Huang Xing facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Huang Xing
Xing between 1905 and 1916
Nickname(s)	Eight Fingered General
Born	(1874-10-24)24 October 1874 Huangxing, Changsha, Qing Empire
Died	31 October 1916(1916-10-31) (aged 42) Shanghai, Republic of China
Allegiance	Tongmenghui, Kuomintang
Service/branch	Tongmenghui
Years of service	1894–1912
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Xinhai Revolution
Alma mater	Jinshi degree in the Imperial Examination
Relations	Liao Danru (wife)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	黃興
Simplified Chinese	黄兴
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huáng Xīng Wade–Giles Huang2 Hsing1 IPA [xu̯ǎŋ ɕíŋ]

Huang Xing (born October 25, 1874 – died October 31, 1916) was a very important Chinese leader. He helped start the Republic of China and was its first commander-in-chief. He was also one of the main founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) political party.

Huang Xing was almost as important as Sun Yat-sen, another famous revolutionary. People sometimes called them "Sun-Huang" during the Xinhai Revolution. He was also known as the "Eight Fingered General" because he lost two fingers in a battle. His tomb is on Mount Yuelu in Changsha, China.

Huang was born in a village called Gaotang, which is now part of Changsha, Hunan. Like many people born in China before 1949, he had several names. His birth name was Huang Zhen, but he later changed it to Huang Xing. He was also known as Huang Keqiang and Qing Wu. After 1911, he used the names Li Youqing and Zhang Shouzheng.

Huang Xing's Life Story

Early Years and Education

Huang Xing came from a family with a famous ancestor, Huang Tingjian. This ancestor was a well-known artist and poet from the Song dynasty. Huang Xing started his studies at a respected school in Changsha in 1893. He earned a high-level degree from a special exam called the Jinshi when he was only 22 years old.

In 1898, Huang Xing was chosen to study more at Wuchang Lianghu College. He finished there in 1901. Then, in 1902, he was sent to study in Japan at the Kōbun Institute in Tokyo.

While in Japan, Huang Xing became very interested in military studies. He learned about modern warfare from a Japanese officer in his free time. Every morning, he practiced riding horses and shooting. This military training helped him a lot in his later role as a revolutionary leader in China.

Starting the Revolution

In 1903, Huang Xing gathered over 200 Chinese students in Japan. They formed a group called the Anti-Russia Volunteer Army. This group wanted to protest Russia's growing control over Outer Mongolia and its occupation of northeast China. The Japanese authorities quickly shut down the Army.

Later in 1903, Huang returned to China. He met with Chen Tianhua, Song Jiaoren, and more than 20 other people. Together, they started a secret revolutionary group called the Huaxinghui. Their goal was to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, which was the ruling family at the time. Huang Xing was chosen as the president of this group.

The Huaxinghui worked with other revolutionary groups. In 1905, they planned an armed uprising in Changsha. This was supposed to happen during the 70th birthday celebration of the Empress Dowager. However, their plan was discovered. Huang and the other members had to escape to Japan.

In Japan, Huang met Sun Yat-sen. He helped Sun start another revolutionary group called the Tongmenghui. This group also wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Huang became the second most important leader in the Tongmenghui, after Sun. He dedicated all his time and energy to the revolution.

Leading Uprisings

In 1907, Huang secretly went back to China. He traveled to Hanoi to take part in several revolts. These included the Qinzhou Uprising, Fangcheng Uprising, and Zhen Nanguan Uprising. Unfortunately, all the revolts Huang joined failed because they didn't have enough supplies or people.

In late 1909, Sun Yat-sen asked Huang to set up a southern branch of the Tongmenghui. This was to prepare for a planned military uprising from Guangzhou. In the spring of 1909, Huang led another uprising, but it also failed. In October 1909, Huang met with Sun Yat-sen in Penang, which is now part of Malaysia. They decided to focus their efforts and money on more uprisings in Guangzhou.

In the spring of 1911, Huang set up the Department of the Guangzhou Uprising in Hong Kong. He became its leader. On April 27, Huang launched the Huanghuagang Uprising in Guangzhou. He led hundreds of people in an attempt to capture the local governor. Huang and his followers could not capture the governor, who escaped by climbing over a wall. During the fight, Huang was seriously injured and shot in the hand. He lost two of his fingers.

The Huanghuagang Uprising was the last failed revolt before the Wuchang Uprising. The Wuchang Uprising finally succeeded in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty by the end of 1911. After the Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, Huang Xing traveled to Wuchang. He commanded the revolutionary forces in the Battle of Yangxia against the Qing army.

Challenges with Yuan Shikai

On January 1, 1912, a new government was formed in Nanjing, called the Nanjing Interim Government. Huang was chosen as one of its leaders. In August 1912, Huang became the director of the KMT political party.

In March 1913, the temporary president of the new Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, had the KMT chairman, Song Jiaoren, killed. Song's party had won China's first elections. He wanted to limit Yuan's power in the new government.

Later in 1913, Yuan Shikai removed KMT members from all government jobs. He moved the government to Beijing. Huang stayed in Nanjing and tried to reorganize the army to oppose Yuan. But because they didn't have enough money, Huang's army rebelled. Huang had to leave Nanjing and go to safe areas in Shanghai that were controlled by other countries. Sun Yat-sen also fled to Japan in November 1913.

In July 1913, Sun organized armed forces to fight Yuan. This started what was called the Second Revolution. On July 14, Huang went to Nanjing from Shanghai. He convinced the military leader of Jiangsu to declare independence from Yuan. He also pushed to be the military commander fighting Yuan's forces in Jiangsu. After Huang's rebellion in Jiangsu failed, he fled back to Japan.

Final Years

Huang went to live in the United States in 1914. In 1915, Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor of China. While in the US, Huang raised money to create an army to fight Yuan. After Yuan died in June 1916, Huang returned to China.

In October 1916, Huang died in Shanghai at the age of 42 from a serious liver illness. On April 15, 1917, he was given a state funeral. He was buried in Changsha on Yuelu Mountain.

Family

Huang Xing had several children:

• Huang Yiou (黄一欧): He was the youngest member of the Tongmenghui and an important leader in the Republic of China.
• Huang Yizhong (黄一中): He worked as a counselor for the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of the Interior in the Republic of China.
• Huang Zhenhua (黄振华): She was a female member of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China.
• Huang Nai (黄一寰): He was known as the "Father of China's Blind" for his work helping blind people.
• Huang Teh-hua (黄德华, Cordelia Hsueh): She was Huang's youngest child and lived in the United States until her death in 2002.

Remembrance

Huang Xing is remembered in many ways:

• In Changsha, Nanzheng Street was renamed Huang Xing Road in 1934. There are also roads named after him in Shanghai and Wuhan.
• The town where Huang Xing was born was renamed "Huang Xing Town" in his honor.
• Similar to the Zhongshan Parks, the Huang Xing Park in Shanghai is named after Huang Xing.
• In 1932, his picture was used on a 20-cent stamp in China. This stamp honored the "Martyrs of the Revolution."
• His birthplace and former residence in Changsha, Hunan, is now a museum dedicated to him.