Republican China (1911-1949)

Introduction

On Oct. 10th a mutiny headed by the New Army officers broke out at Wuchang.
They seized the city and obtained the support of the Hubei provincial assembly.
The provincial assembly declared the province independent from the empire.
By December all the provinces of southern and central China had fallen suit.
A republic was declared.
Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) was invited to become provisional president.
The Qing court appealed to Yuan Shikai to come to its support.
Instead hew decided to support the republic and to force the emperor to abdicate.
Between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai. ruled, first as president, then as Emperor.
His death in 1916 left a political vacuum.
Until 1928 the government in Beijing only exercised symbolic authority over the country.
Real power was resting 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 Parry
d) The Northern Expedition of 1926-8 which 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, now leading the Guomindang, refused to respond.
He preferred to pursue the Communists who set out on their Long March in 1934.
By 1936 Japanese forced Jiang Jieshi 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 an initial period of heroic resistance, the Guomindang retreated to Chongqing.
The Communists fought from their base in Yan'an.
After the defeat of Japan, the Guomindang and the Communists 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 China.
This was true in the treaty ports where Western influence Wass 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 merchants, forming the merchant - gentry alliance.
The emergence of a 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 great majority of new merchant class were owners of small enterprises.
They were affected by the changing economic environment.
So they formed chambers of commerce to protect themselves.
In 1904 the chambers of commerce were given official recognition..
The late Qing educational & military reforms had also contributed to social change.
The number of modern schools rose 35, 787 with an enrolment of 1, 006, 743 pupils.
This was in 1907.
It reached 82,272 schools with an enrolment of 2,933,287 pupils in 1912.
These schools were ill-prepared
Teachers taught a syllabus which was divorced from Chinese reality.
They did more to encourage protests and demands then 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
They 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.
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 examination and they created the new armies.
After that a new class of professional soldiers began to appear.
Young men from good families were sent abroad to study, usually in 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 promenade 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 the treaty ports.
In Shanghai and a few other cities an industrial proletariate had begun to form.
They 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 an incidence concerning a Japanese ship.
That was the Tatsu Maru.
In 1908 street demonstrations took place in Guangzhou & Japanese goods were burned.
Among the demonstrators were many women.
They urged their supporters to wear rings engraved with the words: National Humiliation.
These signs of change were referred to a "Young China."
Young China was ban urban phenomenon.
Rural China remained only remotely affected.

Revolutionary Movement

In the Guomindang version they played a role in the overthrow of the Manchus.
The 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 creates a revolutionary tradition.
In 1911 it was too frail an instrument to be able to bring about a revolution on its own.
Yet the record of the early revolutionaries & their organizations is interesting.

Sun Yatsen

Sun Zhongshan (1866-1925) was the founder of the first revolutionary group.
He was born near Guangzhou and studied in Xianggang where he was baptized a Christian.
He lived for a time with his brother in Hawaii before returning to Xianggang to study medicine.
He then became interested in politics.
In 1984 he offered his services to Li Hongzhang.
His offer was ignored.
Then he abandoned thoughts of reform and turned to revolution.
He formed a revolutionary organization in Hawaii.
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 and secured his release.
Sun came in contact with Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.
They were the leading Chinese nationalists in exile in Japan.
Sun did not accept 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 attempt at uprisings with the help of secret society members.
Nationalists have emphasized the contribution 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.
There she took up the cause of woman'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 Hunanafter studying in Japan,
he returned to his home province
here he 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 Zhongshan supported by Huang Xing formed the Tongmenghui.
It was the Revolutionary Alliance, inTokyo.
The Alliance brought together number of revolutionary organizations.
They adopted a manifesto written by Sun which 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.
This would be followed by a period of a one party government - "a political tutelage."
This would eventually be followed by the introduction of a democracy.
Over the next few years several abortive revolutionary incidents occurred.
In 1906 at Pingliuli (Hunan), the Gelaohui or Elder Brother Society, attempted an uprising.
This was in conjunction with dissident miners and soldiers.
Some students from the 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 & 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 of the Guaangzhou revolutionaries.

The 1911 Revolution

The revolutionary attempts had dramatized the challenge to Manchu rule.
At the start of 1911 there was no expectation that China was on the verge of a revolution.
Two incidents were to precipitate a crisis.
This would also expose the weakness of the Manchu dynasty.
It would also show the frailty of the imperial system.
The first incident came from the issue of railway construction.
In 1908 Zhang Zhidong had begun to negotiate an international loan.
Part of this loan was to be used to finance the construction of a national railway network.
This plan threatened the interest of the consortia formed by merchants and gentry.
Te merchants & gentry were planning to build provincial railway lines.
Zhang Zhidong died in 1909 and his place was taken by Shang Xuan-huai.
He was a bureaucratic capitalist.
He had previously run the Hanyeping Coal & Iron Company at Hanyang.
Sheng was a leading exponent of railway nationalization.
He already was accused of selling out China's rights by burrowing from foreigners.
In May 1911 Sheng proposed the nationalization of all non-completed railways.
It was for these railways that the provincial gentry-merchants capital had ben raised.
Then the investors learnt that they only recover part of their investments.
Then loud protests are expressed particularly in Sichuan.
The Sichuan Railway Protection League was established.
Mass meetings were held.
A campaign of civil disobedience began.
The Governor General of the province
a) arrested their League's leaders
b) broke up demonstrations
c) called for military reinforcements
By September the militia and secret societies virtually controlled the province.
Some were led by members pf the Revolutionary Alliance.
The second incidence had its origins in the military modernization.
This began after the Sino-Japanese War and continued with the late Qing reforms.
The new armies recruited better educated soldiers.
Many of whom were susceptible to nationalist propaganda.
It Wass futile to oppose the new armies, revolutionaries had tried to infiltrate them.
This was done successfully in Hubei
This is where the new army units were stationed at Wuhan.
This was the triple city on the Yangzi.
It included Hankou with its important foreign concessions.
In 1908 a group was formed among soldiers of the 41st regiment of the Hubei Army.
The group was called th e Political Study Society.
It had connections with the local treaty-port press.
The society was broken.
But the Revolutionaries regrouped in early 1911 to form the Literature Society.

Other Events

in 1911 other events contributed to the development of a revolutionary atmosphere
central China and Hanbkou in particular had suffered from an economic depression
severe flooding of the Yangzi and Han rivers had cost an estimated 2,500,000 lives.
in April one of the most vaunted constitutional reforms at last came into effect
this was the appointment of a responsible cabinet
it was composed of eight Manchus, one Mongol, and only four Chinese
then came the controversy over the nationalization of the railways
this resulted in some units of the Hubei Army being sent to Sichuan
this was to suppress a movement for which many soldiers felt some sympathy.
the Literature Society had planned an insurrection in the middle of October
this was together with other revolutionary organizations in Hubei and Hunan.

the plot was discovered
this forced the revolutionaries to advance the date to October 10th
with ease, the revolutionaries seized Wuchang,
this was on the opposite bank of the Yangzi from Hankou.
they set up a military government, which was supported by the Hubei provincial assembly.
they had declared independence from the empire and the establishment of a republic,
then they sent messages to other provincial assemblies and New Army units
this was to invite them to follow suit
by early Dec. 1911 all the provinces of south and central China had seceded from the empire.
the fate of the Qing dynasty, however, remained undecided
the Beiyang Army, stationed north, was less responsive to revolutionary propaganda
it did not react immediately to events in central China.

Yuan Shikai, the army's creator, had been dismissed in January 1909
In November 1911 the Manchu invited him back to serve as Prime Minister
Yuan, had also been approached by the revolutionaries,
but he accepted the offer from the court
the imperial forces recaptured Hankou but were repulsed at Nanjing
this reverse may have convinced Yuan that the future lay with the revolution.
he encouraged the Qing dynasty to abdicate with the promise of a generous settlement
in March 1912 he succeeded Sun Zhongshan as president of the new republic.

The 1911 Revolution

the revolutionary attempts had dramatized the challenge to Manchu rule
at the start of 1911 there was no expectation that China was on the verge of a revolution
two incidents were to precipitate a crisis
this would also expose the weakness of the Manchu dynasty
it would also show the frailty of the imperial system.

the first incident came from the issue of railway construction
in 1908 Zhang Zhidong had begun to negotiate an international loan
part of this loan was to be used to finance the construction of a national railway network
this plan threatened the interests of the consortia formed by merchants and gentry
the merchants & gentry were planning to build provincial railway lines.
Zhang Zhidong died in 1909 and his place was taken by Sheng Xuan-huai
he was a bureaucratic capitalist
he had had previously run the Hanyeping Coal and Iron Company at Hanyang
Sheng was a leading exponent of railway nationalization
he already was accused of selling out China's rights by borrowing from foreigners.

In May 1911 Sheng proposed the nationalization of all non-completed railways
it was for these railways that the provincial gentry-merchant capital that had been raised.
then the investors learned that they would only recover part of their investment
then loud protests were expressed particularly in Sichuan.
the Sichuan Railway Protection League was established,
mass meetings were held
a campaign of civil disobedience began.
the governor-general of the province
arrested their League's leaders,
broke up demonstrations,
called for military reinforcements
by September the militia and secret societies virtually controlled the province.
some were led by members of the Revolutionary Alliance

the second incident had its origins in the military modernization
this began after the Sino-Japanese War and continued with the late Qing reforms.
the new armies recruited better-educated soldiers
many of whom were susceptible to nationalist propaganda.
it was futile to oppose the new armies, revolutionaries had tried to infiltrate them.
this was done most successfully in Hubei
this is where the New Army units were stationed at Wuhan,
this was the triple city on the Yangzi
it included Hankou with its important foreign concession
in 1908 a group was formed among soldiers of the 41st Regiment of the Hubei Army.
the group was called the Political Study Society
it had connections with the local treaty-port press,
the society was broken
but the revolutionaries regrouped in early 1911 to form the Literature Society.

Other Events

in 1911 other events contributed to the development of a revolutionary atmosphere
central China and Hanbkou in particular had suffered from an economic depression
severe flooding of the Yangzi and Han rivers had cost an estimated 2,500,000 lives.
in April one of the most vaunted constitutional reforms at last came into effect
this was the appointment of a responsible cabinet
it was composed of eight Manchus, one Mongol, and only four Chinese
then came the controversy over the nationalization of the railways
this resulted in some units of the Hubei Army being sent to Sichuan
this was to suppress a movement for which many soldiers felt some sympathy.
the Literature Society had planned an insurrection in the middle of October
this was together with other revolutionary organizations in Hubei and Hunan

the plot was discovered
this forced the revolutionaries to advance the date to October 10th
with ease, the revolutionaries seized Wuchang,
this was on the opposite bank of the Yangzi from Hankou.
they set up a military government, which was supported by the Hubei provincial assembly.
they had declared independence from the empire and the establishment of a republic,
then they sent messages to other provincial assemblies and New Army units
this was to invite them to follow suit
by early Dec. 1911 all the provinces of south and central China had seceded from the empire.
the fate of the Qing dynasty, however, remained undecided
the Beiyang Army, stationed north, was less responsive to revolutionary propaganda
it did not react immediately to events in central China.
Yuan Shikai, the army's creator, had been dismissed in January 1909
in November 1911 the Manchu invited him back to serve as Prime Minister
Yuan, had also been approached by the revolutionaries,
but he accepted the offer from the court
the imperial forces recaptured Hankou but were repulsed at Nanjing
this reverse may have convinced Yuan that the future lay with the revolution.
he encouraged the Qing dynasty to abdicate with the promise of a generous settlement
in March 1912 he succeeded Sun Zhongshan as president of the new republic.

should the 1911 revolution be counted as a genuine revolution?
two issues are of particular interest:
1) the motivation of the gentry and
2) the part played by the revolutionaries.
in the past the gentry group had transferred its allegiance to a new dynasty
this was when it felt that the old dynasty could no longer secure its interests
in 1911, some gentry leaders were motivated by constitutionalism,
their main aim was constitutional reform and the establishment of a parliament.
they abandoned the dynasty because they lost faith in the Qing commitment to political reform.
for many other members of the gentry a number of things seemed dangerous:
a) dynastic decline,
b) the rise of violence,
c) the activities of the secret societies
they sided with the revolutionaries
because they believed that the New Army units could best preserve order
because they saw the opportunity to enhance their own power at local and provincial level.

the role of the revolutionaries was ambiguous
the Revolutionary Alliance did not contribute directly to the Wuchang coup
Sun Zhongshan himself was in the United States and read of the event in the newspaper.
the Wuchang rebels persuaded Li Yuanhong, to head the government.
he was a New Army brigade commander who was not a revolutionary
by November. most all the revolutionary leaders held that Yuan Shikai was the key to their success
when Sun Zhongshan returned to China in December he was apprehensive
the was nervous that more fighting might lead to foreign intervention
he too, albeit reluctantly, turned to Yuan and resigned the presidency to him.
the revolutionaries &Sun Zhongshan helped create the political atmosphere
but they had little control over the events which followed.

The Presidency of Yuan Shikai

the critics of Yuan Shikai have accused him of
a) betraying the 1898 reformers,
b) deserting the Qing dynasty
c) abandoning the republic to make himself emperor,
all of these were cited as being motivated by selfishness … yet
he was apprehensive of foreign pressure on China's sovereignty,
he set out to centralize the administration through reforms
these reforms had been introduced in stages to reduce the risk of disorder.

according to the constitution of the new republic, the president exercised considerable power,
but he was required to share that power with the prime minister and parliament
Tang Shaoyi, the 1st prime minister was a member of the Revolutionary Alliance
four cabinet ministers were also members of the Revolutionary Alliance
the Alliance held about one-third of the seats of the provisional parliament.
this arrangement soon proved to be unmanageable
in June, Tang and other members of the cabinet resigned after a row over a foreign loan.
in August, Yuan Shikai announced that the first parliamentary elections would take place
this would be at the end of the year.
in preparation the Alliance merged with four minor parties
they renamed itself the Guomindang,
it was headed by Song Jiaoren,
it was he who had drafted the constitution
he won a majority in both houses of parliament.

the new party immediately began to criticize some of the actions of Yuan's government
they criticized his willingness to take foreign loans
they began to demand that the power of parliament should be increase
Yuan Shikai's response was to have Song Jiaoren assassinated.
this was followed the event known as the Second Revolution
in April 1913, Yuan Shikai contracted a `Reorganisation Loan' of $25,000,000
the loan was from a British, French, German, Russian, and Japanese consortium.
this was done without the prior consent of parliament,
the loan,was secured on the revenue of the salt monopoly,
the loan was to re-finance China's existing debts and to pay for a reform of the administration.
Yuan's opponents were sure this was not the reason for the loan
for them, it was to bankroll a campaign of suppression against his political opponents.
this suspicion was confirmed

after the Second Revolution, Yuan established himself as a dictator by doing the following:
a) martial law was declared,
b) newspapers were closed down,
c) opposition members of parliament were arrested
d) many thousands of people were killed.
e) the Guomindang members of parliament were expelled a
f) Yuan then dissolved the provincial assemblies, tampering with the interests of the gentry.
Yuan introduced several measures some of which continued his policy of centralization
other reforms hinted at a wider agenda of social improvement
for example, his goal to educate all Chinese boys and raising the standards of agriculture.

Japan's Twenty One Demands

in January 1915, the Japanese government presented demands to Yuan Shikai
these were twenty -one demands divided into five groups, which included:
a) the transfer to Japan of all German interests in Shandong,
b) the extension of Japan's lease on the Liaodong peninsula,
c) the granting of further commercial rights in Manchuria and
d) a joint Sino-Japanese control of the Hanyeping industrial complex.
e) it required the Chinese government to use Japanese advisers
this would be for
a) its military,
b) its police
c) its financial administrations,
this would turn China into a `second Korea'.

the document was leaked to the Chinese press
an outburst of patriotic protests followed.
Britain and the United States expressed concern
but they advised that China would have to accept the ultimatum.
on May 7th 1915, Yuan acceded to the first four groups of the demands
he deferred agreement on the fifth group
that day was to be commemorated as the day of national humiliation
Yuan's prestige was never to recover from his compromise on the issue.

Yuan’s willingness to compromise has been attributed to his desire to become emperor
His opponents had long suspected him of cherishing that ambition,
he only became committed to it in 1915 after the presentation of the Twenty-one Demands.
he believed that a restoration was the preference of the mass of the population,
this was because the masses had never accepted the republic
he was encouraged in this view by Dr. F.J. Goodnow, his American political adviser,
he argued China's history & tradition made her more suited to a monarchy than to a republic.
in December Yuan accepted an invitation from his supporters to become emperor
on January 1st 1916 his reign began.
the monarchical venture was not a success.
-intellectual criticism was led by Liang Qichao
in the past had been an advocate of a constitutional monarchy
but now believed that the mystique of the monarchy had been destroyed irrevocably.

Japan and the Western imperial powers expressed doubts about the wisdom of the move Japan began to supply funds to Yuan's political opponents.
the most serious opposition came from a group of military men
it was headed by Cai E, the military governor of Yunnan.
in the following months he led his troops into Sichuan
Yuan dispatched units of the Beiyang Army
it should have been able to defeat Cai E easily,
Cai E's military tactics and the defection of Yuan's supporters led to the loss of Sichuan.
by now support for Yuan Shikai was crumbling rapidly
in March he abandoned his claim to the monarchy
three months later he died.

The Warlord Era (1916-28)

Yuan Shikai's death left a political vacuum
his rejection of the republic had discredited parliamentary democracy
his ventures into dictatorship, & his restoration of the monarch gathered little support
in the ensuing period the central government ceased to exert national authority
effective power fell into the hands of military governors or warlords.

Yuan Shikai was succeeded as president by Li Yuanhong
the 1912 constitution was revised and there was a brief period of national unity
this was destroyed by disputes between Li and Duan Qirui, a general in the Beiyang Army
in the first instance over the validity of the 1912 constitution,
some believed it had been superseded by the constitution introduced by Yuan Shikai in 1914
in the second instance it was over whether China should enter the war against Germany.
in July 1917 the Beijing government encouraged Zhang Xun, to march into Beijing
this was to restore the last Manchu emperor.
he was quickly expelled and Duan Qirui regained control
Li Yuanhong was forced to resign the presidency
his place being taken by Feng Guozhang, another former commander under Yuan Shikai.

in 1918 Duan Qirui outraged nationalist opinion by accepting the `Nishihara loans'
these loans were provided by the Japanese interests to advance their claims in Manchuria.
from this point the Beijing government ceased to exercise effective authority over the nation.
yet the Beijing government continued to receive the recognition of the foreign powers,
over the next decade, the distribution of power was fluid,
initially north and central China was divided between the supporters of
a) Duan Qirui who had formed the Anhui or Anfu cliqu
b) the supporters of Feng Guozhang, who formed the Zhili clique.
in 1920 the Zhili clique headed by Zhang Zuolin,,defeated the Anfu clique.
the Zhili and Fengtian cliques then fought two wars.
the second war, in 1924, was a major conflict
it resulted in the break-up of the Zhili clique.

in 1920 the Zhili clique headed by Zhang Zuolin,,defeated the Anfu clique.
the Zhili and Fengtian cliques then fought two wars.
the second war, in 1924, was a major conflict
it resulted in the break-up of the Zhili clique.
from 1924 a somewhat more stable situation emerged
the basic warlord regimes were as follows:
1. Zhang Zuolin, the Old Marshal in Manchuria,
2. Feng Yuxiang, the `Christian General' in the north-west,
3. Yan Xishan, the `Model Governor in Shanxi,
4. Sun Chuanfang, in the lower Yangzi provinces
5. Wu Peifu, the `Philosopher Marshal' in the middle Yangzi,
6. The Guangxi clique, in the south-west.
around Guangzhou, Sun Zhongshan maintained a precarious existence.
this was with the consent of the local warlord Chen Jiongming,

warlord regimes were extremely diverse, they did have some common features:
a) most warlords had a military background;
b) many had been military governors of provinces;
c) they all maintained armies which were loyal to them;
d) all, with the exception of Feng Yuxiang, (`mobile warlord') commanded a territorial base;
e) a number of them used levies to supply their financial needs;
f) part of their revenues came from taxes, especially land taxes;
g) other revenues came from their monopolies on consumer goods, the sale of opium, charges on business and railway companies.
h) some, who were short of funds, printed their own currency to supplement their income.

warlords did differ in terms of the ideologies they projected:
three main categories may be identified:
a) conservative warlords, for example, Wu Peifu, a committed Confucianist;
b) reactionary warlords, for example Zhang Xun, who tried to restore the Qing;
c) reformist warlords, for example, Feng Yuxiang & Yan Xishan.
of the latter two, Feng Yuxianghad become a Christian in 1914,
he insisted that his troops should not drink, gamble, use opium, or visit prostitutes
he selected recruits on the basis of physical fitness,
he expected his men to train vigorously.
Yan Xishan promoted primary education and literacy
he initiated campaigns against foot-binding and prostitution.

the warlord period has usually been regarded as a disastrous episode in China's history
some of its dire features are as following:
a) central government had collapsed,
b) outer Mongolia and Tibet had become semi-independent,
c) intellectuals had withdrawn from public service,
d) warfare was endemic,
e) the economy was neglected, and
f) Western imperialism continued to make inroads.
the warlord period had some positive aspects.
most warlords subscribed to the cause of Chinese nationalism.

during the First World War China's exports had boomed
also, modern industries had expanded sharply.
this took place because European powers were in conflict in Europe
this trend continued after the war
the index of industrial production rising by 300% in 1916-28.
the traditional emphasis on ideological conformity was replaced by intellectual freedom
this made possible the cultural change known as the May Fourth Movement to take place.

The May Fourth Movement

the political disintegration left the way open for the emergence of new political parties
it is in these years that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded
also, the Guomindang was reorganized and began its bid to reunify China.
on May 4th 1919 the news reached Beijing about the Paris Peace Conference
it had decided that the former German interests in Shandong should not go to China
it should be retained by Japan
it had been seized by Japan during the war.

a crowd of 3,000 students assembled at the Tiananmen
they marched on the foreign legations.
the march was blocked by the police
so the students diverted to the house of Cao Rulin,
they burned down his house
he was the minister of communications who had negotiated the Twenty-One Demands
he had also arranged the Nishihara loans,
the police then intervened and arrested 31 students, one of whom later died due to injuries.
the incident quickly turned into a national protest
demonstrations took place in many other cities
a boycott of Japanese goods was declared.
Cao Julin resigned from the government and the government itself fell shortly afterwards
the Chinese delegation at Versailles refused to sign the concluding agreement.

this incident was the central event in the cultural & intellectual May 4th Movement.
its main themes can be divided into three parts:
a) an attack on Confucianism,
b) an enthusiasm for new ideas,
c) a literary revolution.
the movement emerged at a time of rapid social change
it was marked by
a) the growth of the coastal cities
b) the rapid increase in the number of students at universities and colleges
by 1919 about 4,500,000 students got an education that included some Western style studies.
the most prestigious institution was Beijing National University,
it had been founded in 1898 as a training centre for officials
but it was transformed into the leading academic institution
it was committed to the promotion of liberal ideas, by its chancellor Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940).
he brought to the university a number of leading academics.
these included Hu Shi (1891-1962)
he had studied with the philosopher John Dewey at Columbia university
it also included Chen Duxiu (1879-1942
he had founded the journal New Youth in Shanghai in 1915.

its first editorial had called upon the youth of China to cast off conventions of the past
it called them to embrace the individualism and utilitarianism of the West.
Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao (1888-1927) were to be the joint founders of the CCP.
the 1911 revolution had dismantled the political framework of the Confucian state
but the Confucian tradition remained dominant in the family,
this was mostly n the wealthy extended families
they were families from which many of the 1st generations of Westernized intellectuals came.
this tradition was now attacked fiercely in the pages of New Youth.
in December 1916, Chen Duxiu published an article
it was entitled, “The Way of Confucius and Modern Life.”
In it he criticized Confucian teaching on filial piety and on the subservience of women,
he noted in particular the prejudice against the remarriage of widows.
Confucius, he remarked lived in a feudal age
the ethics, social mores, and political institutions he advocated belonged to a feudal age.

classical Chinese literature was written in a condensed and allusive form
this made it accessible only to those with a classical education.
there was a new demand for newspapers, popular fiction and translations of Western work
this had resulted in the production of a large amount of writing in the vernacular
but the classical form continued to be used for all serious literature.
in 1917 Hu Shi published an article in the New Youth
in the article he called for a `literary revolution’,
this would supplant the classical style with the vernacular for all forms of literary expression
the following month Chen Duxiu made the following demand:
"Destroy the aristocratic literature which is nothing but literary chiselling and flattery and construct a simple, expressive literature of the people."
the consequence was the emergence of a new vernacular literature
one of the first and greatest exponent of this was Lu Xun (1881-1936),
his short story `A Madman's Diary' appeared in the New Youth in April 1918.
in 1921 the ministry of education decreed the vernacular to be used in primary school texts

the third strand in the movement was the diffusion of a wide range of ideas from the West.
by late 19th century, many key concepts of the West had been translated into Chinese.
this included Social Darwinism and socialist and anarchist ideas,
in November 1918 an article appeared in the NewYouth
it was called `The Victory of Bolshevism', Li Dazhao
it was attempt to explain the tenets of Bolshevism
the following year he used an entire issue of the magazine to discuss Marxism.
in Jan. 1919 Chen Duxiu still argued on behalf of science & democracy
he argued it could `cure the dark maladies in Chinese politics, morality, learning, and thought.’
but like many others, lost faith in Western democracy after the betrayal of China at Versailles

Hu Shi adopted the pragmatic philosophy of John Dewey
John Dewey was lecturing in China between 1919 and 1921.
this made him doubt that ready-made ideologies could be a solution to China’s problems
such ideologies were anarchism or Marxism, which he called `isms’
he asked rhetorically what was the sole aim of this new thought
his answer was: to re-create civilization, but civilization was not created all at once,
it was created by inches and drops.’
his preference of gradualism contrasted with those who preferred a revolutionary approach
these were the preferences of Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu,
the intellectual unanimity of the May Fourth period would not last.

Mao Zedong
Mao came from Shaoshan in Hunan where his father had begun life as a poor peasant
eventually he became one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan.
Mao father was a strict disciplinarian who often would beat Mao & his two brothers & adopted sister.
Mao’s mother was a devout Buddhist & tried to suppress her husband’s temper.
Mao had become a follower of Buddhism but abandoned it in his mid-teens
at age eight Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School where he learned the value systems of Confucianism
Mao did not like the classical texts that preached Confucian morals
he preferred reading the popular novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms & Water Margin.

The Founding of the Communist Party & the Reorganization of the Guomindang

many Chinese were proud of having belonged to the May Fourth generation
they regarded those years as the a starting point of modern Chinese history.
among them was Mao Zedong (1893-1976).

Mao’s father arranged him to marry a 17 year old girl called Luo Yigu - the first of 4 wives.
Mao refused to accept her as a wife
he became a great critic of arranged feudal marriages & moved away.
Luo was disgraced & died in 1910.
while working on his father’s farm Mao read a lot & developed a political consciousness.
Mao was inspired by a booklet written by Zheng Guanying who lamented the deterioration of Chinese power.
he argued in favour of adopting a representative democracy.
Mao was also interested in history & was inspiredly the military skills and nationalistic passions of George Washington & Napoleon Bonaparte.

Mao’s political views were shaped by the protests that had erupted in Changsha following famine
Mao supported the demands made by the protestors although the armed forces suppressed the dissenters annexed the leaders.
the famine did spread to Shaoshan where starving peasants seized his father’s grain
he saw it as immoral behaviour although he claimed sympathy for it.
when he was 16 Mao moved to a higher primary school in nearby Dongshsan.
there he was bullied because of his peasant background

in 1911 he began middle school in Changsha where revolutionary sentiments were quite strong
there was also wide spread and animosity against Emperor Puyi’s absolute monarchy.
by now everyone was advocating republicanism - its leader was Sun Yatsen.
Mao was influenced by Sun’s newspaper “The People’s Independence”
Mao even wrote an essay in school calling for Sun Yatsen to become president.
as a symbol of rebellion against Manchu rule Mao cut off his queue.

inspired by Sun Yatsen, the army sparked the Xinhai Revolution.
Changsha’s governor fled & the city fell into Republican hands
Mao joined the rebel army but did not get involved in the fighting
the northern provinces remained loyal to the emperor
to avoid a civil war Sun compromised with Yuan Shikai
the monarchy would be abolished, creating a republic of China.
but the monarchist Yuan would become president.
after the revolution was over Mao left the army in 1912 - he had spent 16 months with them.
at that time Mao discovered socialism from a newspaper - he did not embrace it.

The Fourth Normal School at Changsha: 1912-19.

over the next few years Mao enrolled and dropped out of a number of institutions:
a) police academy
b) a soap production school
c) a law school
d) an economics school
e) the government-run school Changsha Middle School

Mao spent a lot of his time studying independently in the library.
he especially read the basic core works of classical liberalism
this would be “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
also, “The Spirit of the Laws” by Montesquieu
furthermore he read scientists & philosophers.
these were Darwin, Mill, Rousseau, and Spencer.

Mao absorbed the idea of individualism whereby strong individuals were not bound by rules.
these rules would be moral or societal.
he began to accept the idea that the ends justifies the means.
his father saw no use in his son’s intellectual interests & thereby cut off his allowance.
Mao was forced to leave home into a hostel for the destitute.

Mao wanted to become a teacher.
he enrolled at the Fourth Normal School of Changsha, it merged with another school.
now it became the best school in Hunan
encouraged by his teacher Mao began to read newspapers called “The New Youth”
the newspaper was founded by Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao.
Chen was a nationalist who argued that China must look to the West in order to cleanse itself.
Mao had published his own articles in the newspaper (April 1917)
he urged people to increase their strength to support the revolution

by 1920, Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao had started a Marxist study group at Beijing University
Mao Zedong had started his own group in Changsha
he organized the Association for Student Self-Government
he led protest against school rules
he was elected to command a student volunteer army to defend against marauding soldiers.
then Mao, taking a interest in war, studied the techniques of World War l
he began to develop a sense of solidarity with workers.
he helped form The Renovation of the People Study Society (April, 1918).
this was to debate Chen Duxiu’s ideas.
the society would later join the Communist Party
Mao graduated in June 1919 & was ranked third among the students that year.

Mao in Beijing

Mao moved to Beijing
his mentor Yang Changji , now working at Peking University, secured him a job
this was as assistant to the University librarian, Li Dazhao.
Li had written articles in the New Youth on the October Revolution in Russia
this was when the Communist Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin had seized power.
Lenin advocated the socko-political theory of Marxism.
Li’s articles brought an understanding of Marxism to the Chinese revolutionary movement.
Mao joined Li’s study group & quickly embraced Marxism during the winter of 1919.
at school Mao was being avoided by other students because of his peasant background.
Mao also joined the university’s Philosophy & Journalism Societies.
he attended lectures by Chen Duxiu, Hu She, and Qian Xuantong.
Mao left Beijing in the spring of 1919

New Culture & Political Protests

May 4th, 1919 students in Beijing gathered at he Gate of Heavenly Peace.
they protested the Chinese government’s inability to resist Japanese expansion.
protestors were outraged at the influence given to Japan in the 21 Demands
mostly they were outrage at China being betrayed in the Treaty of Versailles
this treaty was to hand over Shandong to Japan instead of China
Germany had previously held on to it prior to the war
these demonstrations ignited the May Fourth Movement
it also fuelled the New Culture movement that blamed China for its diplomatic defeats.

meanwhile Mao had been teaching history at Xiuye Primary School
he was also organizing protests against the pro-dean Governor of Hunan, Zhao Jingyao.
Zhang’s rule was corrupt & violent
in May Mao co-founded the Hunanese Student Association with others.
they organized a student strike for June.
in July they began a weekly radical magazine, Xiang River Review (Xiangiang pinglun).
Mao advocated the need for a”great union of popular masses”
his ideas were not Marxist but were influenced by the concept of Mutual aid.(Peter Kropotkin).
Zhang barred the Student Association but Mao continued to publish.

Mao took over the editorship of the liberal magazine New Hunan & articles in local papers.
these newspapers advocated & supported feminism views; called for the liberation of women.
Mao was influenced by his forced arranged marriage as well.
Mao then began to read “The Communist Manifesto “ by Marx & Engels;
but he remained eclectic in his views

Mao travelled a bit before finally settling down in Shanghai.
he met Chen Duxiu who impressed him with his acceptance of Marxism
Mao met members of the Guomingdang & helped them overthrow Zhang
soon after Mao was appointed headmaster of the junior section of the First Normal school.
with a larger income , he married Yang Kaihui in the winter of 1

The Founding of the CCP & the Re-Organizing of the KMT: 1921-22.

the Communist party of China was founded by Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao
they did this in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921
it was done as a study society and informal network.
Mao created a Changsha branch & established a branch of Socialist Youth Corps.
he began to propagate evolutionary literature throughout Hunan
heals was involved in the movement for Hunan autonomy - to increase civil liberties
a new warlord established Human autonomy; after that Mao decreased his involvement.

by 1921 small Marxist groups existed in the following cities:
a) Shanghai
b) Beijing,
c) Changsha
d) Wuhan
e) Guangzhou
f) Jinan

in April Grigori Voitinsky, representing the Third Communist International, visited China
this was to assist in the formation of a Communist party
first a Socialist Youth League was organized
contact was made with the group of students from Hunan and Sichuan
among these students was Deng Xiaoping
they had been sent to France on part-time study part-time work scheme.
in July 23rd 1921 the First Congress of the CCP was held.
it was attended by 13 delegates, Mao included.
after the police spied on the congress they moved it to small boat on South Lake
neither Chen Duxiu nor Li Dazhao was present on that occasion
but Chen Duxiu was chosen as secretary-general of the Party in absentia.
Soviet & Comitern delegates attended
they ignored Lenin’s advice to accept a temporary alliance between them & “bourgeois democrats’
they too advocated national revolution
they held on to the Marxist belief that only urban peasants could lead a socialist revolution.
there is some uncertainty about the direction taken at that meeting
but it was agreed that the Party should concentrate on promoting the labour movement.
Mao became Party secretary for Hunan; he was to be stationed at Changsha
he was to build the party there
he founded the Self-Study University
this would allow readers to get access to revolutionary literature
they were to be found at the office of Wang Fuzhi, a Qing dynasty philosopher
he was from Hunan and had resisted the Manchus
Mao joined the YMCA Mass Education Movement to fight illiteracy
he organized workers to strike against the administration of Hunan governor Zhao Hengti
labour issues remained central.

Mao missed the Second Congress (July 1922) in Shanghai
the delegates agreed to an alliance with the “bourgeois democrats” of the Guomindang.
Communist party members joined the Guomindang to push its politics to the left
Mao agreed to the alliance across socio-economic classes
Mao was anti-imperialist
in his writings he severely criticized the government of Japan, the UK, the USA.

in April Grigori Voitinsky, representing the Third Communist International, visited China
this was to assist in the formation of a Communist party
first a socialist Youth League was organized
contact was made with the group of students from Hunan and Sichuan
among these students was Deng Xiaoping
they had been sent to France on part-time study part-time work scheme.
in July 1921 in the French Concession in Shanghai, the First Congress of the CCP was held.
neither Chen Duxiu nor Li Dazhao was present on that occasion
but Chen Duxiu was chosen as secretary-general of the Party in absentia.-
there is some uncertainty about the decision taken at that meeting
but it was agreed that the Party should concentrate on promoting the labour movement.

between 1921 and 1923, China experienced the `first big wave of labour struggles.'
the CCP played the major role in directing the struggle
the Guomindang activists also played a role &
the rise of unrest took place before the rise of the CCP
the most successful industrial action was the Xiangang seamen's strike,
this began in January 1922 and
its central issue the discrepancy between the wages of white and Chinese seamen.
the strike spread to Shanghai and Guangzhou,
eventually it involved 120,000 workers
this resulted in the Xianggang seamen receiving a wage rise of 15 to 30%.
later the Communist-supported Labour Secretariat organised a congress in Guangzhou
this was attended by delegates who claimed to represent 300,000 workers
but then, there was a strike of railway workers on the Beijing-Hankou line led to disaster.

the local warlord, Wu Peifu, perhaps encouraged by Western powers, broke up the strike,
he killed 35 of the strikers
this included the branch secretary of the union of the Jianggnam depot in Hankou,
after being expelled from the Beijing parliament in 1913 the Guomindang moved to elsewhere
this was in Guangzhou, where it maintained a shadowy existence
it had the unreliable support of Chen Jiongming, the local warlord.
these circumstances made Sun Zhongshan receptive to the overtures of Maring,
he was the Comitern agent whom he met in 1921.
in the previous year, Lenin had persuaded the Comitern of something interesting.
in colonial countries, Communists should collaborate with bourgeois-democratic movements
Lenin had considered China to be a colonial country.
Maring concluded that the Guomindang should be regarded as such a movement,
he obtained Sun Zhongshan's agreement
this was that members of the CCP should be allowed to join the Guomindang
this was as individuals and that a united front should be formed by the two parties.

Sun Zhongshan had already begun a reorganization of the Guomindang
a new constitution had been adopted
it refined the manifesto commitment of the Revolutionary Alliance to three principles:
a) nationalism,
b) democracy
c) the people's livelihood.
the new Comitern was Mikhail Borodin
he had arrived in Guangzhou in October 1923 & assisted in making further changes
the party was reorganized on Bolshevik lines
Sun Zhongshan retained personal leadership,
the Bolsheviks were a diversion from the Leninist model.

through the efforts of Sun Fo, a significant improvement was made to the party's finances
Sun Fo was Sun Yatsen’s son & was mayor of Guangzhou
in May 1924 a military academy was opened at Huangpu (Whampoa), south of Guangzhou.
the academy was headed by Jiang Jieshi (Chang Kaishek) (1887-1975)
he had recently returned from Moscow
the academy was to train a National Revolutionary Army,
this army would be used to reunify China..
in the meantime the Guomindang was attempting to organise mass movements.
it was supported by the Communist
Liao Zhongkai was the leader of the left wing of the Guominang
he promoted a revival of the Guangzhou labour movement,
this movement led to a series of strikes and a strengthening of union discipline.

one notable protest was the Shamian affair of July 1924
the protest was directed against Western imperialism and the unequal treaties.
contact was made with the peasants,
the peasants were now recognized as an important component in the revolutionary struggle.
in 1922 Peng Pai had begun to work among the peasants of his home district
this was in eastern Guangdong
he was the son of a landlord; he had begun to work with peasants in eastern Guandong
two years later the Guomindang established a Farmer's Bureau
it was headed by Peng Pei,
it organized peasant associations & supported peasants in disputes with landlords.
the more successful the Guomindang was in getting mass support the more it alienated
a) the merchants
b) landlords
they were the ones who provided its principle support.

in the autumn of 1924 a group of Guangzhou merchants raised a militia
it also smuggled arms into the city
the group was infuriated by the heavy taxes imposed by the Guomindang
it was also infuriated by the Guomindang’s encouragement of the labour movement,
but his militia was defeated by soldiers from the Huangpu military academy
their commander Jiang Jieshi was suspicious of the infiltration tactics of the CCP.
in March 1925, Sun Zhongshan died of cancer.
his death was commemorated in services nationally,
on May 30th 1925, police, commanded by a British officer, fired on Chinese demonstrators
this took place in the Nanjing Road in Shanghai, killing 12 people
protests followed in cities throughout China.
in Guangzhou, (June 23rd) British troops fired on a rally and killed 52 demonstrators
this precipitated the Guangzhou-Xianggang strike
the strike lasted 16 months and seriously disrupted the trade and services of Xianggang.

The Northern Expedition

since 1924, discussions had been taking place of a northern expedition to reunify China.
in the autumn of that year Wu Peifu was defeated by Feng Yuxiang & Shang Zuolin
this encouraged Sun Zhongshan
it was because he had made an agreement to share power with Shang Zuolin
but Borodin advised that the military strength of the northern warlords was still too great,
the expedition was postponed.

the Northern Expedition was eventually launched in July 1926.
by then the National Revolutionary Army and its allies had some 150,000 men.
it was assisted by Russian military advisers.
against it stood the large but inferior forces of
a) Wu Peifu in central China,
b) Sun Chuanfang in the east
c) Zhang Zuolin in the north.
the Nationalist forces advanced rapidly through Hunan.
it only encountered stiff resistance from Wu Peifu's army as they approach Nanchang,
this progress was due to the help given to the Guomindang forces by the mass movements
they had been kept in check by the warlords,
they now began to play an important role.

the Northern Expedition did set off a wave of popular movements.
in Hunan the number of peasants belonging to the peasant association rose dramatically
this prompted Mao Zedong, to return to Hunan in December 1926
this is where he made his celebrated investigation into the peasant movement.
Mao had been head of the Guomindang Peasant Movement Training Institute in Guangzhou,
in his report he predicted “several hundred million peasants …will rise like a tornado”
the arrival of the Nationalist armies in the Yangzi cities brought a surge of revolutionary spirit
it manifested itself in a wave of industrial strikes and heightened student activism.
the relationship between the Guomindang and the CCP was already under severe strain
in March 1926, Jiang Jieshi, suspected that the crew a gunboat n was about to kidnap him,
so, he seized the boat and then carried a purge of Communist supporters in Guangzhou.
Borodin calmed things down
he persuaded the CCP to continue the united front with the Guomindang.

the Northern Expedition exposed the different agendas of the two parties
it also exposed the likelihood of an open disagreement
the likelihood of this increased
this was when Jiang Jieshi and the eastern wing of the National Revolutionary Army approached Nanjing and Shanghai.
on March 24th,the expeditionary force entered Nanjing
some of its troops looted the foreign consulates and killed several foreigners.
in response, British ships laid down a protective barrage
this killed a number of Chinese.
Jiang Jieshi, not to antagonize the Western powers, blamed the Communists for the attack
he executed some of the soldiers held responsible for looting.

in Shanghai, Communist leaders, including Zhou Enlai, had mobilized city workers.
in particular they were those of the Commercial Press and the Shangai Post Office.
they were mobilized against the warlord Sun Chuanfang.
in March 1927 they seized control of the city
Jiang Jieshi then entered Shanghai
he began to use his contacts with the Western powers,
these included wealthy bankers and industrialists, and with underworld figures
one such person was `Smallpox Jirong', leader of the Green Gang
it was to raise a force of mobsters to strike at the labour unions.
on April 12th, they attacked and killed several hundred union members
they handed the city over to Jiang Jieshi.
in Wuhan the united front between Guomindang and Communists survived
Stalin was currently engaged in his power struggle with Leon Trotsky,
he had staked his ideological reputation
this was for on continuing the alliance with the `bourgeois-democratic' Guomindang
as a consequence Borodin and the Comintern had to support that policy.
the leader of the Guomindang government in Wuhan was Wang Jingwei
he was regarded by many as Sun Zhongsun's heir, who was on the left wing of the party.
the political issue was whether the two parties should carry through an agrarian revolution
if so, from whom should land be confiscated and to whom should it be distributed
confused and ill-informed instructions from Moscow threw the CCP into disarray.
the threat of a rural revolution lost the Guomindang support
at the same time, the deteriorating military situation forced Wang Jingwei to act.
in July, Communists were expelled from the Guomindang
Wuhan was placed under martial law, and a repression of the CCP began.
the CCP, with Comitern encouragement, now turned to armed revolt.
in August 1st, National Revolutionary Army units seized and briefly held Nancheng.
they then marched south, apparently hoping to find support in eastern Guangdong
this is where Peng Pei had achieved some success with the peasant associations.
in the meantime Mao Zedong had been told to organize a peasant insurrection in Hunan
the event is known as the Autumn Harvest uprising
it was Mao's recognition of the role poor peasants were going to play in the revolution
but it turned into a disaster.
the peasant forces were easily defeated
Mao and the few survivors were forced to flee into the mountains.
in December the CCP Politburo,, promoted an insurrection in Guangzho
it has become known as the Guangzhou Commune.
the uprising was ill-prepared
there was little popular support
Zhang Fakui, commander of the Nationalist forces acted quickly and put down the revolt
this incident, `turned Chinese public opinion against the Communist Party and Soviet Russia.'
the events of 1927 discredited Wang Jingwei and the left-wing of the Guomindang,
it enabled Jiang Jieshi to consolidate his position.
in April 1928, he restarted the Northern Expedition
he had the co-operation of Feng Yuxiang & Yan Xishan
he went against the remaining warlord armies headed by Zhang Zuolin

the 2nd half of the expedition was marked by two important incidents.
in late April the Nationalist forces captured Jinan
this capital of Shandong had a substantial number of Japanese residents.
the Japanese gov’t had already voiced its concerns
this was that the Northern Expedition might endanger Japanese interests in China.
the arrival of the Nationalist forces at Jinan prompted the dispatch of two Japanese divisions
this was to protect Japanese nationals.
a clash between Nationalists and Japanese troops followed but
Jian Jieshi ignored Chinese protests against this infringement of China's sovereignty,
he patched up the incident
the National Revolutionary Army continued its advance upon Beijing.
then the Guandong Army attempted to influence events
they had been safeguarding Japanese interests in Manchuria.
they suspected Zhang Zuolin would oppose extensions of Japanese influence in Manchuria,
on June 4th the Kwantung Army officers assassinated him by blowing up his train.
but his son Zhang Xueliang took his place and gave his support to the Nationalists
before the end of June, Nationalist forces entered Beijing,
thus they completed the Northern Expedition.

The Nanjing Decade: 1928-37.

the Guomindang made Nanjing its capital
because it was closer to its main power centre on the lower Yangzi.
Beijing was now renamed Beiping, that is, `northern peace.'
the 10 year period between 1928 & the Japanese invasion in 1937 is the Nanjing decade.

Urban & Rural Life

China in the Nanjing decade was a country of startling contrasts.
the coastal cities are indications of modernization and Westernization were widespread
they were somewhat superficial in their modernization
in Shanghai in 1929 there were 2326 factories employing nearly 300,000 workers,
70% of these workers were women or children.
in 1933 more than 80% of Chinese-owned industry was located in a few places only:
a) the eastern coastal provinces
b) southern coastal provinces
b) in Manchuria.
in contrast, the pattern of rural life appeared to be unchanging,
the Guomindang established a one-party dictatorship.
it assumed China was not yet ready for a democracy
in 1931, it issued a provisional constitution
it created a five-branch system of government, comprising of
a) the executive,
b) the legislative,
c) the judicial,
d) the examination,
e) the control bureau.
this structure was a curious mixture of traditional and modern features.
the examination bureau, supervised entry into the civil service,
the control bureau stamped out corruption,
both were reminiscent of the imperial system
other aspects of the government displayed Western influence.

the Guomindang's Central Political Council nominally exercised executive control
after 1930 Jiang Jieshionce obtained so much dominance
both the Guomindang and the government lost effective control.
his dominance was achieved by manipulating factions within the party and the government.
in the army, his support came from former cadets at the Huanpu Military Academy
this is where he had been commandant.
within the party, Jiang Jieshi was aided by the `CC clique'
this was led by his close friends the Chen brothers,
their influence derived in part from their involvement with the secret police.
a less formal grouping, known as the Political study clique
it provided Jiang with support from professional organizations.

Jiang also profited from other personal connections.
in 1927 he married Song Meiling, the sister of Sun Zhongshan's widow.
Song Meiling's other sister was married to Kong Xiangxi (H.H. Kung), a leading banker
her brother Song Ziwen (T.V. Soong) was a Harvard graduate and a noted financial expert.
due to this, the Communists described the gov’t as the rule of the `Four Big Families.'
the ideological stance of the Nanjing government was also ambiguous.
many of its supporters were of the May Fourth generation
they had participated in the attack on Confucianism,
Jiang Jieshi was a follower of Zhu Xi, the 12th century Neo-Confucianist.
but Sun Zhongshan had admired Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping leader
Jiang Jieshi extolled the achievements of Zeng Guofan, who had opposed the rebellion.
during the Nanjing decade Confucianism was reinstated
Confucius' birthday was made a public holiday.

The New Life Movement

Confucianism was also an important element in the New Life Movement
it was a movement that Jiang Jieshi launched in 1934
this was to encourage the practice of four Confucian virtues of
a) propriety,
b) justice,
c) honesty,
d) self-respect,
this was advocated at the same time it disseminated western ideas on hygiene
the New Life Movement also had a Christian content
Jesus was held up as a model to emulate
the members of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), was very active
they were very active in social work in Chinese cities,

in 1931, a group of Huangpu officers, formed an elitist organization
it was later known as the Blue Shirts
they wore Chinese-made cotton cloth
this was to demonstrate their commitment to China's national interests.
they aimed to revive the Guomindang and make Jiang Jieshi a dictator
they also played a leading role in the New Life Movement.
the Blue Shirts'
a) admired of Mussolini
b) they were anti-Communism
c) they made use of violence
these activities led them to being described as described as a fascist organization
Jiang Jieshi was also being accused of harbouring fascist sympathizers.

the economic record of the Nanjing gov’t has been the subject of conflicting assessments.
the most impressive aspects of the economic record were
a) its financial institutions
b) its communications
c) the growth of the modern industrial sector.
in the 1920s China still lacked a unified currency
foreign exchange & banking facilities were largely in the hands of foreigners.

in 1927 Jiang Jieshi asked his brother-in-law Song Ziwen to develop a financial strategy
among Song's achievements were
a) the rescheduling of China's foreign debts,
b) the introduction of the Chinese silver dollar,
c) the abolition of the lijin, the tax on internal trade.
e) he also established a central bank
f) he established specialized banks to
1) deal in foreign exchange,
2) provide credits for peasants,
3) finance the development of transportation.
his reforms were not entirely successful.
throughout the decade, government revenue covered only about 80% of its expenditure.
this was because of heavy militar

the sound way to increase government revenue was to tax the agricultural sector efficiently,
but the Guomindang lacked the authority and trained personnel to achieve this.
to cover the deficit the banks sold large quantities of heavily discounted government bonds,
this was very often to officials,
it increased government liabilities and diverted private investment into speculation.
bureaucratic capitalism became even more marked after Song Ziwen was replaced
this was in 1933 by Kong Xiangxi
it was faced with the crisis caused by the United States' silver-buying programme
the Bank of China was forced to issue new shares
they were forced to exchange these for government bonds
consequently the government holding of bank assets rose from 20% to over 70%.

at the start of the decade China had about 8000 miles of railway tracks
5they also had about 18,000 miles of motorable road
ten years later a further 5000 miles of railway had been built
the length of motorable roads had increased to 69,000 miles
a further 10,000 miles of road were under construction.
in addition, a national air line had been established
it operated scheduled services and carried air mail
this expansion of communications
a) created work and investment,
b) helped to integrate economic regions
c) strengthened the sense of national identity.

in other respects the achievement was less creditable.
much of the labour used was conscripted
peasants were often not permitted to use the new roads
that is because they had been built for military purposes
over half the new railway mileage had been built in Manchuria,
from 1931 Manchuria was under Japanese control.

during this period
a) the modern industrial sector grew rapidly from a small base.
b) Impressive advances were achieved both in
1) new industries, for example electricity generation
2) in older industries such as coal, where output grew at 7% per annum.
but this growth was heavily concentrated in the treaty ports and in Manchuria
a high proportion of the larger enterprises were foreign owned
much of the Chinese share of modern industry was in consumer goods,
about 3/4 of the output by value being in textiles and foodstuffs.

of importance to China's economic regeneration was the increase of productivity
this was in the agricultural sector.

between 1931 and 1935 farmers suffered a sharp fall in income
this was caused by the world depression and the outflow of silver.

the Guomindang was aware of the problem of peasant immiseration and
the Guomindang took some steps to relieve it.

in 1930 it passed a land law
the law restricted rent to 3/8th of the main crop, but this was never enforced.

a National Agricultural Research Bureau was set up in 1932
measures were introduced to extend credit to farmers
this was done through the agricultural co-operative movement.

most of the loans went to landlords
little of what they borrowed was invested in the land.
these measures appear woefully inadequate
the commitment of the Guomindang to a transformation of the country was suspect.
the Guomindang had signalled its intention to develop education
this was a way of creating a modern nation-state.
wen it came to power it passed detailed laws covering all forms of schooling
in 1930 Jiang Jieshi himself became minister of education.

advice was received from the League of Nations on a national plan of educational reform
1940 was chosen as the date for the introduction of compulsory education.

the educational record during the Nanjing decade was very uneven
the proportion of children attending primary and secondary schools increased
but the provision was much better in the cities than it the countryside.

in 1932 only 15% of the children enrolled in primary schools were girls.
many private schools continued to operate
missionary societies ran over 3000 private schools.

the most ambitious attempt to extend educational opportunities was made by an American
this was by the National Association for the Promotion of Mass Education
it was led by Dr. James Yen, an American-educated Christian.

the literacy campaign it promoted was part of a broader rural reconstruction movement
it was pioneered at Yen's centre at Ding Xian in Hebei.

colleges and universities were concentrated in the coastal cities
universities made heavy use of staff who had been trained abroad
they based their teaching on foreign texts and examples.

many universities were underfunded and their students suffered economic hardships.
the Guomindang tried to clamp down on political activity in universities,
but students were frequently involved in protests,
this was especially in 1935 & 1936 when a wave of nationalism swept the campuses.

a scholarly community did grow up,
it was engaged in research and publication.
a notable achievement was the founding in 1928 of the Academia Sinica,
this was a national research institute.

the Guomindang had come to power on a wave of nationalist sentiment
it had declared that it intended to get rid of the unequal treaties.
but in 1927, in Hankou, in Nanjing, and yet again in Shanghai, it failed
it tried to avoid antagonizing the Western powers
after it came to power it used diplomatic measures to achieve its aims
this was chosen instead of violence.
in 1928 the United States took the lead in returning tariff autonomy
between 1929 and 1931 Britain voluntarily surrendered concessions in
a) Hankou,
b) Jiujiang,
c)Zhenjiang
d) Xiamen,
e) the leased territory of Weihaiwei.

other concessions remained in foreign hands
negotiations to end extraterritoriality had made little progress before the war with Japan
this war would change the priorities of China's foreign relations.

Asia 210 - Modern China

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Republican China (1911-1949)

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