The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, culminated in the end of China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings. Its success marked the end of Chinese monarchy, the 267-year reign of the Qing, over two millennia of imperial rule in China, and the beginning of China's early republican era.
The Qing had long struggled to reform the government and resist foreign aggression, but conservatives in the Qing court opposed the program of reforms after 1900 as too radical and reformers considered it too slow. Several factions, including underground anti-Qing groups, revolutionaries in exile, reformers who wanted to save the monarchy by modernizing it, and activists across the country debated how or whether to overthrow the Qing dynasty.
The flashpoint came on 10 October 1911 with the Wuchang Uprising, an armed rebellion by members of the New Army. Similar revolts then broke out spontaneously around the country, and revolutionaries in every province renounced the Qing dynasty. On 1 November 1911, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai (leader of the Beiyang Army) as prime minister, and he began negotiations with the revolutionaries.
In Nanjing, revolutionary forces created a provisional coalition government. On 1 January 1912, the Advisory Council declared the establishment of the Republic of China, with Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Tongmenghui, as President of the Republic of China. A brief civil war between the North and the South ended in compromise. Sun resigned in favor of Yuan, who would become president of the new national government if he could secure the abdication of the Qing emperor. The edict of abdication of the six-year-old Xuantong Emperor was promulgated on 12 February 1912. Yuan was sworn in as president on 10 March 1912.
In December 1915, Yuan restored the monarchy and proclaimed himself the Hongxian Emperor, but the move was met with strong opposition by the population and the Army, leading to his abdication in March 1916 and the Republic's reinstatement. Yuan's failure to consolidate a legitimate central government before his death in June 1916 led to decades of political division and warlordism, including an attempt at imperial restoration of the Qing dynasty.
The name "Xinhai Revolution" derives from the traditional Chinese calendar, where "Xinhai" (辛亥) is the label corresponding to 1911 according to the sexagenary cycle. The governments of both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China consider themselves the legitimate successors to the 1911 Revolution and honor the ideals of the revolution, including nationalism, republicanism, modernization of China, and national unity. 10 October is the National Day of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and the Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution in China.
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, culminated in the end of China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings. Its success marked the end of Chinese monarchy, the 267-year reign of the Qing, over two millennia of imperial rule in China, and the beginning of China's early republican era.
The Qing had long struggled to reform the government and resist foreign aggression, but conservatives in the Qing court opposed the program of reforms after 1900 as too radical and reformers considered it too slow. Several factions, including underground anti-Qing groups, revolutionaries in exile, reformers who wanted to save the monarchy by modernizing it, and activists across the country debated how or whether to overthrow the Qing dynasty.
The flashpoint came on 10 October 1911 with the Wuchang Uprising, an armed rebellion by members of the New Army. Similar revolts then broke out spontaneously around the country, and revolutionaries in every province renounced the Qing dynasty. On 1 November 1911, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai (leader of the Beiyang Army) as prime minister, and he began negotiations with the revolutionaries.
In Nanjing, revolutionary forces created a provisional coalition government. On 1 January 1912, the Advisory Council declared the establishment of the Republic of China, with Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Tongmenghui, as President of the Republic of China. A brief civil war between the North and the South ended in compromise. Sun resigned in favor of Yuan, who would become president of the new national government if he could secure the abdication of the Qing emperor. The edict of abdication of the six-year-old Xuantong Emperor was promulgated on 12 February 1912. Yuan was sworn in as president on 10 March 1912.
In December 1915, Yuan restored the monarchy and proclaimed himself the Hongxian Emperor, but the move was met with strong opposition by the population and the Army, leading to his abdication in March 1916 and the Republic's reinstatement. Yuan's failure to consolidate a legitimate central government before his death in June 1916 led to decades of political division and warlordism, including an attempt at imperial restoration of the Qing dynasty.
The name "Xinhai Revolution" derives from the traditional Chinese calendar, where "Xinhai" (辛亥) is the label corresponding to 1911 according to the sexagenary cycle. The governments of both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China consider themselves the legitimate successors to the 1911 Revolution and honor the ideals of the revolution, including nationalism, republicanism, modernization of China, and national unity. 10 October is the National Day of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and the Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution in China.
Background
Tension between Manchu and Han people
After the Manchu aristocracy came to rule the China, they adopted a policy of placing the Manchus first (首崇滿洲) to govern China, producing a complex and enduring ethnic conflict with the Han Chinese. Throughout the Qing dynasty's 268 years of rule, anti-Manchu sentiment never entirely disappeared. Early Qing Han Chinese thinkers such as Gu Yanwu and Wang Fuzhi repeatedly advocated the idea of overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming. Although their ideas did not bring about the immediate collapse of Qing rule, the seeds of revolution retained a degree of vitality within underground organizations and secret societies. The various movements launched by Ming loyalists, the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the activities of the Tiandihui, the White Lotus Rebellion, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom war all expressed a spirit of ethnic resistance, and the revolution led by Sun Yat-sen was rooted in these traditions.
Although the court publicly proclaimed that no distinction was drawn between Manchus and Han and that both were employed in staffing government offices, in reality the status of Manchus and Han was not equal. Before the Taiping revolution, key military and administrative posts were mostly held by Manchus, and even those positions allotted to Han Chinese could be filled by Manchus, whereas the Han had no such reciprocal privilege. After the 1890s, anti-Manchu sentiment rose again. The writings of the late-Ming loyalist elders became an important intellectual resource of the time. Although Wang Fuzhi wrote prolifically, he had little influence in the late Ming and early Qing, largely because it was the court's leading ministers—Hunan-Xiang literati such as Zeng Guofan and Guo Songtao—who strenuously championed him. In his Three Principles of the People, Sun Yat-sen wrote: "The Manchu conquest of China was a conquest of the majority by the minority, seeking to make use of the majority Chinese as their slaves," and "China has been completely subjugated twice already: once under the Yuan dynasty, and once under the Qing." He held that under the rule of the Qing government, the Han were nothing but four hundred million oppressed and discriminated-against subjects of a conquered nation. Feng Ziyou (馮自由) noted that in the early days of the Xingzhonghui, "the only propaganda tools used were a few standalone editions: the Record of Ten Days at Yangzhou, the Record of the Jiading Massacre, and selected reprints of the 'On the Ruler' and 'On the Minister' chapters from the Waiting for the Dawn." Huang Xing likewise recounted that his distant ancestor had, in the early Qing, written a testamentary injunction that the descendants of the Huang family should never serve as officials under the Qing. As China's perilous situation deepened after the Boxer Rebellion and student movements among those studying in Japan developed, the tide of anti-Manchu revolution rose ever higher and became difficult to contain.
Invasion by foreign powers
After suffering its first defeat by the West in the First Opium War in 1842, a conservative court culture constrained efforts to reform and did not want to cede authority to local officials. After its defeat in the Second Opium War in 1860, the Qing began efforts to modernize by adopting Western technologies through the Self-Strengthening Movement. In the wars against the Taiping (1851–1864), Nian (1851–1868), Yunnan (1856–1873) and Dungan (1862–1877), the court came to rely on armies raised by local officials. After a generation of relative success in importing Western naval and weapons technology, the Chinese defeat to Imperial Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895 was all the more humiliating and convinced many of the need for institutional change. The court established the New Army under Yuan Shikai, and many concluded that Chinese society also needed to be modernized if technological and commercial advancements were to succeed.
An unsuccessful reform
In 1898, the Guangxu Emperor turned to reformers like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who offered a program that was inspired in large part by the reforms in Japan. They proposed basic reform in education, military, and economy in the so-called Hundred Days' Reform. The reform was abruptly canceled by a conservative coup, led by Empress Dowager Cixi. The Emperor was put under house arrest in June 1898, where he remained until his death in 1908. The reformers Kang and Liang exiled themselves to avoid being executed. The Empress Dowager controlled policy until her death in 1908, with support from officials such as Yuan. Attacks on foreigners and Chinese Christians in the Boxer Rebellion by Chinese nationalists, which was encouraged by the Empress Dowager, prompted another foreign invasion of Beijing in 1900.
After the Allies imposed a punitive settlement in 1901, the Qing court carried out basic fiscal and administrative reforms, including local and provincial elections. The moves did not secure trust or wide support among political activists. Many of them like Zou Rong felt strong anti-Manchu prejudice and blamed the Qing for China's troubles. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao formed the Emperor Protection Society in an attempt to restore the emperor, but others, such as Sun Yat-sen organized revolutionary groups to overthrow the dynasty, rather than reform it. They could operate only in secret societies and underground organizations, in foreign concessions, or exile overseas but created a following among overseas Chinese in North America, Southeast Asia and within China, even in the new armies. Sun Yat-sen believed that China needed to transition from an absolute monarchy to a democratic republic and believed that a revolution was the only way to modernize China and defend its sovereignty from Western colonial powers and Japan. The Chinese famine of 1906–1907 was also a major contributor to the revolution. Following the death of the Guangxu Emperor and Cixi in 1908, the throne was inherited by the two-year-old Xuantong Emperor, with Prince Chun as a regent. The prince continued the reform path of Cixi, but conservative Manchu elements in the court opposed it, which caused further support for revolutionaries.
Revolutionary movements and debates
Early activities led by Sun
Many revolutionaries and groups wanted to overthrow the Qing government to re-establish the Han-led government. The earliest revolutionary organizations were founded outside of China, such as Yeung Ku-wan's Furen Literary Society, which was created in British Hong Kong in 1890. There were 15 members, including Tse Tsan-tai, who made political satire such as "The Situation in the Far East", one of the first manhua, and who later became one of the core founders of the South China Morning Post.
Sun's Revive China Society was established in Honolulu in 1894, the main purpose being raising funds for revolutions. The two organizations merged in 1894.
Revolutionary organizations
Smaller groups
The Huaxinghui (China Revival Society) was founded in 1904 by the notables Huang Xing, Zhang Shizhao, Chen Tianhua, Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and 100 others. Its motto was "Take one province by force, and inspire the other provinces to rise."
The Guangfuhui (Restoration Society) was also founded in 1904 in Shanghai, by Cai Yuanpei. Other notable members included Zhang Binglin and Tao Chengzhang. Despite professing the anti-Qing cause, the Guangfuhui was highly critical of Sun Yat-sen. One of the most famous female revolutionaries was Qiu Jin, who fought for women's rights and was also from the Guangfuhui.
The Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) were groups of secretive, anti-Manchu fraternities provided the vital manpower, military networks and localized uprisings that ultimately toppled the Qing Dynasty. Originally formed in the 17th century as a network to oppose the ruling Qing and restore the Han Chinese Ming dynasty, the Tiandihui operated on blood oaths and the rallying cry "Oppose Qing, restore Ming" (Fan Qing Fu Ming). By the early 20th century, the anti-Qing sentiment was easily adapted by Republican revolutionaries into a modern nationalist movement aimed at stripping the Manchus of power and returning China to the Han majority. Sun Yat-sen recognized that modern, reform-minded intellectuals lacked the military might or broad grassroots reach required to fight the imperial state. To bridge this gap, he actively courted secret societies and even joined the Tiandihui's overseas branch in Hawaii (the Hongmen). He utilized these deeply established, underground networks to smuggle weapons, raise funds from the overseas Chinese diaspora and recruit guerrilla fighters for his early, abortive uprisings in southern China.
Tongmenghui
Sun Yat-sen successfully united the Revive China Society, the Huaxinghui, and the Guangfuhui and established the unified Tongmenghui (United League) in August 1905 in Tokyo. It had loose organizations distributed across and outside China. Sun Yat-sen was the leader of the unified group. Other revolutionaries who worked with the Tongmenghui include Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin. When the Tongmenghui was established, more than 90% of the Tongmenghui members were between 17 and 26 years old. Some of the work in the era includes manhua publications such as the Journal of Current Pictorial.
Later groups
In February 1906, Rizhihui (日知會) also had many revolutionaries, including Sun Wu (孫武), Zhang Nanxian (張難先), He Jiwei and Feng Mumin. A nucleus of attendees at the conference evolved into the Tongmenghui's establishment in Hubei.
In July 1907, several members of the Tongmenghui in Tokyo advocated a revolution in the area of the Yangtze. Liu Quiyi (劉揆一), Jiao Dafeng (焦達峰), Zhang Boxiang (張伯祥) and Sun Wu (孫武) established the Gongjinhui (共進會). In January 1911, the revolutionary group Zhengwu Xueshe (振武學社) was renamed as Wenxueshe (Literary Society) (文學社). Jiang Yiwu (蔣翊武) was chosen as the leader. Both organizations would play a major role during the Wuchang Uprising.
Many young revolutionaries supported anarchism in China. In Tokyo, Liu Shipei proposed to overthrow the Manchus and return to Chinese classical values. In Paris, well-connected young intellectuals, Li Shizhen, Wu Zhihui and Zhang Renjie, agreed with Sun's revolutionary program and joined the Tongmenghui but argued that simply replacing one government with another would not be progress. They believed that fundamental cultural change and a revolution in family, gender, and social values would remove the need for government and coercion. Zhang Ji and Wang Jingwei were among the anarchists, who defended assassination and terrorism as means to awaken the people to revolution, but others insisted that education was the only justifiable strategy. Important anarchists included Cai Yuanpei. Zhang Renjie gave Sun major financial help. Many of the anarchists would later assume high positions in the Kuomintang.