Revolution in treaty ports : Fujian's revolutionary movement in the late Qing period : 1895 - 1911

Abstract

Fujian, a coastal province in the southern part of China, has historically been famous for the overseas emigration of its people and maritime trade with the subsequent emergence of well known ports including Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Xiamen. Among these ports, Fuzhou and Xiamen were particularly significant in that their being opened as treaty ports after the Opium Wars had resulted in the penetration of Western culture which was followed by the gradual modernization of the province. Between the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the Qing government made great reform efforts in search of wealth and power. Under this circumstance, the local officials and gentry of Fujian also co-operated to carry out various reforms. Fujian became the first province in China to establish a modern navy and shipbuilding industry. The following decade of reforms (1901-1911) saw a comprehensive transplant of Western educational, military, economic and political systems in Fujian. As a result, there were great social and cultural changes in the province, especially in Fuzhou and Xiamen. New trends of thought and new social groups began to emerge in the urban areas. Unfortunately, the Qing Court's attempts at modernization failed to save the country from foreign aggression. Fujian, due to its location in the coastal region, became a target of invasion and partitioning by foreign powers, with Japan being the most ambitious. Frustrated by the incompetence of the Manchu government, the new Fujianese intellectuals, filled with ideas of nationalism, began in 1902 to organize

revolutionary groups and enlist the support of new social groups in the urban areas including students, merchants, industrial workers and the new army to carry out antiManchu activities. The new intelligentsia of Fuzhou and the Fujianese Overseas Chinese were the principal advocates and promoters of the revolutionary movement in the province. They set up revolutionary groups and promoted revolutionary activities in the various Fujianese cities as well as in Shanghai, Tokyo and Southeast Asia. They also developed a close relationship with leaders of the Tongmenghui such as Sun Yat Sen, Huang Xing, Zhao Sheng and Tao Chengzhang. In 1906, the Fujian Branch of the Tongmenghui was founded and it became the commanding centre of the revolutionary movement in the province. The Fujianese revolutionaries evidently played an active role in the revolutionary movement of the late Qing period. Despite its importance, the province of Fujian has not been given the attention it deserves by historians of the 1911 Revolution. This thesis therefore focuses on the Fujianese revolutionary leaders, groups and activities in an attempt to affirm the historical position and significance of Fujian in the Late Qing Revolution. After the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, the Fujianese revolutionaries joined in alliance with the new army in the province to stage the Battle of Yu Shan in Fuzhou. With the full support of the masses, they finally succeeded in defeating the Banner Forces and overthrowing the Manchu rule in the province. A new revolutionary military regime was ushered in which led to the independence of the entire province. Fujian entered a new phase in history.