Taiwan Today

One of history's most important revolutions began at Wuchang in central China on October 10,1911. Within a few months the Ch'ing dynasty had been overthrown and the Republic of China established. It had taken the Founding Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, nearly 20 years to fulfill his dream of a republican China set free from anachronist rule by emperors and dynasties. Dr. Sun and his friend Lu Hao-tung traveled through China in 1893 and saw the failure of the Manchus. In Honolulu the following year, Sun Yat-sen founded the Hsing Chung Hui (Society for the Rejuvenation of China). The first anti-Manchu uprising took place in 1895; there were nine others before Wuchang

 

Sun Yat-sen was born November 12, 1866, to a farm family of Tsuiheng village, Hsiangshan county, in Kwangtullg province. The house of his birth is pictured at right and the village below. The county later was renamed Chung shan, Dr. Sun's courtesy name. He attended school in Honolulu while living with his brother and received his M.D. in Hongkong. Like so many other students of the time, he was saddened by China's humiliations and became a revolutionary. Bottom photo shows him in a student group known as the "four arch rebels":  from left, Yang Ho-ling, Sun, Chen Shao-pai and Yu Lieh.

 

Revolutionary activity that eventually would lead to Wuchang got under way with the organization of the Hsing Chung Hui at Honolulu November 24, 1894. An artisrs conception of the historic meeting is seen in the top picture. This organization is the direct ancestor of the Kuomintang (ruling Nationalist Party) of the Republic of China. At first the membership came klrgely from the ranks of students and there was hope for reform rather than violence. Success was slow. In the early 1900s Sun Yat-sen admitted that he had fewer than a hundred followers among Chinese students in Japan. Dr. Sun's handwritten specifications for the revolutionary flag are seen above, left. The sketch of the white sun in blue sky (above, right) was made by Lu Hao-tung, who was to become the Revolution's first martyr. He was executed in Canton at the age of 29. The first woman to join one of Dr. Sun's revolutionary parties (the Tung Meng Hui) was Miss Chiu Ching (bottom, left), then a student ill Japan. The Tung Meng Hui was established in August of 1905.

 

 

These are places and scenes associated with the 1911 Revolution. Far left, top: View of Wuchang in Hupeh province, where the uprising started prematurely the evening of October 10, 1911. The Huang Ho Lou (Yellow Crane Tower) at right is a Wuchang landmark. Far left, bottom: This was the provisional military government headquarters in Wuchang, which is one of the "triple cities" of Wuhan (the others are Hanyang and Hankow) at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han Rivers. Even the revolutionaries were surprised when the occupation of the Wuhan cities was com­pleted in only three days. Left, top: Revolutionary forces in action at Wuchang. Left, center: Seventeen of 18 provinces sent representatives and military forces to Nanking for the ceremonies establishing the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. Left, bottom: Dr. Sun Yat-sen, center, who had just been inaugurated as the first President of the first republic in Asia, had his picture taken with his ministers of war and navy and other high officials. The celebrating was premature. China was not unified until 1928.

 

Manchu resistance was brief. The army was riddled by disaffection and some of the younger, more modernized units went over to the revolutionaries. Retreating Manchu forces are slwwn at far left, top. There were no reprisals against Pu Yi, the last Ch'ing emperor, who was permitted by the Republic to continue living in the Peking palace pictured at left. Henry Pu Yi, one of the youngest emperors in Chinese history, is seen above with the Prince Regent Tsai Li. Pu Yi ascended the throne when he was three years old and was deposed some three years later. Empress Dowager Lung Yu signed an abdication order on behalf of Emperor Hsuan Tung (Pu Yi) on February 12, 1912. However, the remnants of the Ch'ing dynasty were the least of Sun Yat-sen's troubles. In an effort to bring unity to the newborn Republic, Dr. Sun offered the presidency to General Yuan Shih-kai, the strong man of the north. General Yuan dreamed not only of power but of a throne. He dissolved the Kuomintang, which had been steadily gaining adherents, and jailed a number of National Assembly members. With the legislature powerless, Yuan appointed a council to amend the Provisional Constitution. He compelled newspapers to publish articles urging a return of the monarchy. On January 1, 1916, he proclaimed himself emperor. His reign lasted just 83 days. China's feet were firmly set upon the republican path. Led by Yunnan, province after province declared independence and sent troops against the self-proclaimed ruler. Yuan backed down and died soon afterward. The years that followed were difficult ones for China. Warlords fought each other and resisted Dr. Sun's efforts to establish in Canton a firm base for the government of the fledgling Republic. The Founding Father did much of his writing in this period.

 

By the early 1920s, Dr. Sun had come to recognize that China could be unified only by trained, disciplined revolutionary forces. He reorganized the Nationalist Party and established the Whampoa Military Academy near Canton in 1924. Chiang Kai-shek, a young disciple of the Founding Father, was named the first commandant. Picture at top shows the Whampoa inaugural ceremony. Sun Yat-sen (wearing sun helmet) is in the center and . Chiang Kai-shek stands at his left (fourth from right in the front row). Whampoa was successful from its very beginning. Many of the Republic of China's military and political leaders have come from the academy. In 1926-28, Whampoa provided the officer corps for the army that marched north under General Chiang to defeat the warlords and unify China. Sun Yat-sen had died in 1925 as he tried to bring about the unification by peaceful means. His last testament (bottom) said the purpose of the Revolution was to assure freedom and equality for China and urged the people to continue the struggle.