Author | Zou Rong[1] |
---|---|
Publication date | 1903[2] |
OCLC | 706898916 |
The Revolutionary Army (simplified Chinese: 革命军; traditional Chinese: 革命軍) is a revolutionary pamphlet[3] that was written by Zou Rong and published in Shanghai in 1903 with a preface by Zhang Binglin.[4] It propagates the justice and necessity of the revolution and exposes the decadence and reaction of the Manchu rule.[5] Zou attacks the Manchus as an evil race, and calls on the Han race to replace them.[6] The aim of the book was to dethrone the Manchu government and set up a Republic of China by revolutionary means.[7]
In 1902, Zou Rong went to Japan to study, influenced by Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas, and devoted himself to the democratic revolutionary struggle. During his stay in Japan, Zou wrote a book of more than 20,000 words entitled The Revolutionary Army, in which he systematically elaborated on the object, nature, tasks and future of the democratic revolution.[8]
From 1903, The Revolutionary Army was reprinted in 29 editions in Shanghai, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, with more than 1 million copies distributed, accounting for the first place in the sales of revolutionary books during the late Qing dynasty.[9]
The Revolutionary Army was the first work in Modern Chinese history that systematically and clearly propagated democratic ideas, republican revolution and called for the creation of a democratic republic,[10] and played a catalytic role in the Chinese democratic revolution.[11] Zhang Shizhao praised the book as "the first textbook for the national people today".[12]
John Lust's The Revolutionary Army. A Chinese Nationalist Tract of 1903 (The Hague: Mouton; Matériaux Pour L'étude De L'extrême-Orient Moderne Et Contemporain. Textes; 6, 1968) offers the Chinese text, English translation, an extensive Introduction, and detailed notes.