Great Han Sichuan Military Government

The Great Han Sichuan Military Government (Chinese: 大漢四川軍政府; pinyin: Dàhàn Sìchuān jūnzhèngfǔ; Wade–Giles: Ta-han Ssŭ-ch'uan chün-chêng-fu), alternatively the Great Han Szechwan Military Government, was a provincial military government located in modern-day Sichuan, that was formed during the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. It lasted for 142 days, and ended with the absorption of the province into the newly-proclaimed Republic of China

Great Han Sichuan Military Government 大漢四川軍政府 (Mandarin Chinese)
1911-1912
The "Dahan banner"
Capital	Chengdu
Recognised national languages	Mandarin Chinese
Ethnic groups	Sichuanese people
Demonym(s)	Sichuanese
Government	Regional military government
• Military Governor	Pu Dianjun
• Deputy Governor	Zhu Qinglan
• Director of War (Later Military Governor)	Yin Changheng
Domestic sovereignty
History
• Established after rebellion in Sichuan, part of the 1911 Revolution	November 27, 1911
• Merged with Shu Military Government to form Sichuan Military Government	April 27, 1912
Area
• Total	485,000 km2 (187,000 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	70,000,000 (1911)
Currency	Yuan
Preceded by Succeeded by Qing dynasty Republic of China
Today part of	Sichuan, China

History

Prelude

In 1901, a revolutionary organization called the "Public Strength Society"(Chinese: 公強會; pinyin: Gōngqiánghuì; Wade–Giles: Kung-chiang-hui) was established in Chongqing.^[1] by Mei Jixun (梅際郇), Tong Xianmao (童顯懋), Chen Chonggong (陳崇功) and Yang Lukan (楊廬堪). Its proclaimed purpose was to "seek ways to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and to enlighten the people's wisdom", with the goal of overthrowing the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and establishing a Han-led democratic government. Although its activities concluded in 1906, the Public Strength Society formed the basis for the formation of the Tongmenghui's Chongqing branch. In late summer of 1911, riots broke out in Sichuan, as part of the Railway Protection Movement. The movement hoped to stop the Qing government's nationalization of local railway projects, the profits of which would be used to pay debts to the Western powers. Duanfang, superintendent of the Hankou-Guangzhou and Hankou-Sichuan railways, as well as Zhao Erfeng, Governor-General of Sichuan, petitioned for the deployment of New Army units from neighbouring Hubei to crush the Railway Protection Movement. The riots were crushed, and an uneasy peace was established in the region.^[2]

1911 Revolution

Main article: 1911 Revolution

On October 10, 1911, Wuchang Uprising broke out amongst New Army soldiers in the city of Wuchang in Hubei. The city was captured by the next morning, and the Governor-General of Huguang, Ruicheng, fled. The mutineers subsequently established the Military Government of Hubei,^[3] independent of the Qing dynasty.

The success of the uprising soon stirred uprisings in other neighboring provinces,^[4] as the revolutionaries beseeched other provinces to secede from the Qing government in turn. On September 25, Wu Yuzhang (吳玉章) and Wang Tianjie (王天傑) declared the independence of Rong County under the "Rong County MIlitary Government" (榮縣軍政府). On November 21, revolutionaries in Guang'an declared independence and established the "Great Han Military Government of Northern Sichuan" (大漢蜀北軍政府),^[5][6] with Wu Chongzhou (吳崇週) as Governor-General and Zhang Guanfeng (張觀風) as his deputy. The next day, Chongqing, the seat of the Government-General of Sichuan, declared independence from the Qing dynasty and proclaimed the Sichuan Military Government (蜀軍政府). On November 27, the Great Han Sichuan Military Government was founded with Pu Dianjun (蒲殿俊) as Governor-General.^[7][8][5]

The Declaration of Independence of the Great Han Sichuan Military Government read as follows:

The Sichuan people fought against the government for the sake of the [rail]road; they fought fiercely and did not care about death. In less than two or three months, China collapsed. Each province declared independence one after another, and now also we Sichuanese brought our resplendent and glorious Great Han Independent Military Government into being today. The purpose of the Great Han Sichuan Military Government is to organise a republican constitution, based on the universal principles of humanitarianism, to consolidate the authority of our Great Han federation, and be boundless to the world. We 70 million people of Sichuan and our descendants should protect it together.

Pu declared himself Military Governor, and appointed Zhu Qinglan to serve as Deputy Military Governor. Reportedly, the reason Zhu was chosen for the position was due to the negative attitude he took regarding the use of force to suppress the Railway Protection Movement.^[9] Pu also appointed another revolutionary, Yin Changheng, to the position of Director of War.^[10]

The flag of the Great Han Sichuan Military Government, called the "Dahan banner," was described as a white field with the Chinese ideogram "Han" inside a ring, surrounded by 18 smaller rings. The exact color of the large central ring is debated, with some sources claiming it was red; while others claim it was black.^[11]

Sichuan soldiers mutiny

Yin Changheng, Director of War

On December 8, Sichuan soldiers mutinied in Chengdu, dissatisfied with the delay regarding their military pay. Pu and Zhu both resigned and fled, leaving Yin in charge to stop the mutiny. Yin managed to stop the mutineers, and led his troops to attack the Governor's Gate where they captured Zhao Erfeng, executing him on the grounds of him leading the "counter-revolutionary conspiracy".^[12][13] Yin had so much public support that he arose to become the military governor due to his bravery. As military governor, he promoted the reorganization of the military government, finally managing to stabilize the situation in Sichuan.^[14][15][16]

Government merger

Two major governments existed in the Sichuan region: The Great Han Sichuan Military Government and the Shu Military Government. The latter had been established in November 1911, and was led by Zhang Peijue. Yin planned to unify them by force, and invited the army of the Yunnan clique to aid in unification. Yin gave up on forceful reunification after mediation, and the Yunnan Army left Sichuan. Both governments sent representatives to Chongqing to make an agreement in January 1912. The sides eventually came to an agreement on March 21: Chengdu would serve as the political center and would house the Sichuan Governor's Office, with the governors of Great Han Sichuan and Shu respectively serving as chief and deputy governors. Chongqing would be an important town, and a pacification office established there. The two governments officially merged on April 27, officially bringing both the Great Han Sichuan Military Government and the Shu Military Government to their ends. The new government was simply named the Sichuan Military Government.^[17][18]

Yin was appointed as the military governor of the Sichuan Governor's Office, Zhang was appointed as the deputy governor, and Xia Zhishi was appointed as the chief pacification chief of the Chongqing Pacification Office.^[15]

Absorption by the Republic of China

The new Sichuan Military Government existed in a region with over ten other military governments. To the west, the rapidly-expanding Republic of China soon reached the Sichuan region. Sichuan was soon absorbed as a province of the Republic, putting an end to all of the military governments in the region, including the Sichuan Military Government.^[16][19]