Language: English
ISBN/ISSN: 9787513513272
Published on: 2011-01
Hardcover
The 1911 Revolution ended dynastic rule in China and paved the way for the founding of Asia's first
republic Triggered by an accidental bomb explosion in Wuchang （modern-dayWuhan）, the revolution
marked the culminatingpoint of decades of internal rebellion, foreignaggression and political
decline; its leaders drewon a ferment of reformist and revolutionary ideasproduced by some of
China's greatest modernthinkers. Although the 1911 Revolution did notresolve China's problems,it
changed the countryfor ever, clearing a path for modernization, andmaking possible the more decisive
revolutionof1949.
From the Opium War to the. Warlord Eraassembles a remarkable survey of historicalphotographs from
leading collections around theworld.The images stretch from the Second OpiumWar to the Sino-Japanese
War of 1894-1895, fromthe Boxer Rebellion to the Russo-Japanese Warand the outbreak of revolution
through the riseand fall ofYuan Shikai an the ensuingWarlord Era.
Accompanying an introductory essay bythe editor Liu Heung Shing are essays fromthree scholars of
revolutionary China - JosephI/sherick of UC San Diego, Max K.W. Huang ofthe "Academia Sinica", and
Zhang Haipeng of theChinese Academy of Social Sciences reflectingon the causes, achievements and
failures of the 1911 Revolution, and its enduring meaning.
This book is simply superb. Liu Heung Shing travelledthe world to secure the rare collection of
photographsthat present the last 100 years of China's tumultuoushistory in the most vivid, searing
light yet achieved in asingle volume.James Kynge, author of China Shakes the World6iChina's
tumultuous encounter with the West over a century is captured in this remarkablecollection of
photographs. Combing arcluves around the world, Liu has unearthed imagesat once poignant and
provocative, of mandarins and schoolboys, officers and ear-cleanersinhabiting a country on the cusp
of modernity.From the Opium War to the Warlord Era is aunique visual history of an era that
continues to shape Clunese sensibilities today."Petcr Hcsslcr. author of'Rrver Tou,n: Two Years on
the Yungtze.
