I’m sure this is not the last time I’ll write about 1911 over the coming year BUT…
The centenary of the Wuhan Uprising/Xīnhài Gémìng 辛亥革命 is, well, nearly 18 months away which makes the planning process in Wuhan a little premature perhaps, but nobody ever lost a wager betting against the reflexive compulsion on the part of Chinese local officials to take the most mundane and boring event and blow it out of all proportions.
Nevertheless, “some people” (the Global Times’ favorite source) are already concerned about the costs associated with the Wuhan municipal government’s plan to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of an accidental uprising that succeeded completely in spite of itself, which is not exactly how Wuhan’s leaders spin it:
The Wuhan government’s plan to spend 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) to celebrate the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, has stirred debate among residents who say the government has failed to effectively use public money.
Ruan Chengfa, the mayor of Wuhan, Hubei Province, and also a deputy to the National People’s Congress, told the Xinhua News Agency that a grand celebration is needed because the revolution is a landmark event in China and even Asia, as it ended feudalism. Wuhan is the birthplace of the revolution.
The revolution led by Sun Yat-sen began with the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911 and concluded with the abdication of Emperor Puyi on February 12, 1912, when the Republic of China was established to replace the Qing Dynasty.
Expect plenty of triumphalism in the coming year, as well as a fair amount of tip-toeing around some thorny historiographic issues. (PRC historians treat the 1911 revolution like some kind of idiot older brother to 1949 because of the revolution’s failure to address root social and economic problems and the subsequent shenanigans with Yuan Shikai, warlordism, and the total unraveling of the country, etc.)
Oh, and for the record, while Sun Yat-sen gets credited with being the “father of the revolution” and all that, let us not forget that he only learned about the Wuchang Uprising when he picked up a newspaper on the train between Kansas City and Denver. Given Sun’s track record when taking an active role in the planning process for an armed insurrection, it’s probably a good thing he was 6000 miles away. Let’s just say that the good Dr. Sun makes for a pretty decent example of the “Ewing Theory” and its application to the the study of Chinese history and leave it at that.