辛亥革命

編 者 注

一百年前，在中國這塊古老的大地上，爆發了一場對中國歷史進程產生重大影響的革命，這就是辛亥革命。現在，就讓我們來重溫那段歷史，向為爭取革命勝利而英勇奮斗，流血犧牲的志士們致以崇高的敬意吧！

This year marks the centenary（百年） of the 1911 Revolution， the epoch-making （劃時代的） event that had far-reaching（深遠的） consequences for the fate of the Chinese people. It overthrew the Qing Dynasty， bringing an end to the feudal monarchy（封建帝制） with a history of two thousand years in China and also represented the birth of Asia’s first republic.

Background

The first decade of the 20th century was a time of great upheaval （變動） in China. Following the abortive （流產的，失敗的） Boxer Rebellion（義和團運動） in 1900， the failure of many reforms such as the Hundred Days’ Reform （百日維新） and Constitutionalism campaign （立憲運動）， Chinese people’s confidence for the Qing government has been severely damaged and their lives were thrown into infinite turmoil（混亂）， coupled with the majority Han Chinese’s resentment （仇恨） toward a government dominated by an ethnic minority： the Manchus (滿族).

Many patriotic (愛國的) intellectuals began to advocate for a violent revolution to overthrow（推翻） the Qing Dynasty and to establish a republic similar to those of France and United States. The earliest revolutionaries generally gathered abroad， and the majority of them were young students and overseas Chinese， among them， Sun Yat-sen（孫中山） is an outstanding revolutionary activist. He advocated a“three-in-one” revolution: a nationalist revolution with the goal of expelling the foreign， Manchu dynasty from China; a democratic revolution to set up a democratic Chinese republic; a social revolution to equalize land rights and wealth.

Wuchang Uprising

On October 9th， 1911， revolutionaries intent（熱心的，決心的） on overthrowing the Qing Dynasty had built bombs and one accidentally exploded. As a result， the documents and banners (旗幟，標語) for the uprising （起義） were taken away by the police. The command post was discovered by the Qing government and several members were arrested（逮捕） and executed on the morning of October 10th. The situation was urgent. Squad leader Xiong Bingkun and others decided not to delay the uprising any longer. Around 8 a.m. on October 10th， the first shot of 1911 Revolution was fired. The Wuchang Uprising had begun. The entire Wuchang was captured(占領） by the revolutionaries by the morning of October 11st. In the evening that day， they established a tactical（戰略上的） headquarters and announced the establishment of the “Military Government of Hubei of Republic of China.”

The success of the Wuchang Uprising on October 10th， 1911 started a chain reaction， and in less than two months 14 out of the 18 provinces within China’s main borders had declared independence.

Sun Yat-sen himself had no direct part in the uprising and was traveling in the United States at the time in an effort to recruit （募集） more support fromoverseas Chinese. He knew about the uprising by reading a newspaper report and returned to China quickly. After that， he was elected as the provisional （臨時的） president of the Republic of China. January 1st， 1912 was set as the first day of the Republic.

In order to force the emperor to abdicate and avoid a civil war， Sun officially resigned. Yuan shihkai took over the president of the Republic on February 13rd，1912.

Although Yüan had declared himself a supporter of the Republic， he betrayed （背叛） it as soon as he became the provisional president. Through the use of threats and assimilations (暗殺）， Yüan forced the Parliament （國會） to elect him as president and became a dictator （獨裁者） after successfully expelling （驅逐）Kuomintang（國民黨）. In December 1915， Yüan officially became the emperor of China. What Yüan really didn’t know， however， was the depth and breadth of anti-monarchical (反對帝制的） sentiment（感情）. He was quickly overthrown by the anti-monarchical forces.

Though the 1911 revolution did not make China a real republic， but the imperial（帝國的） regime（政權） had been overthrown and replaced by a republican system， and the idea for democracy has been deeply rooted in people’s minds， signifying a new era of modern China.

今年是辛亥革命100周年紀念日。辛亥革命的爆發具有劃時代的意義，給中國人民的命運帶來了深遠影響。它推翻了清王朝的統治，結束了中國長達2000多年的封建統治， 催化了亞洲第一個共和國的誕生。

背景

二十世紀頭十年是中國大變動的十年。隨著100年義和團起義夭折，及包括百日維新、立憲運動等一系列改革的失敗，中國人民對清政府的信心受到了嚴重影響，加之漢族對滿族統治的不滿，人民生活陷入大混亂。

許多仁人志士開始呼吁暴力革命推翻清政府，效仿英法等國建立共和國。早期的革命分子主要聚集在國外，大多數是青年學生和海外華僑， 其中孫中山就是一名杰出的革命活動家。他提出發動一場革命，“畢其功于一役”，即：民族革命，驅除外國列強和滿清統治；民主革命，建立民主共和國；社會革命，平均地權和財富。

武昌起義

1911年10月9日，決心推翻清政府的革命者在制造炸藥時不小心炸彈發生爆炸。隨后，起義的文件和標語被警察帶走，指揮部也被發現，部分成員在10號早上被逮捕和處決。形勢刻不容緩，班長熊炳坤和其它人當即決定立即革命。10號早上八點左右，武昌起義爆發，打響了辛亥革命的第一槍。到10月11日早上，整個武昌區已被革命軍占領。當晚，革命軍建立了臨時總部并宣布建立中華民國湖北軍政府。

1911年10月10日武昌起義的成功引發了一系列的連鎖反應，不到兩個月的時間里，中國主要國土面積上的18個省中已有14個宣布獨立。

武昌起義時，孫中山并不在場，當時正遠在美國從海外華僑中為革命籌集資本和支持。他也是從報紙上得知起義之事，并迅速回國。歸國之后被選舉為中華民國臨時大總統。自此，1912年元月一日成為中華民國歷史上的第一天。

為了迫使清帝退位避免內戰，孫中山于1912年2月13日退出臨時大總統職位，由袁世凱接替。

盡管之前再三保證支持民主共和，袁世凱成為臨時總統后很快便拋棄了這一主張。通過威逼和暗殺等種種手段，他迫使國會選舉他為大總統并在成功驅逐國民黨后成為中國的獨裁者。1915年，袁世凱成為中國的皇帝。然而，他不知道，中國反對帝制的民族情緒已經根深蒂固，很快袁世凱就被反對帝制的力量驅逐下臺。

盡管辛亥革命并沒有在中國實現真正的民主共和，但它推翻了封建帝制，建立了共和政體，使得民主共和的理念深入人心，開啟了中國現代化的新篇章。