement in the fighting.
Post-war, Japan assumed the rights in Manchuria that Russia had previously held, with a garrison of some 10,000 men to protect its interests, primarily in southern Manchuria where it was known as the Guandong Army (Kuantung), though it's controls extended in practice to the whole of the territory with the Chinese ostensibly maintaining civil authority.
The change in Chinese official and student circles within the decade following the Sino-Japanese War, i.e. from 1884-1904 was from anti- Japanese and pro-Russian, to pro-Japanese and anti-Russian after the Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese victory clearly signalled to the Chinese in Peking that the Japanese were the model to study and possibly
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