Atlas of Battles

battle, major, nineteenth century

Battle of Pyongyang

Battle of Pyongyang was a battle fought on 15 September 1894 at Pyongyang, in what is now North Korea. It was part of First Sino-Japanese War, which ran from 1894 to 1895. The recorded result: Japanese victory.

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Battle of Ping Yang: The routing of the Chinese Army. Original wash drawing signed and dated by Schönberg; officers and soldiers at command or organization point near buildings, battle taking place in
Battle of Ping Yang: The routing of the Chinese Army. Original wash drawing signed and dated by Schönberg; officers and soldiers at command or organization point near buildings, battle taking place in. Schönberg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought15 September 1894
WherePyongyang, North Korea39.033N, 125.750E
OutcomeJapanese victory
BelligerentsEmpire of JapanagainstQing Dynasty
Part ofFirst Sino-Japanese War1894 to 1895

Where it sits in First Sino-Japanese War

Battle of Pungdo, 1894Battle of Seonghwan, 1894Battle of Pyongyang, 1894Battle of the Yalu River, 1894Battle of Jiuliancheng, 1894Battle of Lushunkou, 1894Battle of Weihaiwei, 1895Battle of Yingkou, 1895Pescadores Campaign, 189518941895Battle of Pyongyang, 1894
9 placed engagements of First Sino-Japanese War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date15 September 1894
PlacePyongyang, North Korea
39.033N, 125.750E
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Strength~10,000 troops (Japanese sources); 20,000+ troops (Chinese sources); 23,800 troops (Fung, 1996)20,000 troops; 35 artillery guns; 6 machine guns
Casualties and losses162 killed; 438 wounded; 33 missing in action; 633 total2,000 killed; 700 taken prisoner (including 100 wounded)
Commanders
  • Ye Zhichao
  • Zuo Baogui
  • Wei Rugui
Battle of PyongyangBattle of PyongyangBattle of PyongyangSiege of PyongyangSiege of PyongyangBattle of Pyongyang (1950)Battle of SunchonSiege of PyongyangBattle of SunchonWonsanSinuijuNampoHamhungHaejuChongjuOngjinPyongsan100 km39.033N, 125.750E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Pyongyang
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Pyongyang today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-09-22. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 19 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 148 m, 148 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 69% built-up, 14% tree cover, 10% water.

built-up: 69%tree cover: 14%water: 10%grassland: 4%bare ground: 2%built-up 69%tree cover 14%water 10%grassland 4%bare ground 2%
west to east, 10.0 km2 to 57 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 115 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 5 times between 1592 and 1950.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1894

Battle of Pyongyang is one of 3,694 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 53 in present-day North Korea.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q715791, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Pyongyang (1894), revision 1384953476, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.