The New Era

In the first decade of the twentieth century, when Chinese people maintained only a liminal perception and experience of the free press, Chinese revolutionaries began to organize and launch anti-Qing activities in the southern provinces. The revolutionaries came from different social classes, and many of them were members of anti-Qing secret societies known as huidang.. They were a loosely organized military force and were proficient at planning and conducting assassinations, military revolts, and other anti-government activities. Most of them knew very little about Chinese revolutionary philosophy and had no intention of establishing a republican government or a new democratic China. Many of them still regarded the revolutionaries’ anti-government and anti-Manchu activities as a necessary process to overthrow the old Manchu emperor and support a new Han emperor in his place. Indeed, the term ‘Chinese revolution’ meant nothing more to them than expelling the Manchus.

Under the guidance and leadership of Sun Yat-sen, the ‘reactionary’ Chinese intellectuals provided the revolutionaries with specialized knowledge of Western politics and insights into the future of Chinese revolution. Different from the older generation of traditional Chinese intellectuals, this rising generation of ‘reactionary’ Chinese were formed after the abolition of the imperial civil examination. Since there was no longer a pathway for them to serve in the imperial government through distinguishing themselves in this examination, many chose to study in Japan on a self-funded basis. Yet many only studied at Japanese tertiary institutions for a short time and did not obtain any diplomas or degrees.