Century-of-Change-China-exhibit-catalog-1911-to-2011

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The Empire and Its Discontents 20 Hoover Institution ShoeS for Bound feet John risley putnam collection, hoover institution archives 三寸金蓮 Suffering for beauty was extreme in China, where millions of girls, at a very young age, had their feet bound to turn them into the prized “three-inch golden lotuses.” the custom began in the tenth century; it was outlawed by the republic of China in 1912. Reformers and Revolutionaries 革命與立憲的對峙 hoMer Lea (1876–1912), undated Joshua B. powers collection, hoover institution archives 荷馬李將軍像 homer Lea, a Stanford-educated geopolitical strategist, supported the Chinese revolution. although called “scrunch-neck” because of his crippled back and short stature (he was under five feet tall), he dreamed of military glory. his career with the Chinese militia began in San francisco in 1899 when he became part of the Bao huang hui, whose goal was to restore the emperor guangxu to power, having been displaced by opponents of his hundred days reform Movement. Lea’s contributions to the reformist camp earned him the title of “lieutenant general” during the Boxer rebellion. But his involvement with the Bao huang hui was cut short when guangxu died in 1908. Lea then became Sun’s trusted political adviser. (see the full-frame version of this image on page 96)
Reformers and Revolutionaries As discontent mounted, two opposing movements, the reformers and the revolutionaries, aimed at reviving China. The reformers, led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, sought change within the confines of the imperial system and called for the reorganization of institutional and ideological policies. This short-lived movement, known as the Hundred Days Reform of 1898, proposed a series of sweeping internal changes. The emperor Guangxu, more receptive to change than the obdurate empress dowager Cixi, issued edicts for massive political, legal, and social reforms, including improving the status of women, introducing provincial assemblies at the local level, abolishing the civil service examinations, and formulating a new code of law. Guangxu believed that, by modeling China on constitutional monarchies such as Japan, China would become politically and economically powerful. Those reforms, however, were viewed by many as too extreme for a China still heavily influenced by neo-Confucian statecraft. Cixi, seeing the changes as a serious threat to her power, condemned the Hundred Days Reform as too radical and immediately placed Guangxu under house arrest. Kang and Liang escaped to Japan. Both men continued to advocate a constitutional monarchy and raised support for their cause among overseas Chinese and foreign governments. In 1899 Kang and Liang founded the Bao Huang Hui (Save the Emperor Society), whose purpose was to depose the empress dowager Cixi and return the reformists to power. The man who would become known as the “Father of the Republic,” Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was born into a peasant family in Guangdong Province but raised in Hawai’i, where he received a Christian education and trained as a medical practitioner. Western democratic ideals were firmly ingrained in Sun’s consciousness. Because his non-gentry status cut him off from legitimate political action in traditional China, he promulgated the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty, not reform, to save the nation. After he backed a failed 1895 uprising in Guangdong, Sun Yat-sen was declared a criminal with a price on his head. He then traveled around the globe, advocating revolution and soliciting financial and other support. Sun’s base was Yokohama, Japan, where he, along with Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, founded an underground resistance movement, the Tong Meng Hui (United Alliance League), in 1905. That new alliance was made up of Sun’s Xingzhong Hui (Revive China Society), the Guangfu Hui (Restoration Society), and other Chinese revolutionary groups. Combining republican, nationalist, and socialist objectives, Tong Meng Hui’s political platform was “Drive out the Tartars, revive China, establish a republic, and equalize land distribution.” Sun’s revolutionary upsurge forced the Qing government to institute reforms to stave off collapse. After the empress dowager’s death in 1908, the Qing regents drew up steps to be taken during a nine-year period to establish a constitutional monarchy. Although ambitious, those reforms were clearly too little, too late. 革命與立憲的對峙面對民怨沸騰,晚清的中國政治上出現改革派和革命派兩種不同的自救運動。以康有為與梁啟超為首的改革派, 欲在既有的帝制架構內進行革新,呼籲改組政府機構並推動新的政治思維。此一改革曾於1898年短暫獲得實現, 史稱「百日維新」,改革派們提出了一系列革新措施,並獲得光緒皇帝的支持,他頒布了若干新的政令,進行法律和社會改革,包括提高婦女地位、推動各省諮議會的成立、廢除科舉、制定新法典等。光緒皇帝認為,此刻中國若能效仿日本實行君主立憲,將有助於實現政治和經濟上的自強。然而中國當時仍深受新儒家治國之道的影響,許多人認為上述改革措施過於激進。慈禧太后則視這些改革為自身權力的絆腳石,視百日維新過於極端,最後發動政變,軟禁光緒皇帝,康有為和梁啟超逃往日本。在海外,他們繼續呼籲推動中國的君主立憲,並向海外華人與外國政府尋求支持。 1899年,康有為和梁啟超成立「保皇會」,其訴求為罷黜慈禧太后,將權力還給光緒皇帝與改革派。孫中山出生於廣東省一個農民家庭,在夏威夷成長,並接受了基督思想與教育,成為一名醫師,最後獻身於中國的革命運動。他深受西方民主思想的影響,然而由於他並非出身士紳階級,無法在傳統中國帝制社會下施展政治抱負,因而在體制外宣揚推翻滿清,欲進行「革命」而非「改革」。 1895年,孫中山在廣東策動反清起義失敗後,成為清政府的頭號罪犯。接著,他離開中國,環遊世界,尋求各方對其革命運動的支持與援助。1905年,孫中山以日本橫濱為基地,和黃興、宋教仁等人一同發起「同盟會」。此同盟會是由孫中山更早創立的興中會,以及光復會等其他革命團體所組成。該會的政治綱領是「驅逐韃虜、恢復中華、創建民國、平均地權」,融合了共和國思想、民族主義與社會主義的目標。孫中山日益升高的聲望與革命氣焰,迫使清政府尋求改革,以求自保。1908年慈禧太后與光緒帝去世後,清攝政王曾擬定步驟,欲在九年之內建立一個君主立憲體制。儘管這些改革頗具企圖心,但顯然已無力回天。 22 Hoover Institution A Century of Change: China 1911–2011 23
Page 1 and 2: Hoover Institution Stanford Univers
Page 3 and 4: Contents Pages 2-3 Preface 序言 P
Page 5 and 6: Sun Yat-Sen Li Ji CaLLigraphY guang
Page 7 and 8: The Empire and Its Discontents At t
Page 9 and 10: The Empire and Its Discontents the
Page 11: The Empire and Its Discontents anSo
Page 15 and 16: Reformers and Revolutionaries Liang
Page 17 and 18: Reformers and Revolutionaries Sun Y
Page 19 and 20: The Wuchang Uprising and the Fall o
Page 25 and 26: The Birth of a Republic 1912 CaLend
Page 27 and 28: The Birth of a Republic dipLoMatiC
Page 29 and 30: The Birth of a Republic 54 Hoover I
Page 31 and 32: The Warlord Era and the First Unite
Page 37 and 38: The Sino-Japanese War and the Secon
Page 45 and 46: The Civil War and the Divided China
Page 47 and 48: The Civil War and the Divided China
Page 49 and 50: Hoover's Collecting History In 1899

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