A documentary on the First Sino-Japanese War between 1894 and 1895 premiered in Beijing on July 25 to mark the 120th anniversary of the start of the war.

The four-episode documentary Jiawu Jiawu, co-produced by the PLA National Defense University and the Central New Film Group, reveals the disasters the war brought to China.

The war is commonly known in China as the Jiawu War as it began in the year of the wood horse, or jiawu, according to China's traditional calendar.

On July 25, 1894, a Japanese fleet attacked two Chinese vessels off the Korean port of Asan, setting on its journey of invasion, occupation and destruction that claimed the lives of millions of Chinese people.

Chinese sailors of the Beiyang Fleet set forth from the port of Weihai in Shandong Province to take on the invading Japanese fleet, only to be completed defeated in about six months.

Meanwhile, the North China Sea Fleet also held a commemorative meeting on Friday at the Liugong Island in east China's Shandong Province, to mark the 120th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese War.

Gao Renhao is an officer of maritime garrison command, China's North Sea Fleet. "Only when we remember the history and improve our ability, can we undertake the responsibilities of the army," Gao said.

The ceremony was held on the square in front of a war museum which once was the base of the Beiyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

(CRIENGLISH.com July 26, 2014)