China (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

China (Chinese: 中國 Zhōngguó), officially the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國 Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a sovereign state located in East Asia. China bordered with Mongolia, Mengjiang, and Manchuria to the north, with Uyghurstan to the west, with Tibet to the southwest, and with India, Burma, Laos and Vietnam to the south. The national capital of China is Nanjing, while the largest city is Beijing with a population of 19 million.

Chinese Revolution (1911-1912)
Disillusioned by the failure of the Qing Dynasty’s attempt to reform and modernize China, the revolutionary movement against the ruling dynasty emerged by the late 19th century. Different with other political organisations before the failed Hundred Days Reform, this movement advocated the overthrow of Manchu’s Qing rule and the restoration of Han Chinese rule in China. Many of early Chinese revolutionary movements were founded by overseas Chinese, such as Furen Literary Society in Hong Kong and Revive China Society in Hawaii.

In 1905, the Tongmenghui was founded in Tokyo after the merger between the Revive China Society, the China Revival Society, and the Restoration Society. Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), a republican and anti-Qing activist, was elected as its leader. This organisation soon was increasingly popular between the younger people, especially the students. When the Tongmenghui was established, more than 90% of its members were between 17 and 26 years of age. Tongmenghui was also popular among the overseas Chinese communities, especially in Malaya, who was financially funding the organisation.

A series of uprisings, started from the First Guangzhou Uprising in 1895, was launched by the revolutionaries against the Qing government. The uprisings prior to 1911 was always successfully suppressed by the government due to lack of the participants and a coordination. It was not until the Wuchang Uprising in Wuhan on October 10, 1911, the revolutionary wave swept throughout China and many people voiced their support to the establishment of Republic.

Alerted by this situation, the Qing Court ordered Yuan Shikai on October 27, 1911 to lead his New Armies to retake Wuhan. Outnumbered by the New Army, the revolutionaries retreated to Hanyang and, finally, to Wuchang where they would fight against the New Army for about 50 days. During this battle, more than a half of all Chinese provinces already declared its independence from Qing, including Tibet and Mongolia. On November 1, 1911, the Qing Court appointed Yuan as new Prime Minister who would briefly led the short-lived Qing constitutional government.

With much of the provinces that declared its independence from Qing, Yuan sent Tang Shaoyi as his representative to negotiate with the revolutionaries in Wuhan where the revolutionaries choose Wu Tingfang as their representative. They agreed that Yuan Shikai would force the Emperor to abdicate in exchange for the southern provinces' support of Yuan as the president of the Republic. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, Sun Yat-sen agreed to Yuan's proposal to unify China under Yuan Shikai's Beijing government.

On January 1, 1912, Sun officially declared the establishment of the Republic of China and was inaugurated in Nanjing as the first Provisional President. On February 12, 1912, the child Emperor Puyi and Empress Longyu finally abdicated following the threat and pressure from Yuan. Following the agreement between him and Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai was sworn as the second Provisional President of the Republic of China in Beijing on March 10, 1912, starting the period of Beiyang Government

Beiyang Government (1912-1928)
In August 1912 the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) was founded by Song Jiaoren, one of Sun's associates. It was an amalgamation of small political groups, including Sun's Tongmenghui. The 1912-1913 National Assembly elections gave over half the seats and control of both houses to Sun's Nationalist Party. The second largest party were the Progressives led by Liang Qichao. Song Jiaoren was a supporter for the parliamentary republic system and was widely regarded as a primary candidate as new Prime Minister after the election.

However, Song was assassinated while traveling with a group of friends to Peking, less than two weeks before the assembly convened. An investigation showed the assassination was arranged by the incumbent Prime Minister, Zhao Bingjun. Despite Yuan's denial, the Nationalists accused Yuan had a higher responsibility to Song's assassination. Because of the lack of evidence, Yuan was never officially implicated.