Republican Revolution of 1911
By the end of the nineteenth century, nearly every political and intellectual leader in China saw the need for change. Some, such as Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), felt that rather than reforming the imperial system, China needed a thoroughgoing revolution. Consequently he called for the formation of a new republic based on his "Three Principles of the People," namely nationalism, democracy, and socialism (often translated as "people's livelihood").
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Sun and his fellow revolutionaries (organized as the Tongmeng Hui, or Revolutionary Alliance) traveled throughout the country promoting their republican form of government. Sun's actions led to his political exile, yet his followers succeeded in infiltrating the military and spreading Sun's revolutionary ideals. On 9 October 1911 an accidental explosion rocked the revolutionaries' secret headquarters in Hankou. Police raided the building, discovering a stash of weapons and membership rolls. Knowing the rolls had revealed their identity, those soldiers loyal to Sun quickly mutinied. By the afternoon of 10 October, they had captured the entire city. Over the next several weeks, province after province declared its independence from Beijing. Sun, who had been in the United States at the time of the initial explosion, returned to China and on 29 December 1911 was elected provisional president of the Republic of China. The court was helpless as events spiraled out of its control. As a result, the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) unceremoniously abdicated the throne, bringing to an end more than two millennia of imperial rule.
The early years of the Republic were fraught with confusion and civil war, leading many historians to question the leadership abilities of Sun and the conclusiveness of his revolution. Though the leaders of 1911 failed immediately to create a stable and lasting government system, they did succeed in toppling the imperial system and establishing Asia's first republic. For this reason, 10 October was celebrated as National Day (Double Tenth) in China until 1949 and continues to be celebrated on Taiwan today. With the perspective of a century, the events of 1911 appear quite revolutionary.
Further Reading
Eto, Shinkichi, and Harold Schiffrin, eds. (1994) China's Republican Revolution. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Wei, Julie Lee, Romon Myers, and Donald Gillin, eds. (1994) Prescriptions for Saving China: Selected Writings of Sun Yat-sen. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.
Wright, Mary, ed. (1968) China in Revolution, The First Phase, 1900–1913. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
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