2. The Final
Years
of Imperial China, 1908-1910
1908
International.
==Jan.--- > China secretly
decides
to send an envoy to Washington and Berlin to negotiate a
Chinese-American-German alliance - the scheme comes to nothing
Chiang.
==early.1908, to 1911 > Young
Chiang
Kai-shek attends a Japanese military academy and joins Sun Yat-sen’s
Revolutionary Alliance
Japanese Relations.
The Tatsu Maru incident
==Feb.05 > A Chinese warship off
Amoy intercepts a Revolutionary Alliance arms shipment from Japan and
seizes the
ship - Chinese-Japanese friction
==Feb.14 > Japan protests the
seizure of the Tatsu Maru
==Mar.13-15 > Japan imposes five
demands on China, including the release of the ship, an apology, and an
indemnity
==Mar.17 > Merchants in Canton
launch a boycott of Japanese goods
==Mar.19 > Mass meetings are held
across Kwangtung in response to the Tatsu Maru crisis - ~the
anti-Japanese boycott is spreading throughout China
==Mar.21-22 > Under pressure from
Japan, the Imperial government orders the anti-Japanese boycott to end
==Apr.05 > Women of Canton hold a
shame memorial meeting for the Tatsu Maru incident
Transportation.
==Mar.05 > The first street cars
in
China begin running in Shanghai’s International Settlement
Economy.Japanese Relations.
==Mar.13 > The Hanyeping Coal and
Iron Company is formed, the largest in China - ~it soon falls under
Japanese control
Huang Hsing
Radical Unrest.
The seventh Revolutionary Alliance revolt in Kwangtung
==Mar.27 > Huang Hsing leads an
incursion into western Kwangtung
==Apr.02 > Revolutionaries defeat
Imperial forces at Ch’in-chou
==May.03 > The revolutionaries
are
driven back into Vietnam from western Kwangtung
Radical Unrest.
The eighth Revolutionary Alliance revolt in Yunnan
==Apr.29 > Insurgents seize
Hok’ou
on the Yunnan-Vietnamese border
==May.26 > The revolutionaries
are
driven back into Vietnam from Yunnan after bitter fighting - ~the
French
expel the Revolutionary Alliance from Annam
Education.US Relations.
==Jun.23 > The US Congress remits
half of its Boxer indemnity, applying the balance to establish Tsing
Hua University in Peking and to a scholarship allowing Chinese students
to study in the United
States - the beginning of extensive educational ties between America
and
China
Radicals.Military Unrest.
==Jun.--- > The ‘Hupei Military
Alliance’ is established - ~extensive revolutionary recruitment of New
Army troops
Imperial Regime.
==summer > The Empress Dowager
suffers a mild stroke
Hong Kong.Drugs.
==summer > The British Parliament
votes to close the Hong Kong opium dens - the British in Hong Kong are
enraged
Liberals.Imperial Regime.
==Jul.22 > The Imperial regime
announces its plans for provincial assemblies - ~self-governing
associations and welfare
societies are established
==Aug.11 > Provincial reform
groups
petition the Court to call a Parliament
==Aug.13 > The Imperial regime
suppresses the constitutionalist Public Information Club
==Aug.27 > The Imperial regime
releases its outline plans for a conservative constitution, with the
Court retaining very broad powers - ~an Imperial decree orders the
completion of the constitution within nine years
Radicals.Press.
==Oct.19 > Japan suppresses the
Revolutionary Alliance newspaper Min Pao
Imperial Regime.
==Nov.14 > Figurehead Emperor
Kuang-hsü dies under suspicious circumstances - the ambitious
Prince Ch’un is named
regent and his son Pu Yi becomes the Imperial heir apparent
==Nov.15 > Empress Dowager
Tz’u-hsi dies - ~the regime’s commitment to reform wavers
Radicals.Military Unrest.
==Nov.19-20 > An army revolt at
Anking in Anhwei is suppressed
==Nov.--- > A Revolutionary
Alliance-inspired army revolt near Canton is suppressed
==Nov.--- > Revolutionary
soldiers
in Hupei establish the Society for the Study of Popular Government
Imperial Regime.
==Dec.02 > Hsüan-tung
(P’u-i/Pu
Yi) becomes emperor, with the conservative Prince Ch’un (or Tsai-feng)
acting as regent
==Dec.03 > The Imperial Court
proclaims that the constitution and Parliament will become operative in
1916
==Dec.25 > The Regent organizes a
new palace guard under his direct command
==Dec.--- > The Regent proclaims
that any Imperial decree must be countersigned by the Grand Council
Finance.Imperial Regime.
==1908 > The Imperial government
begins to publish the details of its budget
Liberals.
==1908 > ~The Constitutionalist
‘Comrades’ Association’ is formed; it later becomes Friends of the
Constitution and eventually
the Progressive Party
Transportation.
==1908 > The Shanghai-Nanking
Railroad is completed
Mao.
==1908 > Working full-time on the
family farm, fourteen-year-old Mao Tse-tung is betrothed in an arranged
marriage, which he never consummates - he reads his first radical
literature
1909
Imperial Regime.Politics.
==Jan.02 > The Regent dismisses
the
powerful Yüan Shih-k’ai from office - the Manchus dominate the
highest
levels of the administration
Drugs.International.
==Feb.01 > An international
preliminary conference on controlling the opium trade meets in Shanghai
- the start of
attempts to control the international drug trade
Politics.
==Feb.05 > The start of
preliminary
local elections for the provincial assemblies, with the franchise
limited
to local notables
Imperial Regime.
==Feb.06 > An Imperial edict
prohibits the purchase of female slaves
==Feb.17 > The Regent calls for
the
establishment of provincial assemblies by the end of the year
Military.
==Feb.19 > The Regent reorganizes
the navy in preparation for a buildup
Imperial Regime.
==Mar.06 > The Regent confirms
the
Court’s intention to adopt a constitution
Transportation.European Relations.
==Jun.06 > A
British-French-German
consortium reaches a draft agreement on funding the Hukuang
(Hankow-Szechwan)
Railroad (see Jul)
Military.Imperial Regime.
==Jul.15 > The Regent announces
himself commander-in-chief of both the army and navy, independent of
the War Minister
Imperial Regime.
==Jul.17 > When Imperial Grand
Secretary Chang Chih-tung warns that Manchu policies could provoke a
revolution, the
Regent coldly replies “We have troops.”
Unrest.
==Jul.18 > Riots in Fengch’eng
and
other parts of Kiangsi, set off by fears of conscription
Transportation.Finance.International.
==Jul.--- > Taft intervenes to
get
J. P. Morgan’s American banks included in a European consortium
financing the Hukuang Railroad, annoying the other partners and
protracting negotiations
Labor.Women.
==Aug.06 > Female textile workers
strike in Shanghai
Mao.
==Aug.--- > Overcoming his
father’s
opposition, Mao resumes his education at a school in Siangsiang - ~Mao
encounters
his first foreign histories
Imperial Regime.Politics.
==Oct.04 > Imperial Grand
Secretary
Chang Chih-tung dies - reactionary Manchus fully control the Imperial
government
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Oct.14 > Provincial assemblies
are
organized - they quickly become centers of opposition to the Manchu
regime
Liberals.
==Nov.--- > Delegates from 16
provinces meet in Shanghai and form a committee to further the
establishment of a Chinese
national parliament
Radicals.
==Nov.--- > The ‘Southern
Society’
is established by revolutionary intellectuals
US Relations.
==Dec.14 > American Secretary of
State Knox proposes China’s "commercial neutralization"
Radicals.Press.
==Dec.29 > A Shanghai court
arbitrarily permanently closes the radical paper The People’s Sigh
under Japanese pressure - angry protests by Chinese progressives
Law.
==1909 > The ‘Great Ch’ing
Criminal
Code’ is promulgated (actually, the law code is both civil and
criminal)
Radicals.Military Unrest.
==1909 > The revolutionary
‘Progressive Association’ begins recruiting New Army soldiers
Education.
==1909 > Over 100,000 modern
schools
are operating in China
Disasters.Unrest.
==1909-1911 > Disastrous floods
in
central China - rising rural unrest
Drugs.Crime.
==1909 > ~China’s effective
suppression of opium is encouraging the smuggling of morphine and
heroin - ~the rise of
the Shanghai Green Gang begins
1910
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Jan.26 > Delegates to the
Peking
conference of provincial assemblies petition for an immediate
parliament
- on Jan.30, the Court rejects the petition (see Jun.22)
Law.
==Jan.31 > The buying and selling
of
human beings is prohibited
==Jan.--- > The Imperial Court
announces regulations for local governments and for the compilation of
a legal code
Unrest.
==Jan.--- > A revolt breaks out
in
the interior of Chekiang, led by Huang Fei-lung
==Feb.09 > Clashes between troops
and police in Canton
Radicals.Military Unrest.
==Feb.11-12 > The Ninth
Revolutionary Alliance revolt: a bungled army mutiny in Canton is
quickly defeated
Tibet.
==Feb.12 > 2,000 Chinese troops
occupy Lhasa - the first Chinese attempt to establish direct rule
in Tibet - the Dalai Lama flees
Hong Kong.Education.
==Mar.16 > Governor Lugard lays
the
foundation stone of the University of Hong Kong
Radicals.
==Mar.24 > Sun Yat-sen inquires
whether the United States would be interested in buying Japanese War
Office Documents
Unrest.
==Apr.10 > Tax riots is northern
Chekiang
==Apr.14-15 > Major rioting at
Changsha in Hunan: rioters attack foreign businesses and sack the
Governor’s mansion - troops fire on demonstrators
Radicals.
==Apr.16 > Wang Ching-wei and
other
revolutionaries are arrested for plotting to assassinate the Regent
Unrest.
==Apr.18 > Food riots at
Ch’ingchiang in Kiangsu
==Apr.19-25 > Rioters burn down
schools in Tz’uch’i in Chekiang
==May.02 > Prolonged food rioting
in
Hupei province
Transportation.
==Apr.--- > A rail link to
Vietnam
through Yunnan Province is completed
Imperial Regime.
==May.09 > The Imperial Court
announces that a National Assembly will convene Oct.03; half of its
members are to be
appointed rather than elected
Law.
==May.15 > A new Imperial legal
code
is issued
Transportation.Finance.International.
==May.23 > At President Taft’s
recommendation, American financiers join Germans, British and French in
a consortium to build
the Hukuang Railroad
Finance.
==May.24 > China goes on the
silver
standard
Unrest.
==late spring > A revolt breaks
out
in central Hunan, led by a secret brotherhood
==Jun.06-16 > Tax riots at
Haiyang
and Laiyang in Shantung
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Jun.22 > A renewed
constitutionalist petition is submitted by the provincial assemblies,
signed by 300,000 - on
Jun.27, the Imperial Court rejects the second petition (see Oct.03)
Chiang.Radicals.
==Jun.--- > In Tokyo, Chiang
Kai-shek meets Sun Yat-sen
Unrest.
==Jul.07 > Food riots at
Hsuanch’eng
in Anhwei
==Jul.14 > Troops fire on rioters
at
Laiyang in Shantung, killing hundreds
==Jul.27 > Rioters in Hopei
attack
schools
Radicals.Military Unrest.
==Jul.--- > Revolutionary groups
begin recruiting New Army troops in Hunan
==Aug.--- > Revolutionary
soldiers
in Hupei establish the ‘Society for the Promotion of Military Studies’
Unrest.
==Sep.15-Nov > Rioting in
Lienhsien
in Kwangtung, attacks on schools
Finance.International.
==Sep.22 > China requests a large
development loan from the United States - American bankers refuse under
Japanese and Russian
pressure
==Sep.28 > China concludes a
£4.8 million railroad loan from German, British, and French
bankers
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Oct.03 > The consultative
National
Assembly convenes in Peking - provincial assemblies present a third
petition
for an immediate parliament, this time with 25 million signatures and
support from high provincial officials - ~the Comrades’ Association
transforms into
Friends of the Constitution
==Oct.26 > The National Assembly
urges that a responsible parliament be quickly convened
Finance.Imperial Regime.
==Oct.22 > The Imperial Court
orders
the Finance Ministry to prepare the first Chinese national budget - the
budget shows an inadequacy of revenues
Law.
==Oct.--- > Courts of law are
introduced in each provincial capital and in treaty ports
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Nov.04 > An Imperial decree
shortens the time to the adoption of a constitution to 1913 from 1916 -
officials are
appointed to compile a constitution - reformist petitioning
organizations ordered to disband
Military.
==Dec.04 > The Chinese Navy
Ministry
is established
Chiang.
==Dec.05-Oct 1911 > As part of
his
military education, Cadet Chiang Kai-shek briefly serves in the
Japanese
Army in northern Honshu
Imperial Regime.Liberals.
==Dec.18 > The Imperial Court
rejects the National Assembly’s call for replacing the Grand Council
with a responsible cabinet
Radicals.
==Dec.--- > Sun Yat-sen again
leaves
for a trip to the west
==1910 > The Restoration Society
is
revived in opposition to the Revolutionary Alliance
==1910 > Sun Yat-sen establishes
the
Revolutionary Party in San Francisco - ~his hold over the Revolutionary
Alliance
is weakening
Culture.
==1910 > The Progress Troupe is
established, perhaps the first professional western-style theatrical
company in China
|