Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

12. Revolutionaries and Republicans: The French Press on Sun Yat-sen and the Xinhai Revolution

270 12 REVOLUTIONARIES AND REPUBLICANS: THE FRENCH PRESS ON SUN YAT-SEN AND THE XINHAI REVOLUTION Alexander Major For฀many฀nineteenth-century฀Chinese,฀only฀the฀Han฀ethnicity฀could฀be฀ viewed฀as฀legitimate฀Chinese฀rulers.฀Like฀the฀Mongol฀Khans฀of฀the฀Yuan฀ dynasty,1 ฀the฀Manchu฀of฀the฀Qing฀dynasty฀were฀widely฀viewed฀as฀foreign฀ invaders.฀While,฀in฀the฀early฀days฀of฀the฀regime,฀the฀Qing฀were฀able฀to฀ forge฀alliance฀with฀influential฀Han฀administrators,฀and฀contrived฀to฀position฀ themselves฀as฀the฀heir฀to฀the฀Ming฀dynasty,฀putting฀down฀the฀peasant฀ rebellion฀that฀had฀caused฀the฀collapse฀of฀the฀previous฀regime฀in฀1644,฀the฀ notion฀that฀they฀were฀foreign฀masters฀never฀left฀the฀majority฀Han฀population.฀ Manchu฀officials฀dominated฀at฀court,฀were฀present฀at฀all฀levels฀of฀government,฀ and฀Manchu฀soldiers฀were฀garrisoned฀in฀all฀the฀important฀urban฀centres฀to฀ assure฀the฀stability฀of฀the฀regime.2 ฀Imperial฀regulations฀favouring฀the฀Manchu฀ were฀a฀tolerable฀irritant฀to฀the฀subjects฀of฀the฀empire฀during฀the฀prosperous฀ Kang-Qian฀period,3 ฀but฀became฀an฀intolerable฀invasion฀of฀sovereignty฀ when฀fortunes฀turned฀bad฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀century.฀Significantly,฀the฀ demonstration฀of฀weakness฀evident฀in฀the฀loss฀of฀the฀Opium฀War฀(1839–42)฀ to฀Britain฀instigated฀a฀series฀of฀open฀rebellions฀and฀secessionist฀movements฀ in฀the฀West฀and฀South,฀dividing฀the฀attention฀of฀the฀Court฀for฀the฀last฀half฀ of฀the฀century. 12฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀270 8/24/11฀฀฀3:06:16฀PM French Press on Sun Yat-sen and the Xinhai Revolution 271 While฀rebellion฀raged,฀other฀agitators฀sought฀reform฀to฀re-establish฀the฀ authority฀of฀the฀dynasty฀through฀the฀will฀of฀the฀people.฀The฀One฀Hundred฀ Days฀Reform฀(1898)฀of฀the฀Guangxu฀Emperor,฀with฀the฀advice฀of฀Kang฀ Youwei฀and฀Liang฀Qichao,฀is฀one฀example฀of฀a฀non-revolutionary฀reform฀ movement฀in฀the฀late฀Qing฀period.฀However,฀the฀abject฀failure฀of฀the฀ movement฀and฀the฀harsh฀reaction฀of฀the฀conservative฀forces฀in฀the฀government฀ only฀further฀convinced฀revolutionaries฀that฀the฀removal฀of฀the฀Qing฀was฀the฀ only฀hope฀for฀China. Sun฀Yat-sen฀believed฀the฀best฀remedy฀was฀to฀transit฀into฀a฀republic.฀He฀ began฀actively฀looking฀to฀reverse฀the฀Qing฀regime฀in฀the฀1890s.฀By฀1894฀he฀ had฀established฀the฀Xingzhonghui฀(Revive฀China฀Society)฀to฀work฀toward฀this฀ goal.฀The฀group’s฀oath฀“Expel฀the฀northern฀barbarians,฀revive฀Zhonghua,฀and฀ establish฀a฀unified฀government”฀(驱逐鞑虏，恢复中华，建立合众政府)฀ gives฀a฀clear฀indication฀of฀the฀subversive฀intent.฀Though฀this฀organization฀ did฀not฀acquire฀significant฀influence฀on฀its฀own,฀once฀merged฀into฀the฀ Tongmenghui,฀and฀later฀Kuomintang,฀it฀was฀part฀of฀the฀greater฀revolutionary฀ movement฀that฀ultimately฀saw฀the฀end฀of฀the฀Qing฀dynasty. European Colonialism in East Asia The฀Portuguese฀and฀Dutch฀were฀the฀first฀to฀establish฀a฀presence฀in฀the฀Far฀East,฀ with฀territorial฀possessions฀dating฀from฀the฀late฀Ming฀period.4 ฀It฀was฀arguably฀ the฀British,฀however,฀who฀had฀the฀greatest฀impact฀on฀future฀events฀in฀China.฀ Starting฀with฀Singapore฀in฀1819,฀the฀British฀aggressively฀pursued฀Far฀Eastern฀ trade฀opportunities฀and฀eroded฀the฀traditional฀influence฀of฀the฀Chinese฀court.฀ This฀friction฀came฀to฀a฀head฀with฀the฀Opium฀War฀which฀ultimately฀opened฀ China฀to฀foreign฀occupation฀through฀the฀Treaty฀Port/Concession฀system.฀This฀ created฀a฀crisis฀for฀the฀Qing฀as฀it฀exposed฀an฀unanticipated฀level฀of฀weakness฀ to฀internal฀enemies,฀who฀were฀able฀to฀increase฀their฀recruitment฀by฀promising฀ to฀remove฀the฀dynasty.฀This฀attitude฀would฀be฀evident฀in฀both฀the฀reform฀and฀ revolutionary฀movements฀of฀the฀ensuing฀decades. While฀the฀French฀were฀not฀the฀first฀to฀arrive฀in฀East฀Asia,฀they฀were฀ significant฀players฀in฀the฀colonial฀movement฀in฀the฀region.฀Prior฀to฀the฀Treaty฀ of฀Whampoa฀(1844),฀French฀presence฀in฀the฀Far฀East,฀not฀including฀Jesuit฀ missionaries,฀was฀limited฀to฀occasional฀trade฀voyages฀to฀Guangzhou.฀Though฀ the฀earliest฀French฀presence฀in฀India฀and฀the฀Indian฀Ocean฀dated฀from฀the฀ seventeenth฀century,5 ฀France฀did฀not฀have฀a฀permanent฀settlement฀further฀East฀ until฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀Treaty฀Ports.฀Significantly฀to฀China,฀and฀the฀ future฀relationship฀with฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀France฀staked฀a฀claim฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀ first฀acquiring฀territory฀in฀1862,฀and฀expanding฀that฀conquest฀into฀French฀ 12฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀271 8/24/11฀฀฀3:06:17฀PM 272 Alexander Major Indochina฀which฀ran฀along฀much฀of฀China’s฀southern฀border.฀This฀geopolitical฀ circumstance,฀as฀much฀as฀any฀philosophical฀kinship,฀is฀the฀key฀impetus฀to฀the฀ relationship฀that฀developed฀between฀Sun฀Yat...