【明報專訊】One hundred and two years ago today China's long history of imperial rule came to an end, thanks to the 1911 Revolution (辛亥革命). What followed, however, wasn't quite what the revolutionists had expected.
The background
After reaching the height of its powers during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (乾隆帝), the Qing Dynasty (清朝) gradually fell into decline. Its defeat in the two Opium Wars (鴉片戰爭) and the First Sino-Japanese War (甲午戰爭) further weakened its power and subjected it to humiliations by foreign powers.
In an attempt to reverse the country's fortunes, intellectuals such as Kang Youwei (康有為) and Liang Qichao (梁啟超) thought of making China a constitutional monarchy (君主立憲國家) like the United Kingdom. Their proposals, though supported by Emperor Guangxu (光緒帝), were opposed by Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后). The reforms lasted just a hundred days.
As a result, the thoughts of the intellectuals turned to revolution - the overthrow of the Qing government. Young men like Sun Yat-sen (孫中山, above) began to organise opposition groups and travelled around the world asking for foreign governments' support.
The revolution
Sun, having established the Revive China Society (興中會) in 1894, made his first attempt to overthrow the Qing Dynasty the next year in Guangzhou. But the plot was detected by the Qing Dynasty, leading to Sun's escape to Japan. In 1896 Sun went to London, where he was arrested by Qing agents and, but for the rescue by his English teacher, would have been executed.
The invasion by the Eight-Nation Alliance (八國聯軍) further weakened the Qing Dynasty, and Sun saw that a good chance for China to adopt republicanism (共和制) like that of the United States. He wrote to Li Hongzhang (李鴻章), a powerful official then in charge of Guangdong and Guangxi, to urge him to revolt. The plan failed, and Sun continued to organise uprisings.
Finally on 10 October 1911 his efforts bore fruit. A revolution group in Wuhan (武漢), Hubei (湖北), attacked the provincial government, and managed to gain control of the province, though Sun was then in Denver, Colorado, the US (美國科羅拉多州丹佛市). Within several months dozens of provinces followed suit and declared secession from the Qing government. Sun was sworn in as provisional president (臨時大總統) of the Republic of China (中華民國) in 1912. A new China was born.
Subsequent events
The same year Sun offered his presidency to Yuan Shikai (袁世凱), a powerful military leader in control of the Beiyang Army (北洋軍). He became president again later and embarked on the Northern Expedition (北伐) to bring the northern warlords, formerly under Yuan, into submission. The mission was continued by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) after Sun's death in 1925.
The defeat of the Kuomintang (中國國民黨) founded by Sun in the Chinese civil war meant the establishment of a Communist regime in 1949. A democratic China envisioned by Sun remains an unrealised dream.
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