Chapter 3 Before and after the Revolution of 1911, Shaky China

The 1911 Revolution took place in 1911, almost a hundred years ago.On an anniversary day, when it comes time to commemorate the 100th time, no matter what, there will be some excitement.Moreover, the Double Tenth day in 1911 was the beginning of the end of the Chinese imperial system, and it took a hundred years for China to move towards a republic.I don't know whether the idea of ​​democracy and republic has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, at least in terms of name, it has kept up with the world trend.That alone is worth celebrating. Speaking of which, the occurrence of this revolution was somewhat accidental.From a small point of view, if the governor of Huguang who was sitting in Wuchang at that time was not Rui Cheng, if he hadn’t dug a hole and escaped like a coward when the cannon fired, if his previous handling hadn’t been so inappropriate, accidentally uncovered the stronghold of the Revolutionary Party, and took People beheaded again, but burned the roster of captured revolutionaries in public. The gunfire of the Wuchang New Army Engineering Battalion on the evening of October 10, 1911 may not turn into an uprising that occupied the three towns of Wuhan.Because the sporadic gunshots of the revolutionaries have been heard many times, and none of them has become a big deal.About a month before the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, the Wuchang New Army also came here once, but they did not make a fuss.

On a larger scale, if it wasn’t for the death of the Empress Dowager Xi and Guangxu, the Manchu young relatives who came to power would play around with their temper, first drive away the most capable Yuan Shikai, offend the person who should not be offended, and then collect Power, take local power back to the central government, and take back the power of the Han people to the Manchus.Even if a revolution occurs, it will not become a climate. What should never happen is that when the constitutionalists everywhere petitioned for the constitution, it was fine if the relatives refused to agree, but they set up a royal cabinet, which made the gentry everywhere feel cold - from then on, China's affairs , was arranged by these dandies who were born in the deep palace and grew up in the hands of women. The gentry were completely immersed in ice water with the hope of constitutional separation of powers.In this way, the gentry hated the Manchu dynasty so much that their teeth were itching, and the propaganda of the revolutionaries, who hadn't listened to it, suddenly fell in their ears. They are really not my race, and their hearts must be different.Even if they are asked to set fire, they still dare not, but as long as someone sets fire, they are happy to fan the wind.On the second day of the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, when the uprising soldiers were leaderless, Li Yuanhong, who was forced to come here, was silent and refused to "follow the rebellion". However, Tang Hualong, the chairman of the Hubei Consultative Council, came and never left. Even the business group under his command also participated in the revolution.It was precisely because of the help of the constitutionalist gentry that not only stabilized the situation, but also won the sympathy of foreigners, persuaded Li Yuanhong to change his mind, and even instigated the rebellion of the naval fleet that came to suppress it, because Tang Xiangming, the chief of staff of the fleet commander, was Tang Hualong's younger brother.Not only in Wuhan, the constitutionalists helped the revolution, but also in other places, and in some places, the constitutionalists simply came out on their own.In the first dozen provinces of the revolution, the revolutionary party and the constitutional party were actually divided equally.

Although the revolutionaries have been deliberately trying to instigate a revolution, the situation for the revolution has never been mature enough.Especially since the Qing court implemented the New Deal reforms, the chances of success of the revolution are quite slim.Although the Revolutionary Party has infiltrated many fields in the political, academic, and military circles, and many officers and soldiers of the new army were influenced by the propaganda of the platoon, none of the uprisings launched by the Revolutionary Party, large or small, seemed to have any hope of success.The uprising of the bribery party is like hiring people to rebel. When the money is spent, the people will disperse.Moreover, the uprisings are all in the corners, and it doesn't matter whether they are noisy or not.As for the uprising of the new army, the movement was a little louder, but it was never able to form a scale, or the timing was always wrong.The most important thing is that every time there is an uprising, there is no response from the society. Basically, the revolutionaries fight alone-they always think that such a personal heroic single fight can arouse the people and conquer the world with one hand. For this reason, assassination has become The most important means other than the uprising, from south to north, the revolutionaries were trying to make bombs, and they bombed one and the other. Unfortunately, they never brought out the consciousness of the people, nor did they bring down the Qing Dynasty.

It cannot be denied that the revolutionaries have the ambition to save the country and the people, but in practice, the mood of seizing power often prevails. Even though they seized power, they are in order to implement the most advanced democratic republic system so that China can achieve leapfrog development.The better the reforms of the Qing Dynasty were done, especially when they were ready to implement constitutionalism, the more slim they felt their chances were.Objectively speaking, if there is not such a neighbor as Japan who deliberately does not want to make China better, and such a neighbor always helps the revolutionaries to make trouble for the Chinese government, the revolutionaries will have less capital to instigate the uprising, and even the influence of propaganda Power will be limited.This is because the New Deal reforms in the late Qing Dynasty were indeed well done.The chaos after the Boxer period soon stabilized, the economy was greatly restored, foreign investment increased, and the industries and commerce run by the Chinese themselves also showed a scene of prosperity.The various undertakings of the New Deal are progressing steadily.The abolition of the imperial examination reform, which was thought to trigger a strong backlash, has passed smoothly, and new schools have blossomed everywhere. Although there are many problems, the new education has taken root since then.Military reforms, legal reforms, bureaucratic reforms, financial and financial reforms, local self-government, and even preparations for constitutional reforms are all being steadily implemented.Despite the huge pressure of the boxer indemnity, the fiscal revenues of governments at all levels have increased significantly. By the year of 1911, the imperial government's annual revenue had reached a record-breaking 240 million yuan, and most local governments had surpluses.In Hubei, where the Wuchang Uprising broke out, the revolutionaries who opened the treasury found that the government they took over actually had about 40 million yuan in deposits.In fact, it was these surpluses that the insurgents everywhere relied on to recruit soldiers, expand their armies, and maintain the lifeline of the revolution.The implementation of the New Deal is not like what many commentators said in the past, the cause was a mess, which aroused strong resistance from the people.In the late period of the New Deal, the overall social order was good, the big bandits were recruited, and the small bandits were brought under control.The so-called resistance of the people to the New Deal, only a few areas such as Shanxi, where there was a commotion of dissatisfaction with the establishment of new education, and there was a commotion of "burning the school and beating the teacher" by the non-governmental association Hayao Association, but the scale was not large.Other so-called resistances were mainly focused on land measurement and population checks, but the disturbances were also small-scale and low-intensity.Previous studies often a priori believed that the collapse of any dynasty must be due to political disorder, people's livelihood, and wars everywhere. In fact, this was not the case at the end of the Qing Dynasty.Although politics is not clear, it is much better than before Gengzi, and people's life is not stable, but it is much better than before Gengzi.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the historians made statistics to verify the corruption and chaos of the Qing Dynasty, and verified that the number of civil uprisings (actually a bit exaggerated) in the entire country in the year before Xinhai was only 10,000.Even this exaggerated number is really nothing in such a large country.

However, the person in charge of the reform is, after all, a group that has just made a big mistake, and it is a minority group.Such a big mistake against the trend of the times, such as advocating blind xenophobia with the help of the Boxers, not only led to the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces and the loss of national sovereignty, but also caused huge turmoil and losses to the country. The boxer indemnity amounted to 400 million taels, equal to It is a huge bleeding hole in the blood vessels of the national economy.Such mistakes have greatly reduced the legitimacy of this regime.Due to such a mistake, the revolutionaries continued to fill up the propaganda, and only then did they have a market.More Han elites realized that the court was a foreign regime, which further reduced the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty.The remaining things can only be done well, not badly. Once it is badly done, everyone will think it is because of the non-my race.

However, the young relatives and nobles after the Queen Mother greatly misjudged the situation. They didn't know how much they had to eat, and they actually wanted to consolidate the rule by taking power into their own hands.As everyone knows, it has been more than a hundred years since the Manchus' political ability has degenerated, and the political structure of the Manchus over the Han, and the interior (imperial court) over the exterior (local) has also been for decades, and it has long been a foregone conclusion.Capable people among the Manchus, experienced politicians, and the Empress Dowager and Yixin had to admit the reality when they were alive, but the young relatives in their twenties headed by the regent Zaifeng had neither political experience nor political experience. No political ability, dare to take power rashly, no wonder it is not a bad thing.The Wuchang army was flourishing, and the relatives and nobles were in a state of desperation. They immediately implemented constitutionalism, abolished the royal cabinet, and agreed to the demands of all constitutionalists, but it was too late, and people no longer gave the Qing government a chance.From the perspective of later history, this is not only a tragedy of the Manchus, but also a tragedy of China.Historians have always said that during the Revolution of 1911, Yuan Shikai was always seeking his own interests, replacing his grandson.In fact, during the negotiations between the North and the South, he tried his best to maintain a vain Qing Dynasty monarchy, a ruling model in which the Han people actually ruled and the Qing imperial family ruled in name.This model has also been endorsed by Britain and Japan.In their view, the Chinese were simply not ready for a republic.Obviously, Yuan Shikai had a high degree of consensus with his good friend, British Minister to China Zhu Erdian on this point.During this period, some people also suggested that the descendants of Confucius and the Ming Dynasty royal family could be the emperors and continue to maintain the constitutional monarchy system.However, the powerless descendants of Confucius and Empress Ming obviously cannot get out of the mountains, and the efforts to preserve the Qing Dynasty's false name are actually impossible. Even if Yuan Shikai forced the regent Zaifeng to abdicate, the constitutional monarchy in the full sense has been completed, and the revolutionary parties in the south People are still unwilling to take a step back, and there is no way to retreat in terms of the situation. Chinese people who talk about the mean will never compromise. When the republic takes this step, all those involved, including the former Constitutionalists, will be on the verge of riding a tiger. Coupled with the temptation of the so-called most advanced system, China after the revolution can only move forward.

The greatest danger of revolution is that it will bring about social unrest and even lead to foreign interference.This point was the subject of debate between the revolutionary and constitutional factions.During the Revolution of 1911, Japan did consider the possibility of armed intervention, but it was rejected because of the opposition of Britain and the United States. The turmoil in the revolutionary process was not large, which was also an important factor for the absence of foreign intervention.It should be said that from the perspective of modern revolutionary history, the Revolution of 1911 can be regarded as a revolution with relatively little turmoil and destruction.The high degree of participation of the constitutionalists has greatly reduced the degree of destruction, while the revolutionaries are also deliberately reducing the turmoil brought about by the revolution.For this reason, they forbid the peasant revolution and do not carry out grassroots mobilization.However, another force they have relied on for a long time has taken advantage of the revolution to step onto the political stage. This is the party, including some green forest heroes.Although it is said that it is the tradition of the revolutionary party to cooperate with the Hui Party, during the Revolution of 1911, they still tried to contain the power of the Hui Party as much as possible, and in some places, even suppressed it.However, the Huidang, a quasi-triad force in Chinese society, still took the lead.After all, the Revolutionary Party has been in touch with and used the Association Party for so many years, and it is impossible to break the relationship all at once.The societies that emerged from the ground wreaked havoc on the post-revolutionary order.The parties from all over the world showed up in public, opened their incense halls, scattered under the sea, and established a quasi-underworld order in the bottom society, which caused the reputation of the revolutionaries to be greatly damaged.In the second revolution, the seemingly powerful revolutionary party fell apart under Yuan Shikai's attack, which had a lot to do with their unpopularity.

Although the damage was not so great, the revolution was after all a drastic change in which the Chinese learned from the West.After the revolution, the signboard on China's gate changed from an autocratic monarchy to the most advanced American system. Yuan Shikai, who succeeded Sun Yat-sen as interim president, was also known as China's No. 1 Washington and the world's No. 2 Washington.However, the reality after the revolution tells us that it is indeed very difficult to put such a system into practice.On the whole, although the gentry and merchants in the coastal open port cities welcomed the revolution, while the gentry in the rural interior were full of doubts, the Han bureaucrats rarely died for the Qing Dynasty during the revolution.The old and the young who miss the Qing Dynasty all came into being after the Republic of China system came into operation after the revolution. After the Republic of China came, many people felt that the previous dynasty was actually better.

The failure of the Republic of China to run well was largely due to the failure to create a new order.However, the emergence of a new order depends on the stability of the existing order.Japan took advantage of World War I to intervene violently, adding chaos to the chaos. Yuan Shikai and his counselors misjudged the situation and rashly proclaimed themselves emperor.The revolution brought about a democratic republic system, but this system cannot be established in China, and a system that cannot be established cannot be amended. China cannot return to a more suitable constitutional monarchy system, because the evolutionary view of history believed by the upper echelon Here, the evolution of the system is the necessity of evolution. It has evolved to an advanced system, and any "regression" is to reverse the history.

The Revolution of 1911 was a big change for which we were not prepared.This change has brought profound changes to China.Soon after the success of the revolution, Shanghai newspapers jokingly listed the changes before and after the revolution: "The republic was formed, the autocracy was destroyed, the Republic of China was formed, the Qing Dynasty was destroyed, the president was formed, the emperor was destroyed, the new cabinet was formed, the old cabinet was destroyed, and the new government was established. Officials are made, old official systems are destroyed, new education is made, old education is destroyed, guns are flourished, bows and arrows are destroyed, new dresses are flourished, plume dresses are destroyed, haircuts are flourished, braids are destroyed, buns are flourished, horse buns are destroyed, patriotic hats Xing, melon skin cap off, solar calendar Xing, lunar calendar off, bowing ceremony Xing, kneeling ceremony Xing, card Xing, daimyo stabbing Xing, road Xing, city walls and fences Xing, lawyer Xing, litigator Xing, shooting Xing Xing, beheaded strangulation, stage noun Prosperity, tea garden nouns disappear, hotel nouns prosper, inn nouns disappear".In fact, things like new education, guns, lawyers, and roads were not created in the Republic of China. Except for institutional changes, other changes were superficial, and they didn’t even really change, at least in the early years of the Republic of China. in this way.Even the braid-cutting and letting go of the feet, which the revolutionaries vigorously promoted and enforced, had little effect in the rural world.Foot-free and ban (foot-binding ban) were the least effective, and women in many places still had their feet bound until the KMT rule.It is better to cut the braids, but there are many people who insist on not cutting them.After the founding of the Republic of China, the top hats originally worn by foreigners were indeed put on the heads of Chinese officials, and they also had a "civilization stick" (cane) in their hands.Not only that, after 1911, dramas were called civilized dramas, new-style marriages were called civilized marriages, letting your feet go was called civilized feet, and even bicycles were called free vehicles.However, after the Republic of China, just as the robes and mandarin jackets remained the same, the melon caps did not withdraw from the stage of history, and were still the common clothes of the gentry.The Zhongshan suit advocated by Sun Yat-sen, even during the Kuomintang rule, was only the clothing of party members on official occasions. After returning home, many people were still in robes.Many generals who studied military affairs in Japan, in the old photos left today, are dressed in western-style military uniforms and are upright, but they usually like long robes and jackets, and even like to sit in sedan chairs, even on the battlefield.Freedom, democracy and civilization are actually quite far from the life of the Chinese people.

The real changes that the Revolution of 1911 brought to China were neither changes in customs, the influence of Westernization, nor the emergence of new things, sporadic modernization, nor even institutional revolutions.If there was no revolution, and if the Qing Dynasty could establish a constitution normally, representative democracy would come sooner or later. Western legal and political systems had already entered during the New Deal period, and they would always take root. Do not learn the truth.For example, whether the legal system is a civil law system or a common law system.In my opinion, what the Revolution of 1911 brought to China and the Chinese people was actually persistent system troubles and anxiety about change. The revolution gave Chinese people the most advanced system in the world, but it could not bring immediate changes to China like a magic wand.Not only did China not become prosperous and powerful because of this, but it became more chaotic.Many people understand that a country with two thousand years of imperial tradition suddenly implements a republic and learns from the most advanced United States in the world. In fact, indigestion is inevitable. However, people are reluctant to see the newly established evolutionary view of history on themselves. Going bankrupt, unwilling to admit that I am actually different from Westerners, and unable to transplant a "best system" intact, because doing so seems to be tantamount to admitting the inferiority of my own race.Therefore, the chaos can only be attributed to incomplete reform and incomplete revolution. Therefore, we have to take more radical actions in the direction of progress, revolution, and then revolution, from system change to cultural and ethical revolution, and then to class revolution. Chinese society has been turned upside down, the traditional structure has been completely smashed, and a new world that no one can understand is built.To this day, people still suffer from novelty-seeking syndrome. They don't seek the most suitable, but only the latest and most fashionable. Even if this is not the case, in terms of the situation, the Chinese will not be able to retreat, and they will not be able to retreat to a system that is more suitable for them.In fact, the establishment of representative democracy is of course necessary, but a country like China still needs an emperor to transition.However, the past emperors were Manchus and alien races, and the original sin of massacring Han people had already been included in the discussion of the revolution.Therefore, the restoration of the Qing Dynasty can only be the dream of the old and the young. Once it falls to the ground, even staunch constitutional monarchists will collapse because of it. The restoration of Zhang Xun in 1917 not only ruined Kang Youwei's reputation, but also made Yang Du, who had always advocated a constitutional monarchy, discouraged and gave up his doctrine.For others, Yan Shenggong, a descendant of Confucianism without real power, could not do it, nor could Yuan Shikai, who had real power.No one can be an emperor, the reason is simple: China is already a republic, and people can only move forward in the "advanced system".Unless a more advanced system is found, the later Chinese are said to have found it. It is not that the Chinese cannot survive in the republic system, nor is it that they cannot create good things.Decades of history of the Republic of China also have commendable education and culture to be proud of, but it is difficult for Chinese people to create a new order in the republic system.Although people now think that the Republic of China was quite good when they look back on history, people at that time were very difficult to be satisfied with the situation of warlord separatism, the country's decline, and the central government's decree not leaving the capital.This old empire, after entering the republic, did not rebuild a republican order. Therefore, it was difficult to resist the call of Charisma's authority, and it was difficult to resist the temptation of another revolution and continuous revolution.The revolution brings problems, the answers to which can only be solved by continuing the revolution.A nation that originally carried too much historical burden and suffered bullying in the history of the late Qing Dynasty, learning from the West, including learning from the introduction of Western systems, could not get rid of the temptation of tools anyway.The so-called revolution is nothing more than using the levers of revolution to pry up the huge rock that can turn the nation over. When it cannot be pried no matter what, it is not to change the lever, but to extend the lever, and use a more radical revolution to continue. pry. Of course, the situation in China back then was also very helpless.The hope of peaceful change can only be based on the fact that the Qing government does not make major mistakes, but no one can guarantee that this government will not make mistakes.Since the establishment of the Zongli Yamen in China in 1860, China has been dragged into the Western world system. Since then, the evolution of Chinese history has always been inseparable from the dragging of world history. The Chinese cannot decide their own historical direction, nor can they decide when to change or how to change.Tongguang Zhongxing said to himself that it was a self-improvement movement, but in fact it was just a Westernization Movement.The changes since then have largely been the same.The last resistance to localization was the Boxer Rebellion, but they were disgraced, and when I looked back, I felt ashamed.The Qing Dynasty went from the New Deal to being revolutionized, and China's reform was overthrown by the revolution. In a dilemma, history is very helpless here. The Revolution of 1911 and the 100 years after the revolution are difficult processes worthy of reflection by the people of the country. The commemoration of the 100th anniversary has given us such an opportunity. I hope that people can think of something and come up with something. Don't waste your time.