Zou Rong notes in “On Revolution”
In Zou Rong notes in “On Revolution” that he was dissatisfied with the politics of Manchus for quite some time because of the racial politics played against the Han people. In particular, Rong notes that after reading the two books provided to him by Platoon Leader Sun Jiansheng of the Engineers of Battalion. The Han people were molested and killed by the Tartars of the Manchus dynasty. The feeling made him commit to wiping out the humiliation and restoring freedom for the Han people. Moreover, with the help of other members, they formed a group that discussed on how to overthrow the government of Manchus through the incorporation of revolution education for the Han people. Rong also says that revolution is necessary for any society that desires change; otherwise, if countrymen fear it, they will remain living under oppression from autocratic regimes for the rest of their lives.
In “Ridding China of Bad Customs,” the author states that intellectuals who were mostly concerned with the military weakness of China argued that it lied in the social and cultural customs. A lot of these intellectuals desired to strengthen China by campaigning for the abolition of such traditions that were often considered uncivilized when compared to western customs. In particular, opium smoking, foot binding, and the sale of girls as bondservants were the most common practices. Foot-binding began from the Song Dynasty and later spread to Qing and Ming. It involved tightly binding the feet of girls aged between five and eight until the small toes were turned under and the heel and the arch compressed. However, scholars such as Qiu Jin attacked the practice. Also, opium smoking was prevalent in Chinese customs, but it was abolished when the Chinese government made significant efforts to illegalizing it in 1905.
In the “Tongmeng Hui Revolutionary Proclamation1907”, the author states that by 1905, at least ten thousand Chinese students had enrolled in Japanese universities and colleges, pursuing military or law subjects. Due to the presence of community revolutionists such as Sun Yat-sen, the students were enthusiastic about political activism with the hope of bringing a lasting reform in China. Moreover, these students established the Zhongua Tongmeng hui, otherwise known as Chinese Alliance Association in Tokyo, intending to use it to bring changes in the society. Further, the association established branches in San Francisco, Vancouver, China, Singapore, and Saigon. It was later revealed that the association of these students sought to form a military government exile, which was against the oppressive Manchuism leadership model. In the following years, there was military tutelage but without much success as the leaders had anticipated.
Lastly, the “Press Coverage of the Wuchang Uprising, 1911” is a narration by “Hankow Daily News” of how the media covered the 1911 Revolution, which had begun in the provincial capital of Hubei. It was reported that in one of the revolutionary’s secret branches in Hankou, now part of Wuhan bombs accidentally exploded, on the night of October 9th, 1911. It was followed by arrests of the protesters, together with searches in their secret places. It was found that they had hidden weapons and explosives and lists containing names of converts who were present in the New Army, and were handed to the authorities for further action. After hearing about the news of the government’s crackdown and arrests, the group quickly took up arms and launched another lethal uprising. Even though there lack proper plan coordination nor leadership, their efforts lead to tremendous success, sending the local Qing civilians and military officials into flight.