Taiwan Today

The Story of the Double Tenth, National Day of the Republic of China The Republic of China, the first republic in Asia, was officially founded on January 1, 1912. Subsequently, the country's National Day was set on the tenth of October—popularly known as the Double Tenth—instead of the original founding day. Many of our friends may wish to find out the reason why. The full answer covers quite a bit of ground in Chinese history, if its emotional meaning to the Chinese people is also to be understood. The last indigenous Chinese dynasty, the Ming, fell to the invading Manchus (from Manchuria) in 1644. The new Manchu Dynasty, the Ching (1644-1911), quickly absorbed Chinese culture, to the extent that it later sought to exclude from its territory all other for­eign influences. China was content, both culturally and materially. While China was strong vis-a-vis the outside world, this policy could be enforced, despite the increasing interest among 18th Century European traders who tried hopefully but unsuccessfully to open China's door. Unfortunately for China, by the 19th Century the situation had changed very much to her disadvantage. In Europe, the Industrial Revolution was sweeping away the old agricultural society, and European commercial enterprise—adventurous and greedy-was determined to extend its trade to China with or without her consent. The first open clash-and the first of many blows devastating to Chinese national pride—came in 1842 with the notorious Opium War with Britain. The Treaty of Nanking, by which the war was concluded, forced the Chinese government to open five ports to foreign trade. In addition China had to hand over cer­tain customs revenues as an indemnity for the war, which she had neither sought nor initiated. The news quickly spread that merely a few foreign gunships had been able to force their terms on the great Middle Kingdom. Other foreign powers were not slow to follow in Britain's footsteps. Throughout the 19th Century, China suffered from a series of calamities. After ajoint Anglo-French incursion in which the famous Summer Palace outside Peking was destroyed, further concessions were made in the Treaty of Peking (1860). At the same time, an internal revolt against the Manchus, known as the Taiping Rebellion, broke out and, for 15 years, caused great suffering among the people while seriously weakening the government. Russia saw her chance to expand into Central Asia and annexed vast tracts of land formerly under Chinese rule. The French took over Indo-China by the Treaty of Tientsin in 1885. The Japanese, who had challenged China on Korea, defeated her in 1895 and occu­pied Taiwan and the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) by the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The British drew an ar­bitrary border line between India and China in favor of Great Britain. The territorial losses and unequal treaties imposed on China were a great humiliation to the Chinese. But far more serious was the effect that these foreign incursions had upon China's internal economy and government. The precedent set by Britain in the Treaty of Nanking, of making China pay for the wars forced upon her by surrendering government revenue, was followed by many other powers. Thus, by the beginning of the 20th Century, a large percent­ age of government revenues was paid into the hands of foreigners; public utili­ties and government agencies were in a state of decay; foreign trade was protected, while Chinese trade was strangled by endless tolls and tariffs, and the government was further crippled by expensive foreign loans. China was a victim of foreign exploitation. The weak Manchu Court, incompe­tent to counter blows to China's national pride, provoked a strong nationalistic reaction. The 19th Century was the great era of nationalism and revolution in Europe; secret societies abounded, and students were in the forefront of the movements. Soon young Chinese began to form similar societies at home and abroad, dedicated to revolution and reform. The most prominent leader in this awakening was Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Born in 1866 in Kwangtung Province, southern China, the second son of a farmer, he was sent, at the age of 13, to study in Hawaii, where his brother had a modest business. He was enrolled in St. Louis College in Honolulu and later studied medicine at Queen's College in Hongkong, where he began his practice in 1892. In subsequent years he traveled extensively overseas to Japan, America, and Europe. The freedom and democracy he experienced abroad inspired him to dedicate himself to the salvation of China. Based on his knowledge of the traditional Chinese government system and of Western social and political thought, which he acquired through in­tensive studies in America and England, Dr. Sun drafted a blueprint for the modernization and development of China and proclaimed the Three Princi­ples of the People—nationalism, democracy and social well-being. After the disastrous Sino-Japanese war in 1895, Dr. Sun organized the Hsing Chung Hui (Society for Rege­nerating China) in Honolulu. Unfortunately, his first attempt, an armed attack on Canton, ended in failure. The Boxer Uprising in 1900 spurred him to further effort and, in 1905, he succeeded in welding several secret societies at home and abroad into the Tung Men Hui (Society of Revolutionary Aspirants) with headquarters in Tokyo. He toured extensively overseas and set up secret branches in several important cities in Asia, Europe and America. The stage had long been set for rebellion and·, in fact, before the final successful effort, Dr. Sun made no less than ten abortive attempts. However it was not until 1911, in Szechuan Province, that the spark was finally struck that would set the whole country ablaze. The immediate cause was a rail­way scandal. To the disgust of many Chinese from every walk of life, concessions for all railway building in China had been sold by the Manchu Court to foreign consortia. Only in Szechuan Province had the people themselves been able to form a company for a railway to be built by Chinese, for Chinese, with Chinese money. People from all walks of life had been contributing for years to a fund for this purpose. Then came the news: the Manchu Court had sold even this as a concession to foreigners. Riots broke out, and a strong mili­tary commander was dispatched to Chentu, the provincial capital of Szechuan, to quell the insurrection. He closed the gates and sealed off the city from all contact with the outside ... or so he thought. But the resourceful citizens, denied egress, or access to the telegraph, carved wooden tablets with a call to arms and floated them down the river which runs through the city. The messages reached secret societies throughout the country, and soon they were organizing rebellion. Before they were fully prepared, on October 10th, an accidental bomb explosion in Wuchang, Central China, precip­itated the revolt. Troops mutinied and, within a few days, 15 provinces had de­clared their independence from the Manchus. The Manchus were overthrown, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was in California on a fund-raising mission, was recalled to be the provisional president of the new republic, declared officially on Janu­ary 1st, 1912. But the day on which the final, successful uprising really began, the day of the explosion in Wuchang, October 10th, 1911, has since been honoured as the Republic of China's Na­tional Day.