WuchAng Uprising of 1911

an armed revolt that broke out on Oct. 10, 1911, in the city of Wuch’ang, the capital of Hupeh Province. The Wuch’ang Uprising marked the beginning of the Hsinhai Revolution. The revolt was carried out, with the support of the civilian population, by the soldiers and noncommissioned officers of the Wuch’ang garrison. These troops were members of the “new army,” which had been trained and equipped in the manner of Western bourgeois armies. The revolutionary organizations Wen Hsiieh She and Kung Chin Hui were the leaders and organizers of the revolt. They largely accepted the program of the T’ung-meng Hui.

First in Wuch’ang and then in the neighboring cities of Hanyang and Hank’ou, the insurgents overthrew the local governments of the Manchu Ch’ing dynasty. The insurgents proclaimed the independence of Hupeh Province from Peking and announced the establishment of a republic. During the first week after the victory, the Wuch’ang military revolutionary government established a volunteer revolutionary army composed primarily of peasants, workers, and students. Wuch’ang was transformed into the headquarters of a revolution. The uprising quickly spread from Wuch’ang to the entire country.