中日長沙案並非一件單純的衝突個案,而是1920年代中國反日輿情日漸升溫、日本對抵制日貨、抵制日輪運動日漸不耐下的複雜產物。從其中衝突經過、善後交涉過程,可以略窺雙方認知上的差距,也能夠觀察到原先單純的民間衝突,如何在國家力量介入後,演變成重大慘案與外交事件。此類中外民間衝突,因爲涉及到民族主義與國家軍事力介入,關係到兩國之間根本對立的問題,外交上本不易處理。加上長沙屬湖南省,地處南北對立的鋒線之上,不屬北京政府勢力範圍,對於此種介乎中日、中央與地方、日本與地方的長沙案,北京政府外交部在處理過程中,身處內外雙重壓力與交涉面,如何措置善了,別具歷史趣味。因此長沙案,雖然稱不上是影響深遠、震鑠古今的重大外交事件,但中日雙方立場的差異,投射在彼此交涉辯證的過程中,生動刻畫著1920年代上半期中日關係的特有面向。此案透露的歷史意義與時代意義,值得深入發掘與探究。
Changsha Incident is a complex result of the Chinese anti-Japan campaign and the Japanese hatred of the boycott movement against Japanese goods and steamers, rather than an isolated case. From the process of conflicts and negotiations, we can glance at the difference between China and Japan, and observe how a simple civil conflict was turned into a massacre and a vital diplomatic event after the power of state intervened. This kind of conflicts is not easy to deal with in diplomacy as they are involved with nationalism and military intervention. Changsha, a part of Hunang province, located at the fronts between the north and south, does not belong to the Peking government's jurisdiction. For an incident complicated by the China/Japan, central/local, and Japan/local contradictions, how can the Ministry of Diplomacy deals with it by the double pressure? Though the Changsha Incident is not a very important event in history, it is still embodying a special dimension of the Sino-Japan relations in 1920s and worth investigating and discussing.