Abstract: By the end of the Guangxu Reign,the Beiyang Fleet had developed to the point of possessing 25 warships despite the fact that during this time the Empress Dowager Cixi had misappropriated 5-6 million liang of silver earmarked for naval construction to build the summer palace。Thus we cannot simply attribute China’s defeat in the Sina-Japanese War to the building of the Summer Palace.The fact that there were no further naval acquisitions was due to Cixi’s becoming suspicious of Li Hongzhang.She placed great importance on her sixtieth birthday which she planed to celebrate on a large scale at the Summer Palace and even when the war broke out she was unwilling to change her plans until the situation became dire.Her attitude toward the war went through several stages.At first she had a tough anti-Japanese stance,but after Qing defeats,she adopted a policy of capitulation and attacked the pro-war faction.She sent Li to Japan to sue for peace and encouraged him to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki.