China was already accustomed to rapacious Western powers squabbling over its riches, but had remained self-confident in the knowledge of these powers’ irrelevance. However, the assault from Japan, a speck of dust in its own backyard, shattered this self-assurance and was experienced as a shocking and intolerable humiliation.
En 1895, la Chine a été vaincue par le Japon, un agresseur minuscule que les Chinois surnommaient avec dédain « wa » (le nain).