Taiwan Today

Asia's first republic was born when the Chinese revolutionaries, led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, toppled the Manchu Dynasty in the successful uprising at Wuchang on October 10, 1911. The prelude to this event, however, was written in blood seven months earlier by 72 brave men who sacrificed their lives in a daring act of patriotism.

For more than half a century, these revo­lutionaries have been revered by the Chinese people as the Seventy-two Martyrs of Huang Hwa Kang. Their tomb, a perpetual symbol of the indomitable, dauntless spirit of Chinese youth, still stands in the outskirts of the city of Canton on the Communist-held mainland.

Their saga of sacrifice was incompletely recorded at the time. It was pieced to­gether from individual accounts of the survivors who had not been wholly aware of the circumstances under which the martyrs died. What is known is that almost without exception, the martyrs took their last journey as if "they were going home".

It was this grim determination and ab­solute martyrdom that brought the Chinese people face to face with the challenge of their destiny and convinced them that the repres­sive and tottering Manchu regime must go and that their future lay in their own hands.

The revolution against the Manchus, started by Dr. Sun, had by now suffered nine failures. Revolutionaries had been caught and beheaded. Newspaper editors had been jailed and their papers shut down. The Manchu regime, confronted by the rising tide of revolution, had resorted to even more ruthless and desperate measures.

Despite such adversities, Dr. Sun and his comrades were convinced more than ever that the regime had become a huge mansion mostly eaten away by termites and that the revolutionaries should provide the final push to topple it.

For staging a large-scale uprising, Dr. Sun traveled widely in Europe, America, and Asia to raise funds from overseas Chinese. The response was excellent. The money was used to buy arms and ammunition from various sources. In Hongkong, a revolutionary headquarters was set up. Huang Hing, Dr. Sun's right-hand man, was appointed com­mander and Chao Sheng his deputy. The headquarters gathered intelligence, manufac­tured bombs, shipped weapons, deployed personnel, and worked closely with underground organizations in Canton.

Staffed by Women

The uprising was first planned as a masterly stroke to turn the tide of the revolution, and to capture some strongholds in southern and central China as bases for further armed struggle. Canton was chosen as the point to start it.

Clandestine activities in Canton were carried out by 38 underground organizations staffed with women revolutionaries posing as wives and daughters of male members. In addition, nine groups of arsonists stood ready to create chaos.

There were police everywhere and searches were constantly expected. Defying danger, the revolutionists walked through the streets with bombs in their pockets and firearms wrapped in newspapers. That they escaped detection was attributable either to their boldness or the half-hearted Manchu police.

The Manchu forces consisted of the militia, garrisons, and the New Army. But all of these had been infiltrated by the re­volutionaries, especially the New Army. The original revolutionary plan called for the stationing of 3,000 militiamen in the outlying villages of Canton to check any Manchu rein­forcements. The garrisons could be counted on to stay neutral, even if not to join in the uprising. The revolutionaries' biggest hope was the New Army, which also constituted a vital part of the Manchu forces. Efforts had also been made to win over the police and naval forces.

At the same time, funds had been sent to the revolutionaries in Wuchang to establish bases and connections there in order to coor­dinate with actions in Canton. This later proved of great value in paving the way for the October 10 uprising.

Change of Plan

The revolutionaries first decided to pick 500 men to raise the curtain on the uprising by taking various strategic points. On second thought, the number was increased to 800, divided into 10 contingents. Chao Sheng was to serve as the commander and Huang Hing as his deputy. But when the first shots were fired, no more than 170 men were engaged. This last-minute change of plan was largely responsible for the tragic failure of this momentous attempt.

The arms and ammunition were smuggled from Hongkong to Canton by ingenious means. To escape detection by the vigilant Manchus, the revolutionaries hid bullets in shipments of hair, hospital equipment, flower pots, canned goods, and paint packings. Arms were camouflaged in bridal chairs and trousseaux, vegetable baskets, and traditional gifts.

The date for the uprising was once and again postponed. It first was set for March 15. Delayed arrival of funds and arms and ammunition made it necessary to reschedule the date to March 28 and again to March 29. Before that, one impatient revolutionary took it upon himself to try to assassinate Li Chueng, commander of naval forces, con­sidered the arch enemy of the revolution. In­stead, he killed Fu Chi, deputy garrison com­mander of Canton. This alerted the Manchus all the more. Canton became increasing­ly dangerous for any sizable group of revolu­tionaries. More than 300 men left for their haven in Hongkong and those in Hongkong were advised to stay out.

Huang Hing, who was to lead the revolt, was greatly troubled. He believed it was now or never. The Manchus were reported to be planning a house-to-house search that would mean the dissolution of his under­ground organizations. Another discouraging report was that the New Army, on which the uprising was to place great reliance, would be disbanded in early April. In addition, funds were running short.

Manchus Warned

Headquarters asked Huang to postpone action for another day to allow time for ship­ment of 200 rifles and the arrival of more than 300 revolutionaries. But Huang said there was no more time to lose. A number of the revolutionaries in Hongkong quickly boarded a train for Canton.

It was already too late. Li Chueng had received word of the uprising and had made his preparations. Huang was not unaware of this but he knew his men could not afford another postponement. The revolutionists decided to be martyrs. The spirit of sacrifice was contagious.

Tan Jen-feng, an aged revolutionary carrying messages from Hongkong, arrived when Huang was passing out ammunition. When Tan urged him to postpone the revolution one more day, Huang cried out: "Please, old man, don't destroy our morale!" Tan asked to join the combat forces. Huang said: "You are old. Don't do it. This is a dare­-devil force. There is a lot of work for you to do after this uprising." Tan was angry and said: "Am I alone afraid of death?" Huang gave him two guns. Tan had never used one before. One of the guns went off. Huang took back the guns, saying: "No, no, you can't do it. You can't do it."

Escape of Viceroy

Each of the revolutionaries wrapped a white cloth around his arm for identification. The signal for attack was the blowing of a snail horn. At 5:30 p.m., Huang's men, armed with grenades and firearms, set out in four directions. Huang's mission was to storm the viceroy's office. He had about 40 men with him. The guards confronted them but not for long. The captain fell and the others ran. The revolutionaries got to the second gate, where about 10 guards opposed them. The guards fired from behind the pil­lars, felling two revolutionaries. When Huang wounded one of the guards, the rest raised their hands and offered to serve as guides. But the viceroy was nowhere to be found. The rooms were empty except for some clothing, a bed, bowls filled with tea, and a water pipe that was still warm. It was obvious that the viceroy had been warned. Even books and papers had been removed and the revolutionaries had to use the bedding to start a fire. At the time, Huang did not know that five more revolutionaries of his contingent had lost their lives in the attack.

Coming out of the eastern gate, the revolutionaries ran into a large group of Manchu soldiers. Believing that there were comrades among the enemies, one revolutionary tried to talk to them. He was hit in the head and two others also fell. Several more revolutionaries were killed before the rest broke through the Manchu cordon.

Gate Still Open

Huang was hit too and lost two fingers. He ordered his men to break up into three units, each with its own target. With 10 men, Huang set out to contact the Manchu garrisons, hoping to find comrades in their midst. But none of the Manchus wore a white armband. Shots were exchanged. When Huang looked around, he found he was alone. He broke into a store and from this cover picked off eight Manchu soldiers. At this juncture, the garrison forces were suddenly called away.

A boy in the store told Huang the city gate was still open. Huang bandaged his wound, took off his blood-stained coat, and put on a black long gown as a disguise. He passed through the city gate without being dis­covered and made his way to an underground unit outside the city.

What Huang did not know at the time was that the garrisons who had shown no armbands were actually comrades. They did not wear the white insignia because they plan­ned to capture Li Chueng, the commander of the naval force.

They had hidden the armbands in order to be mistaken for Manchu forces and given access to Li's stronghold. They had arrested a Manchu messenger carrying the order to attack the revolutionaries. They had eaten their dinner one hour earlier than usual so as to coordinate with the revolutionaries. But fate intervened and they exchanged shots with Huang's men.

Weakness Exposed

Insufficient coordination, lack of experience in the use of firearms, and readiness to make unnecessary sacrifices combined to make the March uprising a failure. However, the attempt disclosed one vitally important fact: the huge military machine of the Manchus was prostrate, corrupt, and potentially useful as an instrument of revolution. The Manchu soldiers had no stomach for fighting and were ready to turn their guns against the regime. But they were waiting for a bigger spark to start the conflagration.

Records on the fate of other contingents bear the same regretful notes of haste and poor planning that marked the precipi­tated uprising. The fight was clearly over by 9 p.m., barely four hours after it had started.

Twenty-nine revolutionaries who were captured confronted the Manchu hatchet man, Li Chueng, who personally conducted most of the interrogations. Looking death in the face, the patriots chided Li at if he were a retarded child, a woman without shame, a tragically muddle-headed traitor. Without exception, they asked for death. Li executed them but was moved in spite of himself. He came over to the revolutionaries' side during the Wuchang uprising seven months later and handed over Canton.

The bodies of the 72 martyrs were buried at Huang Hwa Kang (Yellow Flower Mound) five days later. They constituted nearly half of the revolutionary force that started the uprising. As Dr. Sun Yat-sen, father of the Republic of China, said later, these martyrs were the finest elements of the Kuomintang and their loss was the greatest the party ever suffered. But, he said, it was in their death that the Republic was born.

Fu tang tah huo

To go into boiling water and walk on fire. (To be undaunted by danger; through thick and thin; to risk one's life)
—Chinese saying