Читать книгу China's Revolution, 1911-1912: A Historical and Political Record of the Civil War онлайн

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On October 10, 1911, an ordinary military officer in the Hupeh Army of China stood unflinchingly facing a band of Revolutionists in Wuchang. One was Liu King, a student not long back from Japan—a mere slip of a boy. He was now practically in charge of the Revolution of China, now prematurely, quite haphazardly, broken out, and he sat looking suspiciously at the military man before him. The military man was a colonel. Above his neck glistened half a dozen narrow swords held by dark-clad men who awaited instructions to send into eternity the man whom Fate intervened to make the most noted man in the world-history of our day.

That Colonel was Li Yuan Hung, whose fame within a month reached to the uttermost ends of the earth.

The Revolution, long planned and still maturing, had prematurely broken out. Li Yuan Hung had been chosen as the leader, and now stood offering his apologies to the men who pressed him into office. He was not anxious, he was explaining, to take the honour—of course he was not, for who knew that that small military revolt at Wuchang was to move the whole of the eighteen provinces of China? Li thought it was not worth while. His fate would be sealed at once, for the Model Army of China merely cut the heads off of any in its ranks who rebelled against military discipline. So he demurred that the honour was too great for him—he would rather that another, more able and experienced, should be invited to the leadership. More heavily those cold swords were pressed against his neck. Then it seemed as if another minute would find his head rolling to the floor. But he was given another chance. He was told in stern tones that he was the leader of the Revolution, that he must agree or else he would be decapitated immediately. But the Colonel still stolidly refused. Before the order was finally given to strike with those glistening swords the man was given one more chance. He agreed. The swords were raised, and at that moment the curtain rose and showed China in revolt to the world. Li Yuan Hung's behaviour after that fateful night when he stood so near his grave showed the wisdom of the choice of the man of all men who in this land of the passing Celestial did more to free China from the fetters of the past than any other man dead or living.