◀ Religious Practice, Historical Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667.
Republican Revolution of 1911–1912 Xīnhài Gémìng 辛亥革命
Sun Yat-sen’s revolution, beginning with an several weeks province after province declared its inde- uprising in October 1911 and officially bring- pendence from the national government in Beijing. Sun, ing down the Qing dynasty when its emperor who had been in the United States at the time of the ex- abdicated in February 1912, ended more than plosion, returned to China and on 29 December 1911 was elected provisional president of Republican China. The two thousand years of imperial rule and estab- Qing court was helpless as events spiraled out of its con- lished Asia’s first republic. But many histori- trol. As a result, the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) emperor ans question Sun’s leadership abilities and the unceremoniously abdicated the throne in February 1912, conclusiveness of his revolution. ending more than two millennia of imperial rule. Nevertheless, the early years of the republic were fraught with confusion and civil war, leading many his- y the end of the nineteenth century nearly ev- torians to question the leadership abilities of Sun and the ery political and intellectual leader in China saw conclusiveness of his revolution. Although the leaders the need for change. Some leaders, such as Sun of 1911 failed immediately to create a stable and lasting Yat-sen (1866–1925), felt that revolution rather than mere government system, they did topple the imperial sys- reform was needed. Consequently Sun called for the for- tem and establish Asia’s first republic. For this reason 10 mation of a new republic based on his “Three Principles of October—the tenth day of the tenth month—was cel- the People”: nationalism, democracy, and socialism (often ebrated as National Day (Double Tenth) in China un- translated as “people’s livelihood”). til 1949 and continues to be celebrated on Taiwan today. Sun and his fellow revolutionaries (organized as With the perspective of a century the events of 1911 still the Tongmeng Hui or Revolutionary Alliance) traveled appear quite revolutionary. throughout the country during the late nineteenth and David L. KENLEY early twentieth centuries to promote their republican form of government. Sun’s actions led to his political ex- Further Reading ile, but his followers infiltrated the military and spread Eto, S., & Schiffrin, H. (Eds.). (1994). China’s republican Sun’s revolutionary ideals. On 9 October 1911 an acciden- revolution. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. tal explosion rocked the revolutionaries’ secret headquar- Wei, J. L., Myers, R., & Gillin, D. (Eds.). (1994). Prescrip- ters in Hankou. Police raided the building, discovering tions for saving China: Selected writings of Sun Yat- sen. a stash of weapons and membership rolls. Knowing that Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. the rolls had revealed their identity, those soldiers who Wright, M. (Ed.). (1968). China in revolution: The first were loyal to Sun quickly mutinied. By the afternoon of 10 phase, 1900–1913. New Haven, CT: Yale University October they had captured the entire city. Over the next Press. 1891 Revolutions ▶ www.berkshirepublishing.com B © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC