Railway Protection Movement
Encyclopedia
The Railway Protection Movement , also known as the "Railway Rights Protection Movement", was a political protest movement
that erupted in 1911 in late Qing
China
against the Qing government's plan to nationalize local railway development projects and transfer control to foreign banks. The movement, centered in Sichuan province, expressed mass discontent with Qing rule, galvanized anti-Qing groups
and contributed to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution
. The mobilization of imperial troops from neighboring Hubei Province to suppress the Railway Protection Movement created the opportunity for revolutionaries in Wuhan
to launch the Wuchang Uprising
, which triggered the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China
.
, Hunan
, Hubei
and Sichuan
. The railways were supposed to link up with the rest of China.
In May 1911 the Qing government officials announced that they would nationalize those two railway lines that were previously paid for by local private investors. In general the Qing were under a lot of pressure having to pay back huge debts for the Boxer protocol
. So an announcement was made to seize the privately funded railways to payback debts to the foreigners mainly Great Britain
, Germany, France and the United States
.
Sichuan Province established the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company the same year. To raise funds for the 1,238 km railway from Chengdu
to Wuhan
, the company sold shares to the public and the provincial government levied a special 3% tax on harvests paid by land owners, who were also given share certificates. In one way or another, much of the Sichuan gentry and merchant class became shareholders of the railway venture.
By 1911, the company had raised 11,983,305 taels of silver of which 9,288,428 million or 77.5% came from tax levies, 2,458,147 taels from public investments and 236,730 taels from government. The company was beset by corruption and mismanagement by government-appointed administrators, and construction efforts made little progress. In 1907, the company management was replaced by a board of trustees consisting of gentry, merchants and retired officials. In 1909, Zhan Tianyou
, the Yale
-educated builder of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, was hired as chief engineer. But the board remained divided by squabbles over rail route and only about 10 miles of track had been laid by 1911.
Meanwhile, the Qing government, impatient with the progress of locally funded railway projects, returned to foreign lenders. In early May 1911, lenders of the "Four Powers Consortium" including Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) of Britain
, Deutsch-Asiatische Bank
of Germany
, Banque de l'Indochine
of France
, and J.P. Morgan & Co.
, Kuhn, Loeb & Co.
and First National City Bank of New York (CitiBank) of the United States
, agreed with the Qing government to finance the construction of railways in central China. On May 9, Sheng Xuanhuai
, Minister of Posts and Communications, ordered the nationalization of all locally-controlled railway projects and on May 20, signed a loan agreement with the Four Powers Consortium pledging the rights to operate the Sichuan-Hankou and Hankou-Guangdong Railways in exchange for a 10 million pound loan, to be repaid by custom duties and salt taxes. The Hankou-Guangdong Railway
was locally-backed venture in Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong Province.
The amount offered to Sichuan was much lower than all other provinces. Pu Dianjiun and other influential members of the Sichuan Provincial Assembly organized the Railway Protection League on June 17, and made public speeches against the plan, which was widely regarded as a seizure economic assets by the Manchu court and conversion to foreign control.
and organized a series of strikes and boycotts by students and merchants. On September 1, the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company adopted a shareholders' resolution calling on the Sichuan public to withhold the payment of grain taxes to the Qing Government. On September 7, the Governor-General of Sichuan, Zhao Erfeng had Pu Dianjun and other leaders arrested and closed the company. Enraged protesters then marched on the Governor-General's office in Chengdu demanding Pu's release. Zhao Erfeng ordered troops to open fire and dozens of protesters were killed. In Chengdu there were 32 deaths.
Bloodshed further inflamed the protests. Underground anti-Qing
groups including the Tongmenghui
and Gelaohui
initiated armed clashes with Qing troops in and around Chengdu. On September 15, Wang Tianjie, head of the Gelaohui in Rong County
south of Chengdu organized the Comrades' Army and led 800 followers to march on Chengdu, vowing to topple Zhao Erfeng. As the tensions escalated in Sichuan, the Qing government removed Zhao Erfeng from the governorship and offered full compensation to investors. But armed groups numbering as many as over a hundred thousands were overwhelming government authorities in Sichuan.
troops from Hubei forced underground revolutionary groups there to expedite their planned uprising. The diversion of New Army troops weakened defenses in Wuhan but also took away some of the army units sympathetic to the revolutionaries. On October 10, 1911, revolutionaries in the New Army units that remained in Wuhan launched the Wuchang Uprising
.
, uprisings and clashes in Sichuan between loyalists and revolutionaries continued into November. On November 14, Zhao Erfeng released Pu Dianjun from prison and negotiated an agreement to hand over power to a newly established Great Han Military Government of Sichuan. On November 27, with Zhao Erfeng and Pu Dianjun declared Sichuan's independence from the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Erfeng was subsequently accused of fomenting a coup that briefly swept Chengdu
in December and executed by the revolutionaries on December 28.
The Sichuan-Hankou Railway remained unbuilt for decades due to political turmoil, warfare, shortage of funding and difficult terrain. The Chengdu-Chongqing Railway
built in 1955 and the Xiangyang–Chongqing Railway completed in 1979, eventually connected Chengdu and Wuhan, but the journey takes an indirect path through Shaanxi Province. A railway along the original Sichuan-Hankou Railway route has been converted into the Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, a high-speed railway
project. The last remaining section of this high-speed line between Wuhan and Chengdu, the Wuhan-Yichang Railway, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.
Political movement
A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...
that erupted in 1911 in late Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
against the Qing government's plan to nationalize local railway development projects and transfer control to foreign banks. The movement, centered in Sichuan province, expressed mass discontent with Qing rule, galvanized anti-Qing groups
Anti-Qing sentiment
thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]], one of the leaders of the [[Xinhai Revolution]] which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1912. Photo taken in 1907Anti-Qing sentiment refers to a sentiment principally held in China against the Manchu ruling during Qing Dynasty , which was often resented for being foreign and...
and contributed to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
. The mobilization of imperial troops from neighboring Hubei Province to suppress the Railway Protection Movement created the opportunity for revolutionaries in Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
to launch the Wuchang Uprising
Wuchang Uprising
The Wuchang Uprising began with the dissatisfaction of the handling of a railway crisis. The crisis then escalated to an uprising where the revolutionaries went up against Qing government officials. The uprising was then assisted by the New Army in a coup against their own authorities in the city...
, which triggered the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
.
Background
In 1905 citizens were locally managing the Canton - Hankou Railway and the Sichuan-Hankou railway (川漢鐵路) by themselves in GuangdongGuangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
and Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
. The railways were supposed to link up with the rest of China.
In May 1911 the Qing government officials announced that they would nationalize those two railway lines that were previously paid for by local private investors. In general the Qing were under a lot of pressure having to pay back huge debts for the Boxer protocol
Boxer Protocol
The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901 between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands after China's defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the...
. So an announcement was made to seize the privately funded railways to payback debts to the foreigners mainly Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Germany, France and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Sichuan Province established the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company the same year. To raise funds for the 1,238 km railway from Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
to Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
, the company sold shares to the public and the provincial government levied a special 3% tax on harvests paid by land owners, who were also given share certificates. In one way or another, much of the Sichuan gentry and merchant class became shareholders of the railway venture.
By 1911, the company had raised 11,983,305 taels of silver of which 9,288,428 million or 77.5% came from tax levies, 2,458,147 taels from public investments and 236,730 taels from government. The company was beset by corruption and mismanagement by government-appointed administrators, and construction efforts made little progress. In 1907, the company management was replaced by a board of trustees consisting of gentry, merchants and retired officials. In 1909, Zhan Tianyou
Zhan Tianyou
Jeme Tien Yow was a distinguished Chinese railroad engineer. Educated in the United States of America, he was the chief engineer responsible for construction of the Imperial Peking-Kalgan Railway , the first railway constructed in China without foreign assistance.-Biography:Jeme was born in...
, the Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
-educated builder of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, was hired as chief engineer. But the board remained divided by squabbles over rail route and only about 10 miles of track had been laid by 1911.
Meanwhile, the Qing government, impatient with the progress of locally funded railway projects, returned to foreign lenders. In early May 1911, lenders of the "Four Powers Consortium" including Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Deutsch-Asiatische Bank
Deutsch-Asiatische Bank
Deutsch-Asiatische Bank was a foreign bank in China. Its principal activity was trade financing; but together with English and French banks, it also played a role in the underwriting of bonds for the Chinese government and in the financing of railway construction in China.- History...
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Banque de l'Indochine
Banque de l'Indochine
The Banque de l'Indochine was a minting and banknote-issuing bank established in Paris on January 21, 1875, for the territories of France in Asia.-History:...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and J.P. Morgan & Co.
J.P. Morgan & Co.
J.P. Morgan & Co. was a commercial and investment banking institution based in the United States founded by J. Pierpont Morgan and commonly known as the House of Morgan or simply Morgan. Today, J.P...
, Kuhn, Loeb & Co.
Kuhn, Loeb & Co.
Kuhn, Loeb & Co. was a bulge bracket, investment bank founded in 1867 by Abraham Kuhn and Solomon Loeb. Under the leadership of Jacob H. Schiff, it grew to be one of the most influential investment banks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, financing America's expanding railways and growth...
and First National City Bank of New York (CitiBank) of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, agreed with the Qing government to finance the construction of railways in central China. On May 9, Sheng Xuanhuai
Sheng Xuanhuai
Sheng Xuanhuai , November 4, 1844—April 27, 1916, 盛宣懷) was the Minister of Transportation during the Qing Dynasty. He is also known as Sheng Gongbao ....
, Minister of Posts and Communications, ordered the nationalization of all locally-controlled railway projects and on May 20, signed a loan agreement with the Four Powers Consortium pledging the rights to operate the Sichuan-Hankou and Hankou-Guangdong Railways in exchange for a 10 million pound loan, to be repaid by custom duties and salt taxes. The Hankou-Guangdong Railway
Yuehan railway
The Guangdong–Hankou or Yuehan Railway is an older railway now incorporated into the Jingguang Railway. The original Canton–Hankow Railway ran from Guangzhou to Wuchang and was opened in 1936. Another line, the Peking–Hankow Railway ended across the river at Hankou...
was locally-backed venture in Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong Province.
Protest Movement
Response to nationalization
The nationalization order drew strong opposition across southern China, especially Sichuan, which had the largest public shareholding in the Sichuan-Hankou Railway venture. Investors were unhappy that they would only be partially compensated with government bonds, rather than silver.The amount offered to Sichuan was much lower than all other provinces. Pu Dianjiun and other influential members of the Sichuan Provincial Assembly organized the Railway Protection League on June 17, and made public speeches against the plan, which was widely regarded as a seizure economic assets by the Manchu court and conversion to foreign control.
1911 Chengdu protest
On August 11-13, more than 10,000 protesters held a rally against the proposal in ChengduChengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
and organized a series of strikes and boycotts by students and merchants. On September 1, the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company adopted a shareholders' resolution calling on the Sichuan public to withhold the payment of grain taxes to the Qing Government. On September 7, the Governor-General of Sichuan, Zhao Erfeng had Pu Dianjun and other leaders arrested and closed the company. Enraged protesters then marched on the Governor-General's office in Chengdu demanding Pu's release. Zhao Erfeng ordered troops to open fire and dozens of protesters were killed. In Chengdu there were 32 deaths.
Bloodshed further inflamed the protests. Underground anti-Qing
Anti-Qing sentiment
thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]], one of the leaders of the [[Xinhai Revolution]] which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1912. Photo taken in 1907Anti-Qing sentiment refers to a sentiment principally held in China against the Manchu ruling during Qing Dynasty , which was often resented for being foreign and...
groups including the Tongmenghui
Tongmenghui
The Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance and United Allegiance Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement formed when merging many Chinese revolutionary groups together by Sun Yat-sen, Song...
and Gelaohui
Gelaohui
The Gelaohui , also called Futaubang, or Hatchet Gang , as every member allegedly carried a small hatchet inside the sleeve, was a secret society and underground resistance movement associated with the revolutionary Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren.Originating in western china,...
initiated armed clashes with Qing troops in and around Chengdu. On September 15, Wang Tianjie, head of the Gelaohui in Rong County
Rong County, Sichuan
Rongxian County is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Zigong city.-Geography:The county has a total area of 1,609 km².-Population:As of 2008, the county had a population of 700,000....
south of Chengdu organized the Comrades' Army and led 800 followers to march on Chengdu, vowing to topple Zhao Erfeng. As the tensions escalated in Sichuan, the Qing government removed Zhao Erfeng from the governorship and offered full compensation to investors. But armed groups numbering as many as over a hundred thousands were overwhelming government authorities in Sichuan.
New Army orders and mutiny
The Qing court also ordered the Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan, Duan Fang, to reinforce Sichuan with troops from Hubei. The mobilization of New ArmyNew Army
The New Armies were the modernized Qing armies, trained and equipped according to Western standards...
troops from Hubei forced underground revolutionary groups there to expedite their planned uprising. The diversion of New Army troops weakened defenses in Wuhan but also took away some of the army units sympathetic to the revolutionaries. On October 10, 1911, revolutionaries in the New Army units that remained in Wuhan launched the Wuchang Uprising
Wuchang Uprising
The Wuchang Uprising began with the dissatisfaction of the handling of a railway crisis. The crisis then escalated to an uprising where the revolutionaries went up against Qing government officials. The uprising was then assisted by the New Army in a coup against their own authorities in the city...
.
Aftermath
After the outbreak of the Xinhai RevolutionXinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
, uprisings and clashes in Sichuan between loyalists and revolutionaries continued into November. On November 14, Zhao Erfeng released Pu Dianjun from prison and negotiated an agreement to hand over power to a newly established Great Han Military Government of Sichuan. On November 27, with Zhao Erfeng and Pu Dianjun declared Sichuan's independence from the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Erfeng was subsequently accused of fomenting a coup that briefly swept Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
in December and executed by the revolutionaries on December 28.
The Sichuan-Hankou Railway remained unbuilt for decades due to political turmoil, warfare, shortage of funding and difficult terrain. The Chengdu-Chongqing Railway
Chengdu-Chongqing Railway
Chengdu-Chongqing Railway or Chengyu Railway , also known as the Chengyu Line, is a single-track, electrified, railroad in the Sichuan Basin of Southwest China between the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. Chongqing's short form name is Yu and the railway is named after the two cities...
built in 1955 and the Xiangyang–Chongqing Railway completed in 1979, eventually connected Chengdu and Wuhan, but the journey takes an indirect path through Shaanxi Province. A railway along the original Sichuan-Hankou Railway route has been converted into the Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, a high-speed railway
High-speed rail in China
High-speed rail in China refers to any commercial train service in the China with an average speed of or higher. By that measure, China has the world's longest high-speed rail network with about of routes in service as of June 2011 including of rail lines with top speeds of...
project. The last remaining section of this high-speed line between Wuhan and Chengdu, the Wuhan-Yichang Railway, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.