Wen Tianxiang
During his vacation from the Academy in February 1908, at the shrine to Wen Tianxiang in Haifeng, Chen persuaded over 30 men to swear their support for the National Revolution. Many of them (also named Chen, but not related) stayed his acolytes throughout his political career. Chen's new group was made up of "village intellectuals". None of them were foreign-educated or members of secret societies. For this group, revolution was not a means to an end to the Manchu, but to the daily suffering and injustice they experienced.