ABSTRACT
The revolution that the dynasty had tried to avert by its belated reforms was begun by an accidental explosion in a house in Hankow. Investigators found a collection of arms and a list of men who were planning a rising the following week. Some of them were officers of the local garrison who promptly mutinied to avoid arrest. In the face of remarkably little opposition they seized Wuhan, Hankow and Hanyang, and soon city after city in southern and central China had joined the rebellion. The risings, spontaneous and uncoordinated, were chiefly led by soldiers, but they had behind them the sympathy and support of the educated class who were disgusted with the corruption of the Manchu regime. They saw the only hope for China in the destruction of the dynasty and political reform. Beyond that the revolutionaries had no common objective and each provincial group acted independently until Sun Yat-sen accepted the presidency of a provisional government which revolutionary representatives set up in Nanking.
