By the time of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, "Jiyuan" was captained by Fang Pai-chen. She was among several ships to be assigned as escorts to troopships heading to Korea in June 1894. "Jiyuan" departed on 22 July alongside the gunboat from Weihaiwei (now Weihai) for Asan in Korea, beginning the return journey on 25 July. The two ships were meant to meet up with the troopship "Kowshing", but instead were confronted by three cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Pungdo. "Jiyuan" attempted to pass close to the Japanese cruiser , as her captain anticipated a short-range torpedo attack. The other two Japanese cruisers, and also began firing on "Jiyuan".