A Detailed Examination of Huang Xing's Role in the Xinhai Revolution

This essay delves into the pivotal role of Huang Xing in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, a transformative period in Chinese history that marked the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. The paper examines the context of the revolution, highlighting the Qing Dynasty's decline and the rise of revolutionary sentiment among the Chinese people. It focuses on Huang Xing's contributions, including his establishment of the Society for the Revival of China, his leadership during key uprisings, and his collaboration with Sun Yat-sen. The essay emphasizes Huang Xing's significance as a revolutionary leader, particularly during Sun Yat-sen's absence, and how he provided crucial direction and motivation to the revolutionaries. The conclusion underscores the importance of individual actors in societal revolutions and how Huang Xing's actions helped pave the way for a new era in China.

Running head: ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
Role played by Huang Xing in Xinhai Revolution
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
Introduction
The country of China has been at the back drop of the international changes that occurred
in the world during the nineteenth and the twentieth century. While many of the historical
scholars focused on the developments that were being undertaken in the western part of the
globe, China had a brewing reformation going on in its own land1. For many years, this country
had been under the tutelage of the Japanese people who were eager to obtain as much raw
materials as possible for the upliftment of its own country. Such an arrangement was not agreed
to by some if the natives of China who decided to embark on a journey which would help them
to liberate their country2. The purpose of this paper is to understand the significant role that was
played by Huang Xing in the revolution of China which occurred 1911. In this respect, the
emergence of the revolution has been looked in to and the changes that were brought about in the
course of working of China as a consequence of Huang Xing has been analyzed.
The Xinhai Revolution or Chinese Revolution of 1911
The foremost characterizing feature of a revolution is that it seeks to change the existing
status quo of any region. They are usually accompanied by numerous uprisings and revolts
which are extremely violent in nature. Although a revolt leads to the destruction of human lives
and properties, they are considered to be historical land marks because of their motive to bring
about a transformation in the society3.
1 Rogers, Clifford J. "The military revolution in history and historiography." In The Military Revolution Debate, pp.
1-10. Routledge, 2018.
2 Wang, Mingming. Empire and local worlds: a Chinese model for long-term historical anthropology, pp. 2
Routledge, 2017.
3 Skocpol, Theda, ed. Democracy, revolution, and history, pp 10 Cornell University Press, 2018.

2ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
In the context of China, it can be seen that in the nineteenth century, the Qing imperial
dynasty was in power. The country faced a humiliating defeat from the Western powers of the
world on 1842. This War was known as the First Opium War, drawing its significance from the
fact that the control of the opium trade was decided in this war. After the War, the Qing Dynasty
faced a lot of challenges trying to restrict the flow of foreign invasion in to the Chinese
landmass, all of whom wanted to control some or the other aspect of the country4. During this
time, the Qing Dynasty and the people of China realized the importance of changing the
traditional and conservative methods of governance which would have the main objective of
bringing some relief to the Chinese society from such foreign intrusions. However, in the years
following thereafter, all attempts of the Chinese imperial masters to reform the society were in
vain and the Qing Dynasty was defeated in all of the wars that were fought.
Seeing the incompetence of the traditional and conservative Dynasty, the Chinese people
rose in rebellion against them. In this respect, the Xinhai Revolution occurred in the year 1911
which was successful in over throwing the Qing Dynasty, marking an end of the rule of the
monarchs in China5. After the revolution, the Republic of China was established, signifying the
beginning of the era of rule of the people. The civil war is considered to be one of the most
significant historical land mark within China as it denoted the change in the ruling class within
China.
Role of Huang Xing in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911
4 Itoh, Mayumi. "Growing Up During the Xinhai Revolution." In The Origins of Contemporary Sino-Japanese
Relations, pp. 7-17. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016.
5 Fu, Qinghai. "The Gap Between Historical Narrative and Historical Facts: A Re-analysis of Li Xiehe’s Political
Decisions and Motivations During the Xinhai Revolution (1911)." Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social
Sciences 9, no. 4 (2016): 663-685.

3ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 brought to the forefront many individuals who wanted to
change the society and free it from the grasp of the conservative imperial rule of the monarchs6.
One of the significant individuals who played a significant role in the Revolution is that of
Huang Xing. Huang Xing was born in 1874 in the Hunan province. The failure of the Qing
Dynasty moved the youth of the society as they began to feel that they would be overtaken by the
foreign invaders. One of such youths was that of Huang Xing.
Huang Xing established an organization known as the Society for the Revival of China or
the Huaxinghui7. It was termed to be revolutionary group which had the sole motive of
destabilizing and over throwing the Qing Dynasty. In this respect, it is important to understand
the characteristic features of a revolutionary group. A revolutionary group refers to those
individuals who are willing to resort to violent activities to bring about a change in the society.
Their objectives might be dedicated for the cause of the people but their activities have the
potential to bring about destruction and damage to human lives and their properties8.
Due to the failures of the revolutionary activities, Huang Xing was compelled to find
refuge in Japan. A revolutionary leader by the name of Sun Yat Sen recognized the potential of
Huang Xing9. Thus, when he organized the Alliance Society or the Tingmenghui in 1905, he
made Huang Xing as his second in command.
6 Ng, Mee Kam. "From the Xinhai Revolution to the Umbrella Movement: Insurgent citizenship, radical planning
and Chinese culture in the Hong Kong SAR." In Insurgencies and Revolutions, pp. 299-308. Routledge, 2016.
7 Francis, Norbert. "The Politics of Rights and the 1911 Revolution in China." Pacific Affairs 91, no. 3 (2018): 602-
604.
8 Blanchard, Jean-Marc F., and Kun-Chin Lin. Governance, Domestic Change, and Social Policy in China, pp 5
Palgrave Macmillan US, 2018.
9 Ni, Dongyun. "Research Guides: Chinese Studies--Sun Yat-sen, Hawaii and the Chinese Revolution: Home."
(2019), pp 12

4ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
In 1911, Huang Xing was supported in his endeavors to over throw the Qing Dynasty by
several members of the imperial troops10. They organized a military attack on the Guangzhou
canton located by the South China Sea. However, due to a lack of coordination in the unit, the
Guangzhou Uprising, considered to be one of the most significant uprising in the Chinese
history, turned out to be a failed attempt. On 11th October, certain army officials, who wanted to
take part in the revolt, started an uprising in Wuchang, a city in Central China, which spread like
wildfire to the other parts of China11. This proved to be a defining moment for Huang Xing as
Sun Yat Sen was not in China during that period of time Huang Xing hurried to Wuchang in
order to take charge of the revolutionaries and give them effective direction so that they could
work in an efficient manner. During his days of defending Hanyang, another central city in
China, Huang Xing gained more popularity as he was able to defend it for a period of more than
three weeks12.
In this regard, it can be seen that Huang Xing played a significantly important role in the
determination of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911. He gave effective leadership to the army
officials who wanted to join the revolt. He also shone as the beacon of hope when Sun Yat Sen
was not present in China. Being the leader of a revolution is difficult and challenging as the
individual has to constantly keep the people motivated to participate in the activities. Huang
Xing emerged to be that leader upon whom the people could rely.
Conclusion
10 Zhihua, Wang. "Chinese revolutions and codification of Chinese civil legislation." Vestnik Of Saint Petersburg
University-Law-Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta-Pravo 9, no. 3 (2018): 422-432.
11 Werner, Jake. "China's Twentieth Century: Revolution, Retreat, and the Road to Equality. By Wang Hui. Edited
by Saul Thomas. London: Verso, 2016. 368 pp. ISBN: 9781781689066 (paper, also available in cloth and as e-
book)." The Journal of Asian Studies 77, no. 2 (2018): 520-522.
12 Zhang, Joshua, and James D. Wright. "Was the Cultural Revolution Cultural? Was it a Revolution?." In Violence,
Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution, pp. 139-143. Brill, 2018.

5ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
In conclusion, it can be seen that the aspect of the revolution is significantly important for
the development of any society. Such revolutions are the constructs of the individual members of
the society who have the dream of making their society a better place to live in. In this context,
while studying about any revolutions of the society, it is important to take in to considerations
the individual actors whose activities have brought about such revolutions in the society. One fo
the most important individual actor who participated in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 was that
of Huang Xing. He was agitated with the meaningless attempts of the imperial rulers of China to
tackle the foreign intrusions within China. He wanted to bring about technological advancement
in the country and for this, he aided the other people of the community to overthrow the Qing
Dynasty. The end of the Qing Dynasty by the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 marked the beginning
of a republican era in China.

6ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
Bibliography:
Blanchard, Jean-Marc F., and Kun-Chin Lin. Governance, Domestic Change, and Social Policy
in China, pp 5. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2018.
Francis, Norbert. "The Politics of Rights and the 1911 Revolution in China." Pacific Affairs 91,
no. 3 (2018): 602-604.
Fu, Qinghai. "The Gap Between Historical Narrative and Historical Facts: A Re-analysis of Li
Xiehe’s Political Decisions and Motivations During the Xinhai Revolution (1911)." Fudan
Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences 9, no. 4 (2016): 663-685.
Itoh, Mayumi. "Growing Up During the Xinhai Revolution." In The Origins of Contemporary
Sino-Japanese Relations, pp. 7-17. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016.
Ng, Mee Kam. "From the Xinhai Revolution to the Umbrella Movement: Insurgent citizenship,
radical planning and Chinese culture in the Hong Kong SAR." In Insurgencies and Revolutions,
pp. 299-308. Routledge, 2016.
Ni, Dongyun. "Research Guides: Chinese Studies--Sun Yat-sen, Hawaii and the Chinese
Revolution: Home." (2019), pp. 12.
Rogers, Clifford J. "The military revolution in history and historiography." In The Military
Revolution Debate, pp. 1-10. Routledge, 2018.
Skocpol, Theda, ed. Democracy, revolution, and history, pp 10. Cornell University Press, 2018.
Wang, Mingming. Empire and local worlds: a Chinese model for long-term historical
anthropology, pp 2. Routledge, 2017.

7ROLE PLAYED BY HUANG XING IN XINHAI REVOLUTION
Werner, Jake. "China's Twentieth Century: Revolution, Retreat, and the Road to Equality. By
Wang Hui. Edited by Saul Thomas. London: Verso, 2016. 368 pp. ISBN: 9781781689066
(paper, also available in cloth and as e-book)." The Journal of Asian Studies 77, no. 2 (2018):
520-522.
Zhang, Joshua, and James D. Wright. "Was the Cultural Revolution Cultural? Was it a
Revolution?." In Violence, Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution, pp. 139-143.
Brill, 2018.
Zhihua, Wang. "Chinese revolutions and codification of Chinese civil legislation." VESTNIK OF
SAINT PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY-LAW-VESTNIK SANKT-PETERBURGSKOGO
UNIVERSITETA-PRAVO 9, no. 3 (2018): 422-432.