Republican Revolution

Republican Revolution, political and social upheaval that took place in China in 1911 and 1912, bringing to an end centuries of imperial rule and establishing a republican government. In China, the revolution is usually referred to as the Xinhai Revolution because it occurred during the xinhai year of the Chinese 60-year calendar.

By the time of the Republican Revolution, China’s Qing dynasty, ruled by Manchus from north-eastern China (Dongbei, known as Manchuria), had been in decline for more than a century. Beginning with the First Opium War and culminating in the foreign occupation of Beijing after the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing dynasty had suffered a series of humiliating defeats by foreign powers. These conflicts left China in debt, its sovereignty compromised by unequal treaties, its coastal cities in foreign hands, and its rivers open to foreign gunboats. In addition, massive domestic rebellions in the 19th century had destabilized China’s rural society and had undercut government power and administrative effectiveness in the provinces. Desperate for funds, the Qing sold civil service degrees, which undermined the integrity of the Confucian examination system, the foundation of gentry-scholar life.

Meanwhile, a Chinese revolutionary movement had begun to develop. One prominent revolutionary leader, Sun Yat-sen, blamed the Qing dynasty for China's condition and called for a republican revolution. To escape arrest, Sun fled China in 1895 and campaigned tirelessly among overseas Chinese. After the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing court made a last-ditch but quite substantial effort to reform China’s imperial system. The government abolished the Confucian examination system, created Western-style military academies, and granted scholarships for study at foreign universities. In an effort to reform the political system, the court established provincial assemblies and promised to issue a constitution.

Ironically, the reforms increased the pressure for revolution. Chinese students in Japan joined with Sun Yat-sen's group to form the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance). Graduates of Chinese military academies adopted a strongly nationalistic stance and blamed the Manchus for China's weakness. Meanwhile, the new provincial assemblies demanded greater autonomy and immediate promulgation of a constitution.

The Qing government remained firmly in power, however, until Empress Dowager Cixi and the reigning Guangxu emperor both died in November 1908. Prince Chun, the new leader ruling as regent for his infant son, Pu Yi, was politically inept. He undercut supporters of an already weak and unpopular government. Increasingly, students, merchants, the new military forces, and even some of the Chinese gentry class looked to the revolutionary movement for China's salvation.

About this time, Tongmenghui forces were attempting to organize numerous revolutionary incidents in China. On October 10, 1911, revolutionaries among a group of military forces stationed in Wuchang (now Wuhan) mutinied and routed the pro-Qing forces that were sent to discipline them. Other provincial forces in Central and South China began declaring independence from the Qing. On December 2 the Manchu commander of the key southern city of Nanjing surrendered to rebels. By the end of 1911, most of the provinces of Central and South China had joined the rebellion and sent representatives to Nanjing. On December 29 delegates at Nanjing elected Sun Yat-sen provisional president of the new Republic of China, which was inaugurated on January 1, 1912.

Meanwhile, in November, 1911, the prince regent had convinced the former military commander Yuan Shikai, whom he had earlier dismissed, to return to power and direct the northern military forces to defend the dynasty. Yuan agreed to the request but then quickly seized power; he removed Prince Chun as regent and began negotiations with the southern revolutionaries. Ultimately, Yuan agreed to force the Manchu emperor to abdicate in exchange for being made president of the Republic of China. In February 1912 Sun Yat-sen voluntarily stepped down, and the Nanjing assembly elected Yuan president. Yuan moved the government to Beijing, where he was inaugurated on March 12, 1912.

While the Republican Revolution eliminated China’s imperial system, it did not create a successful government in its place. In the decades following the revolution, China would be beset by warlords, civil war, coups, and additional foreign incursions. Sun Yat-sen himself was bitterly disappointed at the results of the revolution he had so long sought. Although “double 10” (the tenth day of the tenth month) is still celebrated in Taiwan and among Chinese communities overseas, history texts in mainland China generally place more emphasis on the May Fourth Movement as the true turning point in modern Chinese history.