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From the CIW-Danwei Archive: Xinhai in the Chinese Media | China Heritage Quarterly
Xinhai 辛亥 in the Chinese Media in China
From the CIW-Danwei Online Archive
In July 2010, at the time of the establishment of the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW), the Centre formalized a relationship with the Beijing-based Danwei Media Group. The CIW-Danwei collaboration is aimed at amassing web-based materials related to the research themes, priorities and interests of CIW academics. Developed on an intranet site, the CIW-Danwei Online Archive is building a research resource for general use. The following is a small selection of materials from the archive. My thanks to Jeremy Goldkorn, Joel Martinsen and colleagues at Danwei for their work. I am also grateful to Tanya Fan of CIW for her contribution to this section.—Geremie R. Barmé, Director, CIW
Introduction
Below is a representative selection of uses of the term. Each article is summarized in English together with a link to the source and the original text.
90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution
Attached below are examples of coverage in the Chinese media of the 90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution in 2001 arranged according to date of publication.
Xinhua News Agency set up a special anniversary news channel under the title 'Complete the great cause of reunification; achieve national rejuvenation' (The page has since been deleted, but a cached version is available on Archive.org)
Jiang Zemin's address to a special meeting commemorating the anniversary also emphasized the need for national unity, particularly in regard to reunification with Taiwan.
28 September 2001
This article by Xinhai Revolution scholar Jin Chongji was originally published in 1981 in the People's Daily. It examines the historical implications of the Xinhai Revolution, seeing Sun Yat-sen as a bourgeois evolutionary who did not end feudalism but set the stage for the later real revolution by the Communist Party. The article was republished by the People's Daily in 2001.
8 October 2001
A Xinhua News Agency commentary commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. The piece elaborates upon the theme for Xinhua's special feature on the anniversary: unification and rejuvenation.
9 October 2001
Jiang Zemin's address positions the Communist Party as the inheritor of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary tradition, and stresses the need for reunification with Taiwan.
9 October 2001
Another People's Daily editorial on the spirit of the Xinhai Revolution and China's national rejuvenation.
9 October 2001
An article that elaborates on the link between the Xinhai Revolution and the communist revolution:
'Most of the earliest communists were significantly influenced and inspired by the Xinhai Revolution. They would subsequently learn their lessons from the failure of the revolution, see its weaknesses, and eventually come to the conclusion that a capitalist republic was impossible in China, and they must find another route to save the country and the people…'
9 October 2001
This People's Daily article comments on the historical implications of Xinhai Revolution, calling it a 'great wakening of the Chinese people'.
9 October 2001
He Luoli, vice secretary of Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and leader of Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, said at a commemoration ceremony that China today has achieved more than Sun Yat-sen tried to with his revolution.
10 October 2001
An article reflecting on Sun Yat-sen's visits to Taiwan and how Taiwanese people commemorate the 90th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution.
10 October 2001
The Beijing Youth Daily reports on a six-episode biographical documentary shot by the team behind the films Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. However, much of the article is devoted to introducing the upcoming historical drama Towards a Republic and contrasting it with the earlier Yongzheng Dynasty, also by screenwriter Zhang Jianwei.
10 October 2001
China's Central Television Station started shooting of 'Towards a Republic', a 50-episode TV drama that covers the period of history between 1895 to 1924.
10 October 2001
According to the article, written by a professor of Party History at People's University, the significance of the Xinhai Revolution lies in the fact that it showed Chinese people's spirit of exploration and courage and that it pioneered the notion that all Chinese people across the world should be united for a prosperous and unified China.
11 October 2001
An opinion piece: Despite his many weaknesses, Sun Yat-sen was a great political leader with a 'global vision, enlightened worldview and modern personality, and very little feudal baggage'.
15 October 2001
China News Service reports on a symposium held by ethnic Chinese in Japan to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. The symposium emphasized Sun Yat-sen's drive for revolution, unity, and building a strong nation.
100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution
Below are examples of coverage in the Chinese media of the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution in 2011 arranged according to date of publication.
16 September 2010
Guo Shixiang, professor of history at China University of Political Science and Law, said that it was no coincidence that the Xinhai Revolution started in Wuhan as the reforms initiated by Hubei governor Zhang Zhidong had cultivated large number of educated people, many of whom played key roles in the revolt. The rebellion in Wuhan was well planed and well organized in comparison with the more anarchic uprising in Hunan.
8 October 2010
Zhang Kairuan, Chinese historian and founder of the Institute of Xinhai Revolution Studies, praises Sun Yat-sen as the only 'global citizen among China's pre-modern political leaders'.
9 October 2010
In an interview with Phoenix TV, Taiwanese historian Zhang Pengyuan said that the positive aspects of Xinhai Revolution should not be exaggerated as it set off decades of chaos. Zhang is quoted as saying 'It was not until Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening-up that Chinese society had peace and the country returned to the route of normal development.'
10 October 2010
Song Shinan Chinese historian and social commentator writes that the two heritages of Xinhai Revolution, low bloodshed and regional autonomy, remain inspirational to Chinese society today.
19 December 2010
In 2010, Phoenix TV did an online survey on public awareness of the Xinhai Revolution. Most respondents said they learned about it in middle school. 5,434 or 34.6% of respondents said the Xinhai Revolution was the most important of several events, including the 1949 revolution.
29 March 2011
Historians and descendants of revolutionaries gathered in Guanghzou to participate in a commemoration ceremony recognizing the 100th anniversary of the March 29th Guangzhou Uprising, which took place shortly before the Wuchang Uprising that lead to the fall of the Manchu government.
29 May 2011
Taiwanese magazine China Review invited local intellectuals to talk about Taiwanese political parties' attitudes towards the Xinhai Revolution and Taiwan's relationship with Mainland China. The discussion was reproduced on Sina.com.
23 June 2011
Jin Chongji, a history researcher specialized in Xinhai Revolution studies, said that two main causes of Xinhai Revolution were mounting risks of China becoming a Western colony and the Manchu government's growing obsequiousness towards the Western powers.
11 July 2011
Speaking to Outlook Magazine, Zhang Kairuan, a historian known for Xinhai Revolution studies, named Han chauvinism and failure to introduce a sustainable democratic political system as the shortcomings of the revolution.
1 August 2011
Sun Guoxiong, great grandson of Sun Yat-sen, attended a commemoration ceremony for the Xinhai Revolution in Wuhan, Hubei Province and said that the many anonymous people who sacrificed their lives for the revolutionary course led by Sun should be remembered. Before retirement, Sun Guoxiong was a stunt double in Hollywood specializing in Asian soldier roles in war movies.
15 August 2011
Sun Bida (孙必达), great grandnephew of Sun Yat-sen said when he visited Wuhan that his grand uncle would be very pleased to see China's developed railway system.
22 August 2011
Zhang Kairuan (章开沅), professor of history at Central China Normal University praises Sun as a great Chinese political leader and a bona fide global citizen. 'His integrity and vision should serve as an example for his descendants.'
25 August 2011
The Overseas Chinese Department of the State Council and China Overseas Exchange Association invited overseas Chinese scholars from U.S., France, Australia, etc. to talk about the contribution made by overseas Chinese people to the Xinhai Revolution. One of the scholars was quoted as saying: 'There would be no Xinhai Revolution, had there no overseas Chinese.'
27 August 2011
CCTV has produced a historical drama called the Turbulent History of Xiaozhan to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. The drama was directed by a Hong Kong director, with actors and actresses from Taiwan and Mainland China.
30 August 2011
This is the introductory article to a Qianjiang Evening News feature series on the Xinhai Revolution. The article sketches a brief history of the decades leading up to the revolution by noting a number of revolutionary movements that were launched in August. The series' first installment examines the role of youthful idealism; future installments will look at historical context, Sun Yat-sen, and enlightenment thinking.
30 August 2011
The article quotes Sun Yat-sen: 'China has been a unified country, and unification has been imprinted into our historical view, which is the reason that we have been preserved as a country, despite all the destructive forces' and contends that the statement perfectly illustrates the reason that China needs to be unified.
13 September 2011
Xinhua published an English article about the Xinhai Revolution and a film about it that premieres on September 23, 2011.
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