Xinhai Revolution

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The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution (}; }), also known as the 1911 Revolution or the Chinese Revolution, was a republican revolution which overthrew China's ruling Qing Dynasty, occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, and which saw the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution brought an end to the monarchy, which had been in place for 4000 years in China, and replaced it with a republic, with democratic ideals. The ensuing revolutionary war lasted from October 10, 1911 and ended with the formation of the Republic of China on February 12, 1912. Since 1911 is a Xinhai Year in the sexagenary cycle of Chinese calendar, "Xinhai" became the name of the revolution.

The revolution began with the armed Wuchang Uprising and the spread of republican insurrection through the southern provinces, and culminated in the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor after lengthy negotiations between rival Imperial and Republican regimes based in Beijing and Nanjing respectively.

The Revolution inaugurated a period of struggle over China's eventual constitutional form, which saw two brief monarchical restorations and successive periods of political fragmentation before the Republic's final establishment.

Today, the Xinhai Revolution is commemorated in Taiwan as Double Ten Day (雙十節). In addition, numerous overseas Chinese also celebrate Double Ten Day and events are usually held in Chinatowns across the world.

Background

Self-Strengthening Movement

The First Opium War is generally considered the starting point of Chinese modern history, bringing a full stop to the long-term isolation of China. Some Chinese officers and intellectuals realised that it was not possible to deal with the new challenges facing China without transformation. The Self-Strengthening Movement from the 1860s to 1890s, which focused on studying Western science and production modes in an attempt to strengthen national power by means of establishing industry and commerce, was a reformation by the Qing dynasty itself. However, the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War made clear that the changes in technological advancement could not fundamentally improve the condition of old feudal China.

Hundred Days' Reform

After 1895 the fashion began to concern non-government circles with national affairs, leading to some calls for more far-reaching reforms from intellectuals. Some of them such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao advocated imitating the improvements shown by Japan and Russia regarding how best to work the political and social systems under the imperial power. The reformation, which would eventually be termed the Hundred Day's Reform due to its short duration, gained the support of Guangxu Emperor, and commenced in 1898. 103 days later, the reformation was aborted when the conservatives in the dynasty staged a coup d'état. Though some of the reformers were exiled, there were still some who advocated practicing a constitutional monarchy similar to that of the United Kingdom, allowing the imperial family to remain in the political system, but shifting the focus of political power to the democratic government.

Abolishment of the imperial examination

After the strike of Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing government led by the Empress Dowager Cixi started to carry out the refoms advocated by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao in the Hundred Days' Reform. Among the changes, the one with the greatest influence was the abolishment of the imperial examination on 2 September, 1905. The government started building modern colleges, and there were 60,000 of these by the time of the Xinhai Revolution. After the abolishment, traditional literati found they could no longer attempt to get government posts by merely succeeding in the examination, drastically changing the political environment.

Constitutionalism campaign

The Qing government announced an outline of the Constitutionalism campaign on 1st September, 1906. Constitutionalists with high social status from each province urged the government to form a cabinet. In May 1911, the prime minister of the newly formed cabinet was - amazingly - announced to be Prince Qing. Moreover, 9 of the 13 members of the cabinet were Manchu, while 7 of them were from the imperial family, making the Constitutionalists deeply disappointed. As a result, constitutionalists from different provinces changed their tack, supporting revolution instead of constitutionalism in a campaign to save the nation.

Formation of new armies

In the last years of the Qing dynasty, the old-fashioned armies from the Eight Banners had lost their strength. The quelling of Tàipíng Tiānguó mainly relied on township forces (the militias of the local elite). After the first Sino-Japanese War, as a response to the datedness of the troops, the Qing government had planned to form 36 modern regiments to replace the old ones. Of the 36 regiments, 6 were to form the Beiyang Army controlled by Yuan Shikai. To foster new officers, many military schools were built in each province. Some new regiments appointed many overseas students to be officers; In contrast, Beiyang regiments rarely employed overseas students.

Anti-Manchurian stream

The conflict between Manchu and the Han Chinese had been nearly forgotten in the middle of the Qing dynasty due to the long period of peace under the Qing government. However, with the decline of the Qing government, the Manchu-Han problem began to surface again after the Taiping Rebellion. After 1890, writings concerning repulsion with the Manchus began to resurface. Books left over from the last years of Ming dynasty guided the influential intellectuals of the period. Many revolutionaries even promoted their cause by taking advantage of such ideas. Although some revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen mentioned political and economic reform, rather than racial revolution, the main revolutionary forces in the early part of the 20th century were full of ideas of "Manchu repulsion". After the overthrow of the Qing government, the slogan of revolution was changed from "expelling the Manchus" to "harmony among different races" in an attempt to unify the country in fragments.

Organization for revolution

The main organizations for revolution included the Revive China Society(興中會), Hua Xing Hui(華興會), Guang Fu Hui(光復會), and the Tongmenghui(中國同盟會), which was founded later. As well as these, Gong Jin Hui(共進會) and Wen Xue She(文學社) were also important organizations.

Tongmenghui launched their project in Huanan(華南), while Guang Fu Hui was active in Jiangsu(江蘇), Zhejiang(浙江) and Shanghai(上海). Hua Xing Hui mainly worked in Hunan(湖南) and Gong Jin Hui in the Yangtze River(長江) area. The Tongmenghui, founded later on, was a loose organization distributed across the country.

The main leaders of the organizations were Sun Yat-sen(孫中山), Huang Hsing(黃興), Sung Chiao-jen(宋教仁), Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei(蔡元培), Zhao Sheng(趙聲), Zhang Binglin(章炳麟) and Tao Cheng Zhang(陶成章).

Political view

The main political aim of the revolutionaries was to overthrow the rule of the Qing government, rebuilding a Han Chinese government and constructing a republic. The Revive China Society, founded in 1894, aimed to "expel the Manchus, restore the Han and found a united government". The Hua Xing Hui, founded in 1904, proposed "expelling the Manchus and restoring the Han". The Tongmenghui, founded in 1905, advocated "expelling the Manchus, restoring the Han, founding a republic and equally dividing the land ownership", which referred to the Three Principles of the People (三民主義, Nationalism, Democracy and Socialism) promoted by Sun Yat-sen.

However, when the revolutionary parties promoted their political view, "expelling the Manchus and restoring the Han" became the main element, since it made it easier to arouse the anti-Manchurian emotions of the people. The more important point was that nationalism could cohere with different kinds of power to overthrow the government. As for what kind of social system and revolution should be held after the doom of the Qing government, most people treated this as an issue that should only be considered after the overthrowing of the Qing.

History of development

Strata and group

See also

• History of China
• History of the Republic of China
• Military of the Republic of China

 

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