Edwin Moise on Sun Yixian and the 1911 Revolution

historical interpretations CR1/ 01 Edwin Moise on Sun YiXiaN and the 1911 Revolution

The final collapse of the Qing Dynasty was to a considerable extent inspired by a revolutionary from Guangdong named Sun Yat-sen [Sun Yixian] … He wanted to make China a republic on the European model. His belief in the easy conversion of one civilization to the practices of another was rather naïve, but he was able to build up a secret society called the Tongmenghui … Its membership remained small, and it was riven by factionalism … Between 1906 and 1911, his [Sun’s] followers failed in numerous armed uprisings against the Qing. None of these efforts drew in many participants, but the revolutionaries kept trying … Units of the New Armies in Wuhan … had been heavily infiltrated by revolutionary organizations. The revolutionaries there called themselves a branch of the Tongmenghui, but they in fact had no contact with Sun Yat-sen [Sun Yixian] and only a loose sort of liaison with some other Tongmenghui leaders … No top leader of the revolutionary movement was in Wuhan … China was ripe for even such a weak and disorganized revolutionary movement such as this … The Manchus had fallen because they were weak, not because San Yat-sen or any other revolutionary was strong. Edwin Moise, Modern China: A History (London: Longman, 1994), 42-44.

1. Identify two or more contributions Sun Yixian [Sun Yat-sen] made to the Chinese revolutionary movement, according to Moise.

2. Identify from the extract two challenges or problems faced by the Tongmenghui.

© History Teachers’ Association of Victoria 2016. This activity sheet is available only to customers who have purchased the textbook China Rising 2nd edition (ISBN 9781875585083 — print; or 9780980831566— ebook) and have accessed the additional resources via www. historyed. 1 com.au. To purchase the textbook please visit www.htav.asn.au/shop historical interpretations CR1/ 01 3. Quoting from the extract and using your own knowledge, explain why the Qing Dynasty was fatally compromised by the end of 1911.

4. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of this extract for understanding the role of key individuals in bringing an end to Qing rule in China. Refer to different historical interpretations in your answer.