Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The Time for Revolution is Ripe

"The time is ripe for revolution" was a famous phrase used by the outstanding Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai to describe the revolutionary situation in Africa in the 1960s. In China at the beginning of this century, it was a good time for revolutionaries to agitate for revolution.Dr Sun Yat-sen was the pioneer of this revolution, for which he is immortalized.Later, two young men disagreed about his political legacy, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. “The time is ripe for revolution” was a famous phrase that Zhou Enlai, the illustrious Premier of the People’s Republic of China, used to describe the revolutionary situation in Africa in the 1960s.

The situation was even more so in China at the beginning of this century. Internal and external troubles followed one after another in the Qing Dynasty, and the order of the empire was in turmoil. This was a good time for revolutionaries to agitate for revolution. Dr Sun Yat-sen was the pioneer of this revolution, for which he is immortalized.Later, two young men disagreed about his legacy: Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. For centuries, the Chinese imperial system was stable, and the country was prosperous and the people were peaceful, but the country began to decline during the Qing Dynasty.One of the reasons is the population explosion. When statistics were made in 1778, the national population had reached 242,956,613 people.The population increased, but no new land was developed.The Qing court was even more worried that the disaster would come from abroad, so it restricted overseas immigration.The Chinese stayed in the country, and the population continued to increase.

Originally, the industrial revolution could solve the population problem, but China did not produce an industrial revolution.What's more serious is that the trade and industrial products brought by foreigners have penetrated into the interior, destroying the traditional handicrafts on which the peasants depended for survival.The Chinese have no way out, because the industrialized countries restrict the export of Chinese handicraft products through tariff barriers. Then, foreigners came in. In our era of developed transportation and convenient communication, it is not easy to understand the changes and psychological impact that foreigners have had on the Chinese and their rulers after they came to China.Unlike other civilizations, China developed its own civilization in isolation.Deserts, mountains and seas isolate China from the outside world.

The Chinese believe that their country is "the center of the world" and is more advanced than the "Yi people" outside the country and the "Southern Man" and "Northern Hu" around the Han nationality.Under such circumstances, the international relations concept of sovereign equality of states cannot be understood in China. The Chinese emperor considered it condescending to accept the "Yi people" to come to court, and there was no need for further communication with the "Yi people". China also has a unique ideographic language—Chinese characters.Chinese characters are complicated and difficult to understand, which will inevitably lead to a large number of illiterates.Those who can master Chinese characters have the opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune, while those from poor families and low IQ are excluded.However, promising children, even if their families are poor, have the opportunity to receive education, pass the imperial examinations, gain fame, and thus embark on official careers if they receive support from local charities or rich people.From this perspective, Chinese society does not have strict hierarchical boundaries.

However, the concept of democracy in the modern sense of the West is very strange to the Chinese.Chinese society used to have a strict hierarchical system, and the highest rank enjoyed supreme dignity.The Chinese proverb "There are no two suns" means that the emperor's authority is supreme and China is the only big country in the world.Under the emperor's dictatorship, disobedience to the emperor's orders was so dangerous that it was almost the same as treason. Another characteristic of Chinese society is that the legal system is not as developed as other countries. Although there are criminal codes to punish criminals, there is no democratic code in the Western sense.

Chinese people also have a different attitude towards religion. God's revelation has no effect in their lives, and they appear to be tolerant. Chinese people are superstitious and believe in Buddhism or Taoism. Westerners think that Confucianism is a religion, but this is actually a misunderstanding. In fact, Confucianism is a model of ethics and morality, and it is the state religion of China.Constant turmoil and dynasties change all require Confucianism to ensure social stability. However, long-term stability also has side effects. It brings about social rigidity and stagnation. For thousands of years, the Chinese people have established a great civilization unparalleled in the world, and their ingenuity and inventions are at the forefront of the world.China's agricultural technology is ahead of Europe.The emperor made a great deal of construction work and developed the flooded Yellow River basin and other river basins for intensive cultivation.In agriculture, art, literature, and state institutions, the Chinese consider great achievements to be made in the past golden age.Therefore, the slightest change is regarded as heresy, no revolution is encouraged, it seems that everything has reached the pinnacle of perfection and cannot go any further.

In this order, the monarch enjoys spiritual sovereignty, and his power is absolute, but not permanent.It is believed that the monarch is the embodiment of justice.If he does not represent justice, he risks being replaced. All the "commitment and rebellion" in Chinese history were caused by this.If they fail, the rebels will become historical "rebels"; if they win, the rebel leaders will wear yellow robes and change dynasties, and the deposed monarch will lose his "son of heaven" status. Unlike the vast majority of foreigners, the Chinese are neither shackled by obnoxious laws nor bound by the Christian concept of original sin.They have their own unique beliefs, and they are loyal to their hometown, family and clan.In this "family" environment, the elders arbitrate disputes, one person wins the Tao, and the whole family benefits, and one person suffers disaster, and the whole family rescues.

When foreign countries invaded China, Chinese society was strongly shocked.The self-importance of the Chinese rulers was shattered.They find that foreign technology is more advanced than China, and at the same time they comfort themselves by saying that foreign philosophy is not as developed as China.However, this view cannot stand the test of facts. The British came to the gate of China and declared war on China because their request was rejected by China. The Chinese side believed that the British war was an imperialist act to force China to import Indian opium, so this war was called the "Opium War".Britain won the battle without difficulty, and on August 29, 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was signed.Guangdong lost its monopoly on maritime trade, and China was forced to cede Hong Kong to Britain, open the port, and pay 21 million pounds in compensation. The Treaty of Nanking marked the end of the tributary system of the "Yi people" to the Chinese emperor.

Foreign bullying is far from over, and a series of unequal treaties followed. In 1844, 1858, 1879, 1881, 1883, 1885 and 1895, many unequal treaties were signed in the decades.The country lost its power and territory, and the national humiliation deepened. The United States first obtained extraterritorial power in China and set up courts on Chinese territory. Other countries followed suit and obtained this privilege.If a British or Frenchman kills a Chinese, Chinese courts have no right to try the accused. In 1860, the British and French allied forces captured Beijing and burned the Old Summer Palace. The Russians took advantage of the fire to plunder the Amur River (Heilongjiang) and Heilongjiang Province, and established Vladivostok.The Japanese are more sinister than the white Westerners.Toyo Japan - The rising Asian power forced China to cede Taiwan.

At the end of 1897, France occupied Jiaozhou.As a result, the frenzy of dividing up the leased land followed.Foreign aggressors can do whatever they want, and China has no sovereignty at all.In addition, popular rebellions occurred one after another in the country, and the emperor's authority was challenged. From 1851 to 1864, the Taiping Rebellion surged like clouds and clouds. Its scale and duration were astonishing. In the history of civil wars in Western countries, only the Spanish Civil War and the American Civil War can be compared with it.The Spanish Civil War lasted three years and lost 500,000 people, and the American Civil War lasted four years and also lost 500,000 people.

The Taiping Rebellion lasted longer and suffered greater losses.During the fourteen-year war, 20 million people lost their lives.In a more important sense, the Taiping Rebellion was a preview of Mao Zedong's peasant revolution nearly a century later. Hong Xiuquan, the great leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising, was different from ordinary Chinese. He was still a Christian. He advocated equality for all and public ownership of property.A gifted leader, he raised a well-disciplined and massive army, captured Nanking, and ruled central and southern China. In 1853, Hong Xiuquan and his followers announced the birth of the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". At this moment, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty in Beijing were in a panic. Although Hong Xiuquan was a brave conqueror, he was not a wise administrative builder. In 1855 he began to decline, and the revolutionary movement faced a split. Uprisings broke out everywhere, and the country was in chaos. In 1900, a unique uprising broke out (Boxer Rebellion - Annotation).This movement was encouraged by the rulers, and its purpose was not to destroy "Qing" but "foreign".The rebels used traditional Chinese boxing to defend themselves, so it was called "Yihe Boxing".The boxing movement spread rapidly, sweeping across the rural areas of northern China.They burned foreign churches and executed thousands of believers. On July 13, the Boxers stormed into Beijing and surrounded foreign embassies.The next day, an international force (i.e., the Eight-Power Allied Forces) captured Tianjin, marched into Beijing, defeated the Boxers a month later, and rescued the foreigners who took refuge in the embassy.At this moment, these people are terrified and hungry.The Empress Dowager fled with her staff. The Eight-Power Allied Forces looted Beijing and forced the Qing government to sign the "Xin Chou Treaty" on September 7, 1901.The conditions were extremely harsh, and the big powers demanded that China pay 738 million U.S. dollars in compensation, including interest, and pay it off in 40 years.Officials of the Qing court were punished, and the embassies of the great powers were strengthened and expanded.The great powers were allowed to garrison troops along the railway to Tianjin.China has suffered a great humiliation. In the ensuing 20 years, two individuals have had a major impact on Chinese history.One is Yuan Shikai, a politician who was a general, and the other is Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary who was a doctor. Yuan Shikai won the Korean War and was promoted to the imperial court's minister in Korea.Yuan should have been satisfied, but he was ambitious and tried to seize the highest power.Open rebellion was too costly and dangerous, so he chose conspiracy to betray.The Empress Dowager Cixi was fickle and ruthless.Her sole purpose is to oppose change and improvement.Emperor Guangxu's thinking was progressive, and he tried to imprison the Empress Dowager and implement his ambitious reform plan: planning to establish the Beijing Normal University, building the Beijing-Han Railway, and modernizing the army. Yuan Shikai learned of Emperor Guangxu's plan and informed the Queen Mother of the West.At first, the Queen Mother was shocked. On September 22, 1898, she imprisoned Emperor Guangxu. Yuan Shikai estimated that his fortune would be prosperous, so he said to the Queen Mother: In order to preserve the empire, a new army must be established, and he is the most suitable candidate for the establishment of the new army.Creating a new army required capital and the freedom to do what it wanted, and Yuan Shikai got both. In 1905, he had established six well-trained new troops.However, after three years all his plans fell through. The Empress Dowager was ill in bed and died on November 15, 1908, the day after the death of Emperor Guangxu.Before his death, Emperor Guangxu agreed that his brother, Prince Chun, should be regent and that he should try to execute Yuan for betraying his reform program 10 years earlier. Prince Jin did not advocate killing Yuan as an apology like Guangxu did; in January 1909, he claimed that Yuan suffered from a foot illness and took leave to return to his hometown to recuperate, thereby dismissing Yuan from all his duties.The new emperor Fu Yi was still a child, and the regent was cowardly and incompetent. The chief supervisor in the palace fought openly and secretly with the women, and the throne was on the verge of collapse. In October 1910, the Council of Ministers held a meeting and advocated the implementation of a parliamentary system. Although this violated Prince Chun’s wishes, Still, he agreed to create a parliament in 1913.However, the revolution has come. On October 10, 1911, the revolution finally broke out.The opportunity came for Yuan Shikai to betray the Qing court again. Sun Yat-sen stepped onto the stage of history.Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) was a great revolutionary and a strong-willed idealist.However, the road to revolution is tortuous.In later years, Sun Yat-sen's enemy, Yuan Shikai, was selfish and undermined the revolution. From a certain point of view, both Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai were nationalists.But Sun was a patriot who put national interests ahead of his own at a critical moment; Yuan Shikai was different," he conflated national interests with self-interest. Sun Yat-sen was not tall, with a broad face and a beard. His life was full of legends and adventures.It is said that as early as 1894, he established the first secret revolutionary group in Guangdong (referring to Xingzhonghui—annotation).Since then, he has launched ten uprisings aimed at overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, but only the 1911 revolution succeeded.At that time, he only got the news after the outbreak of the revolution. He was in the United States and did not arrive in Shanghai until Christmas. In 1895 he suffered his first defeat.In the following year, he was kidnapped in London and locked up at the Chinese Legation in the UK for ten days.He told an English friend about his plight. Thanks to the mediation of this friend, Sun Yat-sen was rescued. Later, Sun Yat-sen went to Macau, Honolulu, the United States, and Tokyo to conduct secret activities and organize overseas Chinese groups. The revolution that broke out on October 10 was planned for a week later than the uprising.However, a bomb exploded suddenly in the Russian Concession in Hankou on October 9, so they had to revolt ahead of schedule. Chiang Kai-shek, 24, was one of the revolutionaries.He led a team of 100 men and two women to attack Xie, the governor of Zhejiang Province in Hangzhou. The regent was terrified.Fortunately, he did not listen to his brother Emperor Guangxu and kill Yuan Shikai. Now only Yuan Shikai can protect the throne.However, when Prince Jin's letter calling Yuan back to court reached Yuan Shikai, he still claimed that his foot was still ill and refused to return to Beijing to defend the court.Eight days later, when Yuan Shikai got everything he wanted, he agreed to return to court.After Yuan Shikai returned to the imperial court, he was reused and served as the imperial military minister. Only the regent could depose him.It was exactly the job he had dreamed of.Yuan led the new army he had trained and equipped to suppress the revolutionaries. But Yuan Shikai didn't really want to save the Qing Dynasty.He held the same view as the republican revolutionaries that the Qing Dynasty should die.But at that time his real ambition was none other than to restore the imperial system and become emperor himself. A general above Yuan Shikai was assassinated, so he was in the second most important post after the regent. On November 7, 1911, Yuan Shikai was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, responsible for organizing a new provisional parliament, and a week later , Yuan Shikai entered the capital. The road was tortuous. On December 30, the Provisional Revolutionary Council met in Nanjing and elected Sun Yat-sen as the President of the Chinese Federation.Ten days earlier, Yuan Shikai's representatives had reached a secret agreement with Sun Yat-sen's representatives to establish a republic.The first president of the Republic should be the person who abdicated the Qing emperor.Yuan Shikai happened to be in this position. On February 12, 1912, the Empress Dowager Longyu tearfully accepted the abdication order of the Qing court supervised by Yuan Shikai, and decided to give him "full power" to form a provisional republican government.Ironically, the Qing court declared the republic itself.The abdication order said nothing about Sun's Republic in Nanjing, and Yuan Shikai, who had betrayed the Qing court, was about to betray Sun Yat-sen.He called the interim President Sun Yat-sen to remind him to abide by the agreement and support those who forced the Qing court to abdicate. If Lenin had received such a telegram, he would have rejected it, but Sun Yat-sen was not Lenin.Sun Yat-sen protested against the declaration of a republic by the Qing court.At the same time, he resigned from the position of interim president, and the only prerequisite is to establish the capital in Nanjing.In addition, his administration must work until a new interim president is elected by the Senate and sworn in.Sun Yat-sen was not Yuan Shikai's opponent.Sun Yat-sen sent a mission to the north to meet Yuan Nan.The old and slippery Yuan Shikai launched a mutiny in Beijing and three other cities, falsely claiming that the north is still uncertain, so why go south? Yuan Shikai succeeded again. On March 10, 1912, he held an oath ceremony at the palace and officially took office as the second interim president of the Republic of China. Although Yuan Shikai was deprived of the throne of the Qing Dynasty, he gave generous treatment to the upright officials who abdicated.It was not that Yuan favored upright officials, but that Yuan, who was on the throne of the ruler, wanted to retain the honor of upright officials. The young emperor Puyi lived in the palace with his court attendants, pampered and continued to enjoy the life of the palace.Puyi later became the puppet emperor of the "Manchukuo" supported by Japan.After the CCP seized power, he became a gardener. Yuan Shikai contributed another job.At first, he tolerated the existence of the Republic. Later, he believed that the time was ripe to dissolve the Republic, especially the revolutionary organization that hindered him, the Kuomintang (in August 1912, Sun Yat-sen changed the name of the Tongmenghui to the Kuomintang, which seemed to mean "citizen's party", but usually called the "Party of Nationalism").The new government is self-destructing through corruption and absurdity. Temporary senators are not so much working as they are bickering and even fighting. At the end of 1912 and the beginning of 1913, the national election was still inconclusive.Votes became money transactions, and many new MPs belonged to different parties.Every time Parliament meets, most of the time is spent discussing the issue of Members' allowances. Yuan Shikai is like a killer. In 1912, he hosted a banquet for a KMT general who participated in the Wuchang Uprising, and later murdered him. Sun Yat-sen rushed to Beijing immediately and asked Yuan to explain this. In order to appease Sun Yat-sen, President Yuan appointed Sun Yat-sen as the director of China Railway.This is a thankless job, because the railway has no construction funds at all, and Yuan Shikai is short of funds.The treasury of the Qing court was left with a few Qiangs, and local warlords extorted money, making it difficult for the government to collect taxes.Yuan Shikai borrowed money from foreign banks, and he used the salt tax as a guarantee to negotiate a "big aftermath loan" with a total amount of 25 million pounds. On April 27, 1913, the loan agreement was finally signed, but soon there was another small problem.The Constitution stipulated that the power to approve treaties rested with the Parliament. Although the members had clearly expressed their intention to pass the loan agreement, Yuan Shikai completely forgot about the members, so he instructed his prime minister to sign the loan agreement with two ministers.In fact, foreign banks only paid 21 million British pounds. Yuan Shikai immediately paid 250,000 for the Qing court and 60,000 for the president and the cabinet. The Kuomintang is still a thorn in Yuan Shikai's side.In the general elections of 1912-1913, Nationalist MPs won a majority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In October 1912, Sun Yat-sen left Beijing, and Yuan Shikai immediately issued an order prohibiting the secret association activities of the Kuomintang.Sun Yat-sen could have stayed in the country to guide the voyage of the revolution, but this winter, he went to Japan to inspect the railway system. Sun Yat-sen appointed the young and promising Song Jiaoren as the chairman of the Kuomintang Executive Committee. On March 21, 1913, Song was shot in the abdomen while taking the train from Shanghai to Beijing and died at the age of 31.Yuan Shikai's assassins started killing again. Faced with such atrocities, Sun Yat-sen could no longer tolerate them.Soon, he sent a telegram to denounce Yuan Shikai: "You have betrayed the country, and I must oppose you as I opposed the Qing Dynasty." On May 5, 1913, the Kuomintang passed a resolution with a majority vote in the parliament, arguing that "big borrowing for aftermath" was illegal. On July 10, the Kuomintang generals in various provinces responded to Sun Yat-sen's call and launched an armed uprising, known as the "Second Revolution" in history.But it was not as well-organized as the first revolution.In less than two months, Yuan Shikai's army defeated the Kuomintang attack. On October 6, Yuan Shikai officially took office as President. On November 4, he ordered the expulsion of all Kuomintang MPs from Parliament. On January 10, 1914, he disbanded the Kuomintang.Yuan Shikai's plan to restore the monarchy is almost complete. In October 1913, Yuan Shikai's government had been recognized by the majority of world powers.On May 1 of the following year, the revised provisional constitution gave Yuan Shikai great power to rule. In August 1915, he publicly carried out activities to restore the imperial system, and the throne of the emperor seemed to be at his fingertips, and the National Assembly controlled by him elected him as emperor. On December 9, Yuan formally accepted the throne and was scheduled to ascend the throne the following year, which was designated as the first year of Hong Xian, and currency with Yuan Shikai's head was issued at the same time. But God did not want to hand over the rulership to this treacherous dictator.Yuan Shikai fell unexpectedly soon, and the movement to overthrow Yuan began in Tokyo. After Yuan Shikai disbanded the Kuomintang, Sun Yat-sen reorganized his forces and established a secret organization. He founded the temporary headquarters of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, which was located in Japan. On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany.Before long, the Japanese violated China's neutrality. On January 19, 1915, Japan secretly proposed the infamous "Twenty-one" Articles to China.It was not until May 8 that Yuan Shikai delayed accepting Japan's ultimatum.The Japanese received the privileges of the Germans in Shandong; the Japanese lease in Manchuria was extended to 99 years; Japanese companies enjoyed commercial and industrial interests in China.This is yet another unequal treaty. The "big aftermath loan" has been spent.Yuan Shikai's government is in decline.Amidst the condemnation and humiliation, he had to delay his plan to restore the monarchy. However, on December 25, 1915, with the support of the Japanese, Cai Wei, the governor of Yunnan, declared the independence of Yunnan and challenged those who restored the monarchy.Other provinces responded successively, and Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Hunan also declared independence one after another.Sun Yat-sen returned to Shanghai and delivered a speech against Yuan. On June 6, 1916, Yuan Shikai, who was seriously ill and humiliated, passed away. Three weeks before his death, he tried to stop the trend of revolution with another assassination—he sent someone to assassinate Sun Yat-sen’s best follower and Chiang Kai-shek’s revolutionary mentor Chen Qimei, but this assassination failed to save his fate, but gave His history is marked with shame.