Huang Xing

Huang Xing the Chinese revolutionary and military leader (1874-1916) who was one of the principal founders of the Republic of China and the chief military organiser of the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty. Often paired with Sun Yat-sen as one of the two great leaders of the republican movement, he directed the armed struggle that made the revolution possible.

Early Life and Education

Huang Xing was born on 25 October 1874 in Changsha, Hunan province, into a family of modest landowners. He received the classical education expected of a scholar and passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level, but he became increasingly drawn to the new learning and to the reformist and anti-Manchu currents that were growing among educated young men at the end of the nineteenth century.

In 1902 he was sent to Japan to study at a teacher-training school, and there he became involved in the revolutionary movement among Chinese students. He was drawn to military studies as well as to education, and he trained in military subjects on his return, organising a group of like-minded students and soldiers into a nucleus of conspiracy against the dynasty.

His combination of scholarly training and practical military discipline made him unusual among the revolutionaries, most of whom were writers and propagandists. He founded a school and a secret society in Changsha, and he worked patiently to build the concealed network of contacts that would eventually be used to launch the uprising.

The Revolutionary Alliance and Uprisings

In 1905 Huang Xing joined Sun Yat-sen in Japan and became a leading member of the Revolutionary Alliance, the united organisation of anti-Qing groups. While Sun travelled abroad raising funds and support, Huang remained at the head of the operational work, and the division of labour between the two men became one of the most effective partnerships of the revolutionary movement.

He organised and personally led a series of armed uprisings against the imperial government, including risings in Guangxi and Yunnan and the celebrated attack on the government offices at Guangzhou in 1911. That assault, in which many of his closest comrades were killed, failed militarily but became a legendary example of revolutionary sacrifice and helped to rally support for the cause.

The defeats cost the movement many of its best soldiers and repeatedly threatened Huang's own life, and he was wounded and forced into hiding on several occasions. His persistence in the face of repeated failure earned him a reputation for courage and for absolute dedication, and it kept the revolutionary conspiracy alive during the years when its prospects appeared hopeless.

The Wuchang Uprising and the Republic

When the Wuchang uprising broke out in October 1911, Huang Xing hurried to the scene and took command of the revolutionary forces. He directed the defence of the city against the imperial armies and then led the campaign to relieve the besieged revolutionary positions at Nanjing, where his troops prevailed after hard fighting and secured a decisive foothold for the revolution.

He was one of the principal architects of the new republic, and he served as minister of war in the provisional government established at Nanjing with Sun Yat-sen as president. He worked to organise the army, to consolidate the different revolutionary forces and to negotiate the arrangements by which the Qing emperor abdicated and the republic was extended over the whole country.

The transfer of the presidency to Yuan Shikai disappointed many revolutionaries, and Huang, though he accepted the compromise in the interest of unity, grew increasingly uneasy about the direction of the new government. He was appointed to a senior post in the south but soon resigned, and he devoted himself to social and industrial projects while remaining a leading figure of the revolutionary party.

Opposition to Yuan Shikai

The assassination of Song Jiaoren in 1913 and the subsequent suppression of the Nationalist Party drove Huang into open opposition to Yuan Shikai. He took part in the second revolution, the unsuccessful rising against Yuan in the summer of 1913, and after its defeat he fled to Japan and then to the United States, where he lived in exile and continued to work for the cause.

In exile he opposed Yuan's attempt to restore the monarchy, and he supported the military campaigns that finally forced Yuan to abandon the throne in 1916. He travelled widely, raising funds and seeking support among overseas Chinese communities, and he used his time abroad to study the political and economic problems that faced the republic.

He returned to China in 1916 to join the campaign against Yuan, and he arrived in Shanghai as the movement was reaching its climax. His health, long undermined by years of hardship, exertion and wounds, had deteriorated severely, and he was unable to take the field as he had in earlier campaigns.

Death and Legacy

Huang Xing died in Shanghai on 31 October 1916, only days after his forty-second birthday, of illness aggravated by years of exhausting struggle. His death came at a moment when the republican cause was again in crisis, and it removed from the scene one of its most experienced and respected soldiers.

He is remembered alongside Sun Yat-sen as a founder of the Republic of China, and the two men are often referred to together by historians of the period. His gravesite in Changsha became a place of national commemoration, and his reputation for modesty, courage and devotion to the revolution was upheld by successive generations.

His career illustrates the military dimension of the Chinese revolution and the personal cost borne by those who led it. He left a body of writings on politics and military affairs, and his example of self-sacrifice became part of the founding mythology of modern China.

See also

• Revolutionary Alliance
• Wuchang Uprising
• Sun Yat-sen
• 1911 Revolution