Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing, and rail. And, for better or for worse, this also had an influence on the city's architec-
ture.
As the 19th century tipped into the 20th, things continued to unravel for the Qing dynasty,
and China's 2,000-plus-year dynastic way of life rushed to a close. In 1911 it was faced
with the Xinhai Revolution. This was a series of uprisings and rebellions from both visible
and underground anti-Qing groups, such as Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui (Chinese United
League). Sun Yat-sen had spent years gathering funds and anti-Qing supporters in order to
topple the Qing regime. At the critical moment, however, to avoid civil war he handed the
presidency of the new Republic of China to the rebellious Qing general Yuan Shikai, who
had somehow managed to force the abdication of the emperor. Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui
joined with several other parties to form the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Guomindang
or the Kuomintang) and established a system for voting. When the first Chinese elections
were held 1912-1913, the Nationalist Party won convincingly. Yuan, however, didn't like
the idea of sharing his place in the sun, and took extreme measures to ensure that it didn't
happen. It was fast becoming clear that the man had tendencies for megalomania.
Sun Yat-sen was aware of this and rebelled. He tried to spark a second revolution, but
instead ended up fleeing into exile to save his skin. Yuan tightened his grip on the leader-
ship by taking over the presidency of the National Assembly. Following this he ousted the
Nationalists, dissolved the party and the constitution, and moved to found a new dynasty,
naturally with himself as the new emperor. Of course, having just gotten rid of their last em-
peror, the locals weren't too happy with this, so within a year Yuan had been forced down
from his heavenly position, and within months of that, in June 1916, he died. What ensued
was more than a decade of confusion and fighting across China. The country tumbled into
an unstable position where warlords squabbled for power, and a successive chain of presid-
ents attempted to establish control.
The discontent was highlighted in 1919 during the May 4 Movement. Students, angered
by terms of the Treaty of Versailles (areas of China that had previously been conceded to
Germany were, instead of being returned to their motherland, handed over to Japan), began
an uprising. The protests included a demonstration at Tian'anmen Square, where more than
3,000 students gathered.
