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| 1884 |
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| Prince Gong and the Grand Council were dismissed by Cixi for failure to repel the French. A preliminary convention signed (May 11) by Li Hongzhang with Capt. François-Ernest Fournier (b. 1842) resulted in misunderstandings, and a French defeat at Baclé (June 23) led to an undeclared war. French naval destruction of the new Fuzhou arsenal (Aug. 22) and attacks on Taiwan were balanced by reverses on the Tonkin border (at Lang-son, March 28, 1885). French control over Vietnam was now a fait accompli. | 1 |
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| 1885, April 18 |
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The Li-It Convention was agreed upon between Li Hongzhang (China) and It Hirobumi (1841–1909, Japan) for withdrawal of troops by both countries from Korea. | 2 |
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| June 9 |
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| The Treaty of Tianjin, facilitated by Robert Hart, recognized the French protectorate of Tonkin in return for a reciprocal promise to respect China's southern border. On his deathbed, Zuo Zongtang penned a memorial urging modernization and foreign study. | 3 |
| In Korea, a tributary of the Qing since 1637 when Manchu armies overran the peninsula, China had evaded responsibility for the persecution of Christianity and for the French punitive expedition that was repulsed from Seoul (1866). China did not protest the Treaty of Kanghwa, an unequal treaty imposed by Japan that recognized Korean independence, nor a Korean embassy to Japan. However, Li Hongzhang sent (1882) as “resident” to Seoul Yuan Shikai (1859–1916), who was thereafter active in intrigue against Japan. | 4 |
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