Chinese Revolution

In the annals of history, there are events and dates that at the time do not seem significant. These times in history are sometimes lost because the importance of it is not known until later. This is the case in the Chinese Revolution. There was a small act, insignificant at the time that resulted in the renovation of an entire government. The revolution in China in 1911 may not have happened had it not been for an accidental explosion. The arrests of the revolutionaries and the events of October 9th 1911, are used as a springboard that launched the rebels into power. The revolution of 1911 was a movement led by an amalgamation of interest groups to expel the Manchu's from china and replace the Qing dynasty with a Han Chinese government. The T'ung-meng hui, which was also known as the Chinese United League or the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, was organized by Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren in Tokyo, Japan, on 20 August 1905. This new alliance was the sum of Sun's Xingzhonghui, or Revive China Society, the Guangfuhui, or Restoration Society, and other Chinese revolutionary groups. Groups affiliated with, but not a part of were; the Common Advancement Society (Kung-chin hui),and the product of the Military Study Society, the Literary Society (Wen-hsueh hui). This revolution was a saving grace for China. The nation was at a point that was beyond repair by normal means and could only be sutured by the force of revolution. The revolution of 1911 overturned the Chinese government, but it was started by a chance event in Hankow.

Sun yat-sen is one of the original starters of the revolutionary bearaucracy that took over China in 1911. He was born a farmer's son in the rural regions of southern China. Ironically, he is compared to Mao Zedong and Liang Qichao. Their upbringings and early childhoods were all planks cut from the same tree. In other words these three shared similar childhoods and hailed from the same area of china. It is also arguable to say that these planks were then reunited in the fact that these three all became powerful political figures in China. Scalapino and Yu state, "Thus, Sun, Liang, and Mao were among those individuals available for political leadership as China moved into the 20th century."

Wuchang is part of Wuhan, which is in the E Hubei Province of China. It lies nestled on the right bank of the Chang River at the delta of the Han. It is known for its administration and cultural influence. Wuchang is the oldest of the three Wuhan cities. Its origin of establishment sinks deep into the Han dynasty which ruled from 200 B.C. to A.D. 200. It is recognized as the beginning of the revolution of 1911:

The first outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, which led to the formation of the Chinese republic, occurred there on Oct. 10. The day is celebrated as the Double Tenth, the tenth day of the tenth month. The city's numerous institutions of higher learning include Wuhan Univ.

Southern China had seen some minimal attempts at a revolution in the years prior to 1911. Hunan and Hupeh were two critical entities in the control of China. The revolutionaries knew that if they could take either of these two it would give them significantly more power in defeating the Manchu. With this in mind Huang Hsing offered to help the movement for revolution. He proposed to finance Chu Cheng and his affiliates to help plan a riot and eventual revolution starting in Wuchang.

Party members in the area of Wuchang wanted the revolution to start in Wuchang. They offered Huang Hsing the job of leading their efforts. At first, they had planned the revolutionary actions to take place on October 6th, but the plans had to be tabled because not all of the essential players in the revolution could make there on time. So then the date was set to the 16th. However in the between time of these dates a slip up by some rebels will cause the revolution to start early. This delay on the movement of the revolution allowed time for mistakes. Two revolutionaries had been laying low and would inadvertently expose the revolutionary party. The two were hiding out in a Russian concession on Hankow when they mistakenly set of a bomb or a charge of some sort. This drew much attention as the police were called to the scene. There the police arrested the two and their investigation is what compromised the integrity of the party. This led to further pursuit of the rebels by the Manchu Authorities. The British concession in Hankow was harboring a few organizations of the revolution that ironically specialized in keeping the movement a secret. This compromise of the revolutionary status should have caused the rebels to postpone the day of the attack, but it did not. The Police were able to recover a few lists of the members of the pro-Han population. On that list were some names of members who were also in the military. The rebel party, specifically Hsiung Ping-k'un worried that those particularly people would be arrested, decided to set the attack for the next day. Hsiung was a sergeant in the engineering battalion and he insisted on immediate action. Hsiung gathered his men and at nine o'clock that night they infiltrated and took over the ammunition dump, but not unscathed. Later the Army service corps who joined Hsiung after making their way through the city accompanied him. There was even more help by an artillery battalion and