Tongmenghui

Tongmenghui
Traditional Chinese 同盟會
Simplified Chinese 同盟会

The Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance and United Allegiance Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Japan, on 20 August 1905.[1][2] It was formed from the merger of many Chinese revolutionary groups in the late Qing Dynasty.

History

Revolutionary era

Credential of Tongmenghui.

The Tongmenghui was created through the unification of Sun Yat-sen's Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society), the Guangfuhui (Restoration Society) and many other Chinese revolutionary groups. Among the Tongmenghui's members were Huang Xing, Li Zongren, Zhang Binglin, Chen Tianhua, Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin, Tao Chengzhang, Cai Yuanpei, Li Shizeng, Zhang Renjie, and Qiu Jin.

In 1906, a branch of the Tongmenghui was formed in Singapore, following Sun's visit there; this was called the Nanyang branch and served as headquarters of the organization for Southeast Asia. The members of the branch included Wong Hong-kui (黃康衢; Huang Kangqu),[3] Tan Chor Lam (陳楚楠; Chen Chu'nan; 1884-1971) [4] and Teo Eng Hock (張永福; Zhang Yongfu; originally a rubber shoe manufacturer).[5] Tan Chor Lam, Teo Eng Hock and Chan Po-yin (陳步賢; Chen Buxian; 1883-1965) started the revolution-related Chong Shing Chinese Daily Newspaper (中興日報, 中興 meaning China revival),[6] with the inaugural issue on 20 August 1907 and a daily distribution of 1,000 copies. The newspaper ended in 1910, presumably due to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. Working with other Cantonese people, Tan, Teo and Chan opened the revolution-related Kai Ming Bookstore (開明書報社, 開明 meaning open wisdom) [7] in Singapore. For the revolution, Chan Po-yin raised over 30,000 yuan for the purchase and shipment (from Singapore to China) of military equipment and for the support of the expenses of people travelling from Singapore to China for revolutionary work.[8][9]

In Henan, some Chinese Muslims were members of the Tongmenghui.[10]

Republican era

Flag of Tongmenghui.

After Shanghai was occupied by the revolutionaries in November 1911, the Tongmenghui moved its headquarters from Tokyo to Shanghai. After the Nanjing Provisional Government was established, the headquarters was moved to Nanjing. A general meeting was held in Nanking on 20 January 1912, with thousands of members attending. Hu Hanmin, who represented the Provisional President Sun Yat-sen, moved that the Tongmenghui oath be changed to "overthrow the Manchu government, consolidate the Republic of China, and implement the Min Sheng Chu I". Wang Jingwei was elected as Chairman, succeeding Sun. Wang resigned the following month, and Sun resumed the chairmanship.[11]

After the establishment of the Republic of China, Tongmenghui transformed itself into a political party on 3 March 1912, in preparation for participation in constitutional and parliamentary activities. It issued a new constitution with 34 articles, 10 more than when it was a secret society. The leadership election was held on the same day, with Sun Yat-sen elected as Chairman, Huang Xing and Li Yuanhung as Vice-Chairmen. In May 1912, Tongmenghui moved its headquarters to Beijing. At that time, Tongmenghui was the largest party in China, with branches in Guangdong, Szechuan, Wuhan, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Anqing, Fuzhou and Tianjin. It had a membership of about 550 thousand.[11] In August 1912, the Tongmenghui formed the nucleus of the Kuomintang, the governing political party of the republic.

Slogan and motto

In 1904, by combining republican, nationalist, and socialist objectives, the Tongmenghui came up with their political goal: to expel the Tatar barbarians, to revive Zhonghua, to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people. (驅除韃虜, 恢復中華, 創立民國, 平均地權 Qūchú dá lǔ, huīfù Zhōnghuá, chuànglì mínguó, píngjūn dì quán).[2] The Three Principles of the People were created around the time of the merging of Revive China Society and the Tongmenghui.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Internal Threats". Countries Quest. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 計秋楓; 朱慶葆 (2001). 中國近代史. Volume 1. Chinese University Press. p. 468. ISBN 9789622019874.
  3. ↑ 尤列事略补述一. ifeng.com (in Chinese). Phoenix New Media.
  4. ↑ 陈楚楠 [Chen Chu'nan]. Baidu Baike (in Chinese). 3 December 2011.
  5. ↑ 张永福 [Zhang Yongfu]. Baidu Baike (in Chinese). Baidu. 6 May 2012.
  6. ↑ 中兴日报 [ZTE Daily]. Baidu Baike (in Chinese). Baidu. 8 December 2011.
  7. ↑ 张冬冬 (21 October 2011). （辛亥百年）探寻同德书报社百年坚守的"秘诀" [Xinhai Century: exploring the Tongmenhui publisher's hundred-year secret]. China News (in Chinese) (Singapore). China News Service.
  8. ↑ Chan Chung, Rebecca; Chung, Deborah; Ng Wong, Cecilia (2012). Piloted to Serve.
  9. ↑ "Piloted to Serve". Facebook.
  10. ↑ Allès, Elisabeth (September–October 2003). "Notes on some joking relationships between Hui and Han villages in Henan". China Perspectives (49).
  11. 1 2 Zhang, Yufa (1985). 民國初年的政黨 [Minguo chu nian de zheng dang]. Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.
  12. ↑ Sharman, Lyon (1968). Sun Yat-sen: His life and its meaning, a critical biography. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 94, 271.
  13. ↑ Li Chien-Nung; Li Jiannong; Teng, Ssu-yu; Ingalls, Jeremy (1956). The political history of China, 1840-1928. Stanford University Press. pp. 203–206. ISBN 9780804706025.

External links

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