On October 10th 1911, a mutiny headed by the New Army officers broke out at Wuchang. They seized the city and obtained the support of the Hebei provincial assembly. The provincial assembly declared the province independent from the empire. By December all the provinces of central and southern China had followed suit. A republic was declared. Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) was invited to become provincial president. The Qing court appealed to Yuan Shikai to come to its support. Instead he decided to support the republicans to force the emperor to abdicate. Between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai ruled, first as president and then as emperor. His death in 1916 left a political vacuum. Until 1928, the government in Beijing exercised only symbolic authority over the country. real power rested in the hands of the warlords. During these years several important events took place - a) The May Fourth Movement - the political and cultural movement which climaxed in 1919. b) The founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921. c) The reorganization of the Guomindang or Nationalist Party. d) The Northern Expedition of 1926-8, which led to the nominal reunification of the country. Between 1928 and 1937, the Guomindang attempted to transform China into a modern state. At the same time it battled the CCP with which it had split in 1927. In 1931 Japan seized Manchuria. Jian Jieshi (Chiang Kaishek, now leading the Guomindang, refused to respond. He preferred to pursue the Communists who set out on the Long March in 1934. By 1936, Japanese forced Chiang Kaishek to agree to a united front with the Communists The Japanese were already in north China. In the following year, the Sino-Japanese War broke out. After the initial period of heroic resistance, the Guomindang retreated to Chogqing. The Communists, on the other hand, fought on from their base at Yan'an. After the defeat of Japan, the Guomindang and the CCP fought a civil war. It resulted in the Communist victory of 1949.
The Social Background to the Revolution
By the beginning of the 20th century, major changes were taking place in Chinese
society. This was particularly true in the treaty ports where western influence
was most apparent. The traditional elite, the gentry no longer relied on the
exam system to justify its position. Wealthy gentry families moved into the
cities. They employed members of the lower gentry to manage their rural estates.
Although the gentry despised commerce, many engaged in commercial activities. On
occasion, they joined with merchants, forming the "merchat-gentry alliance." Thw
emergence of the new merchant class was due to two factors. a) the opening of
China to world trade b) the emigration of many thousands of Chinese to the
Americas and South East Asia. The class included compradores. They were agents
of Western firms who handled the Chinese side of business. Later the term
applied to those who engaged in foreign trade. Or, it applied to tose who
utilized their familiarity with Western business methods. It also included
wealthy Overseas Chinese who invested part of their forunes in China.. The great
majority of the new merchant class were owners of small enterprises. The
enterprises were affected by the changing economic environment. To protecttheir
interests they formed chambers of commerce. In 1904 the chambers of commerce
were given official recognition. The late Qing educational and military reforms
had also contributed to social change. The number of modern schools rose from
35,787 withan enrolment of 1,006, 743 pupils. This was in 1907. It reached
82,272 schools with an enrolment of 2,933,287 in 1912. These schools were
ill-prepared. Teachers taught a syllabus which was divorced from Chinese
reality. They did more to encourage protest and demand tan to consolidate the
imperial monarchy. A small but influential group of students went overseas. Many
of them went to Japan where they studied a variety of subjects. The main lesson
they learned was the importance of nationalism. They received constant reminders
of the strength of Japan. They were also reminded of the weakness of their own
country.
New Army Units
China had formed regional armies. The status of the military, which by tradition
was very low, had begun to rise. China abolished the traditional military exams
and they created the new armies. After that, a new class of professional
soldiers began to appear. Young men were from good families and were sent abroad
to study, usually to Japan. They encountered the idea that the army might lead
in defending and regenerating the nation. When they returned to China, they
became officers in the New Army units. The most prominent were a) the Beiyang
Army formed by Yuan Shikai in the north b) the Self-Strengthening Army raised by
Zhang Zhidong at Nanjing. Before the 1911 revolution, other groups in Chinese
society began to play small political roles The Treaty of Shimonoseki had
permitted foreign-owned industries to exist in treaty ports. In Shanghai and a
few other cities, an industrial proletariat had begun to form. These numbered
about 661,000 by 1912. Workers, many of whom were women, were often recruited as
contract labour. This left them entirely dependent on the contractor to
negotiate their conditions of work. The conditions were very poor. Under these
circumstances the first industrial strikes took place. A labour movement began
to form. The cities also became the forum for mass political protest. In 1905, a
boycott was organized in Shanghai and several other cities. This was to protest
against the restriction of Chinese immigration into the United States. The
Chinese government had been forced to apologize over the incident of a Japanese
ship. This was the Tatsu Maru. In 1908, street demonstrations took place in
Guangzhou and Japanese goods were burned. Among the demonstrators were many
women. They urged their supporters to wear rings engraved withthe words
"National Humiliation." These signs of change were referred to as "Young China."
Young China was, of course, an urban phenomena Rural China remained, at most,
only remotely affected.
The Revolutionary Movement
In the Guomindang version they played a key role in the overthrow of the
Manchus. Modern historians have been less convinced of the centrality of the
revolutionaries. This is in the events that led to a) the fall of the Qing
Dynasty b) the collapse of the imperial system at most, the revolutionary
movement created a revolutionary tradition. In 1911, it was too frail an
instrument to be able to bring about a revolution on its own. Yet the reecord of
the early revolutionaries and their organizations is of interest.
SUN YATSEN
Sun Zhongshan (1866-1925) was the founder of the first revolutionary group. He
was born near Guangzhou and studied in Xianggang (Hong Kong) where he was
baptized. He lived for a time with his brother in Hawaii before returning to
Xianggang to study medicine. He then became interested in politics. In 1894 he
offered his services to Li Hongzhang. His offer was ignored. Then, he abandoned
thought of reform and turned to revolution. He formed a revolutionary
organization in Honolulu. In the following year he was involved in an abortive
attempt to capture Guangzhou. In 1896 he was kidnapped by the Chinese
authorities on the streets of London. He would have been smuggled back to China
for trial and execution. But he contacted friends, who publicized his situation
in the media; they secured his release. Sun came into contact with Kang Youwei
and Liang Qichao. They were the leading Chinese nationalists in exile in Japan.
He did not accvept their plans for a constitutional monarchy. He did not accept
their ties with the gentry reform movement. He preferred to seek funds from
Overseas Chinese. He also preferred attempts at uprisings with the help of the
secret society members. Nationalists have emphasized the contributions of Sun
Yatsen. This is at the expense of other revolutionary figures.
Student Revolutionaries
Zou Rong (1885-1905), like other Chinese students living in Japan, became a
revolutionary This was when Russia failed to withdraw troops from Manchuria
after the Boxer Uprising. His manifesto, "The Revolutionary Army" was published.
It was done in the comparative safety of the International settlement of
Shanghai. The manifesto contained a violent attack on the Manchus. He was
imprisoned for issuing inflammatory writings and died in jail at the age of 19.
Qiu Jin (1875-1907) was also a student in Japan. She took up the cause of
women's liberation. This, she believed, would only be achieved in conjunction
with China's political liberation. On her return to China She joined the
Zhejiang Restoration Society. She became involved in an attempted revolutionary
coup and was executed. Huang Xing (1874-1916), a more conventional
revolutionary, came from Hunan. After studying in Japan, he returned to his home
province. There her established the Society for China's Revival. A feature of
this society was its recognition of the importance of infiltrating the armed
forces. In 1905, Sun Yatsen, supported by Husng Xing, formed the Tongmenghui. It
was the Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo. The Alliance brought together a number
of revolutionary organizations. They asdopted a manifesto written by Sun Yatsen
that contained a four-point programme. a) drive out the Manchus b) restore China
c) establish a republic d) equalize land-ownership The first revolutionary stage
would be a military dictatorship. Thisd would be followed by a period of a
one-party government - a political tutelage This would eventually be followed by
the introduction of democracy. Over the next few years several abortive
revolutionary incidents occurred. In 1906, at Pingliuli (Hunan) the Elder
Brother Society attempted an uprising This was in conjunction with dissident
miners and soldiers Some students fro mthe Revolutionary Alliance took part. The
rebels called for the establishment of a republic or, they wanted the
restoration of a Chinese Empire. However, the rebels were no match for
well-armed government soldiers in 1910, Huang Xing and other revolutionaries
organized a mutiny This was in the ranks of the Guangzhou New Army. But the
mutiny broke out prematurely and was easily suppressed. Nine months later the
Alliance was involved in the Guangzhou revolt. This turned into a devastating
defeat for the Guangzhou revolutionaries.
