Guangzhou Uprising

廣州起義

- Rebellion crushed

**Guangzhou Uprising (廣州起義)** was an uprising that took place in Guangzhou in 1895 led by the Revive China Society. The Rebellion ended in a disaster with the rebellion being suppressed. However, it was not all unsuccessful as the Qing government under the new Yongtong Emperor started a new set of reforms known as the Wuxu Reforms.

## The Uprising

### Revoltution in Guangzhou

Sun Yat-sen was based in Hong Kong during and after the Sino-Japanese War, and seeing the ultimate failure of the Qing Government, thought that now would be the time to strike with a revolution. Sun was a known revolutionary, who seeked an end to the years of humiliation by ending the Qing Dynasty, which he saw as the cause of Chinas stagnation. In the spring of 1895, the Revive China Society planned the Guangzhou Uprising, which came to a head on the 26th of October 1895, where Sun Yat-sen and Yeung Ku-wan took to the city of Guangzhou, planning to take it in one strike. Chaos struck the city, as Sun and his revolutionaries took the city, successfully destroying the Qing garrison there, and for a moment, even though brief, the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag flew over the city, signifying the beginning of a new era.

### Battle of Ngchow

Li Hongzhang was at the time, governor of the Liangguang Province, though was stationed outside of the region due to the recent Sino-Japanese war, as well as to assist with writing military reforms. When he got word of the uprising, he was of course, tasked to putting it down. Li soon sent the Southern fleet (or what was left of it) down to blockade the port, and ordered that the railways and telegraph lines to the region be cut. Meanwhile the revolutionaries began to spread out from the city, and fears set into the Qing government that a possible civil war could erupt. Li ordered his southern army to move east from Nanning to Guangzhou, and the Revolutionary forces met with Li's men at the city of Ngchow, where the Battle of Ngchow would take place. Though outnumbered greatly, Li's forces were much better trained, and *much* better armed, and quickly brought a swift defeat to the Revolutionaries, chasing them down the river to Shiuhing, holding the line at the Xi river.

### End of the Revolution

The "Military Government of Liangguang of Republic of China" tactical headquarters had ordered its men to hold the Xi river, to ensure the city was not lost, and to spread the revolution further east as to gain more support and supplies so they may be able to oppose Li's army. However, Li had no intention of crossing the river, instead, he used the Southern fleet to launch a Naval assault on the city, catching the Revolutionaries off guard, who had most of their men at the time fortifying the Xi river. Soon Li's armies had busted through the doors of the revolutionary's headquarters, killing anyone they found inside. Sun had fled successfully, choosing the leave the city when Li's forces got to the Xi river. He resided in Dongguan just East of Guangzhou, thou most of his comrades were not so lucky. Sun quickly fled south back to Hong Kong, and the revolution collapsed.

## Result

The three-month revolution had caused many in the Lianggaung province even outside of the revolutionaries-controlled territory to protest, and oppose the local and Qing government, however once news that Guangzhou had subsequently the revolution had fallen, things had settled down back down, and Lianggaung police forces quickly eliminated notable targets during this time. The revolution had lasted Just over three months before being brought back down, and following their Defeat, the Qing sent a diplomatic protest to the United Kingdom, and other foreign powers, demanding they hand over Sun to Qing authorities. The British refused to do so, however they also banned Sun from living anywhere in the British Empire, forcing him to flee to Japan for a short while. It wasn't long however before the Japanese also banned Sun, sending him south to the Philippines, where he greatly assisted in the Tagalog revolt, and still resides to this day. The final nail in the coffin for Sun came in 1898 with the Wuxu Reforms, which had met many of Sun's goals of reforms, causing support for the Republican cause to dissipate across China.