CHINA, 1911-2011

AWKWARD ANNIVERSARY: CHINA MARKS THE CENTENARY OF THE 1911 REVOLUTION

Hannah Beech

Global Spin (Time Blog), October 10, 2011

In a country that claims five millennia of history, what's a mere century? Oct. 10 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of China's 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which ended 2,000 years of imperial rule. The fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was precipitated by an uprising in the central Chinese city of Wuchang (now part of Wuhan) that eventually led to the formation of a Chinese republic under the tenuous leadership of Sun Yat-sen.

This milestone was celebrated on Sunday by China's leaders, who gathered under a massive portrait of Sun, the so-called founder of modern China whose republic was soon engulfed by warlord battles, struggles between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Kuomintang, plus the Japanese invasion during World War II. At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Hu Jintao proclaimed that the 1911 event was “a thoroughly modern, national and democratic revolution.” Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, opined that “the 1911 Revolution not only rid Chinese men of humiliating ponytails and women of the excruciatingly painful foot-binding, but also removed the people's blind faith in the emperor, as well as fear of foreign powers. The event has since been emancipating people's minds from thousands of years of oppression and self-enclosure.” (Sunday's televised ceremony was also notable for the appearance of retired leader Jiang Zemin, Hu's 85-year-old predecessor, who had missed a July celebration of the Chinese Communist Party's 90th anniversary, leading to rumors about his illness or even death.)

(...) [artículo aquí]