Directory_and_Chronicle_1934 — Page 889

:

·

::

9

"

i

CANTON

✓

í

¿

t

;

1

1

¡

;

!

D

A475

big guns, maxims, barbed wire. entanglements, sand-bag fortifications, etc., the Shameen had the appearance, of an island under siege, Canton remained remarkably quiet when the general rising occurred. In April the Tartar- General had been shot; in May a revolutionary crowd made an assault on the Viceroy's yamen, but stern military measures prevented a general rising. Later in the year the new Tartar-General was assassinated by a bomb as he landed in Canton, and on another occasion an attempt, which proved nearly successful, was made to assassinate Admiral Li, who so effectually checked the rising in May. When the revolution broke out on a grand scale in October, the Viceroy, recognising the hopelessness of resistance with troops honeycombed with sedition and with a population unanimously in sympathy with revolu- tion, readily agreed to the transfer of the Government to the revolutionary leaders, and the independence of the province was thus attained without blood- shed. In July, 1913, when a rebellion broke out in several provinces against what was described as the dictatorship of Yuan Shih-kai, the Tuchun, Chen Chiung-ming, proclaimed the independence of the province. The ex-viceroy Tchen came down to Canton as the generalissimo of the rebel forces to organise an expedition to proceed north to punish Yuan Shih-kai, but he failed to win over General, Lung Chikwang, of Kwangsi, who remained loyal to the Central Government, and marched with a large force upon Canton. As this force approached the city the Tuchun and the Generalissimo fled, and on reaching Canton General Lung cancelled the declaration of independence, and gradually restored peace and order in the city, where much looting and some fighting took place prior to and for some time after his arrival. In 1916 when the troubles arose over Yuan Shih-kai's attempt to ascend the Dragon throne. Kwangtung again declared its independence, but this did not prevent blood- shed. General Lung was denounced as a traitor to the Republic by General Tehen, who attacked Canton at the head of a large army. There was consi- derable destruction of property and much less of life before matters were settled by General Lung's transference to another post, In 1921 Dr. Sun Yat Sen was proclaimed by his followers "President of China." In 1922 Sun went to Kweilin, in Kwangsi, to make preparations for his projected punitive expedition to Peiping, but his forces never got within a thousand miles of the city, and the hopes which, he had based on his alliance with Chang Tso-lin destroyed by the defeat of this Tuchun's forces by Wu Pei-fu. In the meantime, Sun had alienated his chief lieutenant, Chen Chiung-ming, and in the middle of the year Chen's supporters put Sun and his followers in Canton to flight. Sun took refuge on the warship Wing Fung, and later fled to Shanghai. Chen remained in Kwangtung, as Commander-in-Chief if the Forces, and his nominee, Chan Chik-yue, a merchant of Hongkong, was appointed Civil Governor in September., Early in January, 1923, Dr. Sun's sympathisers sent a force composed of Kwangsi and Yunnanese soldiers to invade Kwangtung, and Canten quickly fell into their possession. Chen re- tired to Waichow; the Civil Governor had fled some days previously to Hong- kong Sun remained in possession throughout the year and also throughout 1924, The ranks of the Merchants Volunteer Corps-which had been formed with Government approval some years before, with a view to ensuring greater security against plunder by pirates-increased to very large dimensions and Sun began to see in it a serious menace to his authority. When a large consignment of arms and ammunition, imported under Government permit, I was seized by Dr. Sun's orders there was open revolt by the merchants. Business was entirely suspended for several days and was only resumed on Sun promising to release the arms. There was great delay, however, in ful- filling the promise, and public feeling became highly incensed against Dr. Sun, who finally gave orders to his troops for the suppression of the revolt and the annihilation of the Volunteer Corps. Accordingly, on October 15th the whole commercial district of Saikwan, which the volunteers had barricaded for defence, was surrounded by Sun's overwhelming forces. There was des- perate fighting in the streets for several hours. Incendiary gangs assisted the Government forces, and several hundred houses were destroyed by fire. Within

were

ང་

1

:

•

!