Political Transformation and Early Modernization of Suzhou in the Early Republican Era (1912-1927)

Political Transformation and Early Modernization of Suzhou (苏州) in the Early Republican Era (1912-1927)

On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China (中华民国) was established, and Suzhou entered the Republican era. The Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命) broke the historical cycle of dynastic succession, transforming more than two thousand years of absolute monarchy into a democratic system. Suzhou’s (苏州) historical evolution became more closely aligned with China’s overall trajectory, manifesting new characteristics across political, economic, and social-cultural dimensions.

I. From Liberation to the Rise of Party Politics

In early November 1911, Suzhou responded to the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起义) and declared liberation. At year’s end, Yuan Xiluo (袁希洛), supervisor of Caoqiao Middle School (草桥中学), attended the provisional presidential election in Nanjing (南京) as Suzhou’s representative. On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen (孙中山) assumed office as provisional president. When Yuan returned on January 8, his students insisted on wearing Western suits for a group photograph to mark the “successful revolution”—a gesture of “reform and modernization.” Yet transparent governance did not arrive overnight; the republic soon entered an era of warlord domination.

The early Republic promoted democratic politics and fostered party development. Sun Yat-sen believed that “a nation’s political progress depends on the existence of parties.” Various new parties emerged, including the Chinese Socialist Party (中国社会党) led by Jiang Kanghu (江亢虎). On January 14, 1912, six to seven hundred people attended the founding meeting of the Suzhou branch. The 18-year-old Ye Shengtao (叶圣陶) praised Jiang in his diary; decades later, historian Gu Jiegang (顾颉刚) recalled that Jiang’s advocacy of “educational equality and public inheritance” seemed “more progressive than the Three Principles of the People (三民主义).” Within a week, over two hundred Suzhou residents had joined the party.

However, Socialist enthusiasm soon cooled. After Jiang’s arrest in September 1912 and Song Jiaoren’s assassination in March 1913, Chen Yilong was killed in late 1913. Ye Shengtao wrote that “demons block the road, daylight has lost its shine.” Yuan Shikai (袁世凯) banned the Socialist Party nationwide, and it vanished. Gu Jiegang later recalled that fellow members “were passionate during speeches but discarded that fervor the moment meetings ended.”

II. Opposition to Yuan Shikai’s Dictatorship and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War (江浙战争)

In March 1912, Yuan Shikai assumed the provisional presidency in Beijing (北京). By late 1915, he declared the “Chinese Empire” with the reign title “Hongxian (洪宪).” At Liuli Girls’ Primary School (黎里女子小学) in Wujiang (吴江), 12-year-old revolutionary martyr Zhang Yingchun (张应春) refused to change “Republic Year Five” to “Hongxian Year One” in the class log. Zhang Yilin (张一麐) (1867-1943), known as “Old Zhong,” had served in Yuan’s administration but repeatedly advised against the monarchy. Yuan was forced to abolish the empire on March 22, 1916, and died in despair shortly after.

After Yuan’s death, imperialist powers backed rival warlord factions. Jiangsu (江苏省) was controlled by the Zhili clique (直系军阀), while Zhejiang (浙江省) and Anhui (安徽省) belonged to the Anhui clique (皖系军阀). In September 1924, warlords Qi Xieyuan (齐燮元) and Lu Yongxiang (卢永祥) triggered the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War. Qi deployed troops through Suzhou, Kunshan (昆山), and Taicang (太仓). Local gentry led by Zhang Zhongren (张仲仁) shuttled between Shanghai (上海), Nanjing, and Hangzhou (杭州) seeking peace. Despite a signed peace convention, fighting erupted on September 11. Retreating troops looted over 160 shops along Shi Road (石路) and the main avenue. Liuhe Town was devastated with 300 casualties. Kunshan suffered damage across nine-tenths of its territory, hosting some 110,000 troops.

The Jiangsu-Zhejiang War was a power struggle among warlords, with imperialist powers “reaping the fisherman’s profit.” Liu Yazi (柳亚子) observed: “Reactionary warlords, armed with money and weapons, could recruit soldiers at will, while the impoverished proletariat, struggling for daily wages, had no choice but to be ensnared.” The ultimate victims were local communities and ordinary people.

III. Suzhou in the Anti-Imperialist Tide

In the early 20th century, Western capitalism entered its monopoly stage—imperialism. Awakened Chinese could no longer tolerate foreign aggression, and anti-imperialist waves swept through society, with Suzhou developing its own local themes.

1. Suzhou’s Response to the May Fourth Movement (五四运动)

On May 4, 1919, over 3,000 students from Peking University (北京大学) and other schools demonstrated in Tiananmen Square (天安门广场), chanting “Fight for sovereignty, eliminate traitors!” When news reached Suzhou, students responded immediately. On May 6, Suzhou academia issued a telegram declaring: “When traitors endanger our university students, all schools should close and all students stand together.” On May 9—the National Humiliation Day (国耻纪念日) commemorating Yuan Shikai’s acceptance of Japan’s Twenty-One Demands (二十一条) —schools across Suzhou held assemblies. The Second Provincial Girls’ Normal School marched with white flags to the Japanese concession (日租界).

Youth in surrounding towns worked to awaken rural patriotism. In mid-May, Taicang’s Fourth Provincial Middle School formed a “National Salvation Corps (救国讲演队) ” to spread propaganda in villages. On May 10, the Suzhou Student Federation (苏州学生联合会) was established. When Shanghai students decided to strike on May 26, Suzhou followed suit on May 28, with over 10,000 students from more than 20 schools participating. At Jiangsu Provincial Suzhou Middle School (江苏省苏州中学), student Yang Songnian vowed to commit suicide if the strike was banned; the principal relented.

By June 3, the movement expanded beyond intellectuals to include workers and merchants nationwide. Suzhou’s factory workers, rickshaw pullers, dockers, and railway workers joined strikes. The Shanghai-Nanjing railway (沪宁铁路) workers struck on June 10. Rickshaw drivers posted slogans urging students to “persist to the end, don’t be five-minute patriots.” The Suzhou Chamber of Commerce closed markets on June 8. The “National Salvation Perseverance Corps (救国恒志团) ” distributed couplets to teahouses and hotels bearing messages like “Avenge our humiliation, never forget national shame.”

2. Suzhou’s Support for the May Thirtieth Movement (五卅运动)

The May Thirtieth Movement followed as another wave of anti-imperialism. On May 30, 1925, British police in Shanghai’s International Settlement fired on demonstrators, killing more than ten people. That night, the Chinese Communist Party’s (中国共产党) Central Committee decided to launch a “three strikes” campaign.

On May 31, the Suzhou Student Federation convened 800 students from 13 schools including Soochow University (东吴大学), deciding to strike immediately. On June 2, 2,000 students from over 20 schools marched with slogans like “Down with British and Japanese imperialism!” and “Abolish unequal treaties!” On June 5, the Chamber of Commerce and 20 civic groups demanded punishment of perpetrators, compensation, and abolition of extraterritoriality. The Suzhou Civic Federation endorsed promoting domestic products as “the most effective way to resist foreign aggression and benefit national industry.”

The issue of tariff autonomy gradually drew attention from business and academic circles. On July 8, 1925, the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce telegrammed the Beijing government, pointing out that under unequal treaty tariffs, “Chinese merchants suffer from foreign tax refusals and foreign goods competition.” In November 1925, the Student Federation published a special issue on tariff autonomy and invited speakers Xiao Chunu (萧楚女) and Jiang Changlin, filling the YMCA (基督教青年会) auditorium to capacity.

IV. The Great Revolution Surges Through Suzhou

The First National Congress of the Kuomintang (中国国民党第一次全国代表大会) in January 1924 marked the formal establishment of the revolutionary united front. Between 1924 and 1927, the KMT (中国国民党) and CCP (中国共产党) cooperated in a massive revolutionary campaign against imperialism and warlordism.

1. Revolutionary Thought in Suzhou

When the May Thirtieth Incident (五卅惨案) erupted in 1925, Ye Shengtao was in Shanghai experiencing it firsthand. On its first anniversary, he wrote: “Suzhou neighbors Shanghai with convenient transportation; whenever a national movement occurs, Suzhou responds promptly… The May Thirtieth Movement was not merely a Shanghai affair, but the cry of decades of Chinese suffering from internal and external oppression.”

Inspired by rising national spirit, Ye Shengtao and Wang Zhijiu founded *Suzhou Review (《苏州评论》) * in 1926 to awaken ordinary citizens. Communist Party (共产党) member Gu Rongchuan (顾榕川) organized workers to sing the “May Thirtieth Martyrs Memorial Song (五卅烈士纪念歌) ”: “Wolves block the road, tigers run rampant, harming our China… Compatriots, rise together, fight to the death for the Chinese nation!“

2. Worker and Peasant Awakening

Suzhou, a city with developed modern industry, had a concentrated working class. During the May Thirtieth Movement, the Dongwu Silk Mill (东吴丝织厂) proposed that workers eat only pickled vegetables for ten days to save money for Shanghai strikers. Thirty-six factories responded. The Suzhou Pingtan Guangyu Society suspended performances for three days, donating all proceeds. Shanghai student federations invited Suzhou theater troupes to perform benefit shows in Wujiang and Tongli.

In Wujiang, support for the May Thirtieth Movement was vigorous. The local newspaper New Lili published a special issue. The “National Diplomatic Support Association (外交后援会) ” was formed with the goal of “abolishing unequal treaties and reclaiming concessions.” Local leader Liu Yazi wrote: “Imperialist slaughter of our people goes far beyond a few bloody heaps on Nanjing Road (南京路)… Since the Opium War (鸦片战争) opened five treaty ports, countless Chinese have died from direct and indirect imperialist aggression.”

V. The Difficult Transformation of Regional Economy

With the penetration of foreign capitalism, capitalist workshop handicraft and machine industry emerged in Suzhou’s urban and rural areas. Pre-existing household labor acquired capitalist characteristics through connection with modern industrial forms. Suzhou’s economic landscape was restructured by these new production relations, beginning a difficult transition to modernity.

During the May Fourth and May Thirtieth movements, Suzhou society planned industrial development under the banner of “boycott foreign goods, promote domestic products.” In Shengze, Suzhou’s silk industry center, intellectuals found new opportunities. Xu Lianxuan wrote in New Shengze: “On one hand, we must demand the abolition of unequal treaties; on the other, promote domestic products to resist foreign economic pressure—this is an excellent new opportunity for Shengze people.”

From passive boycotts to active industrial promotion, the theme of local development gradually clarified. The Wuxian Education Association recognized: “Foreign police dare kill students and workers because China is weak, and China’s weakness stems from weak industry.” In 1920, Suzhou established the Domestic Products Maintenance Association. However, some unscrupulous merchants disguised Japanese goods as Western products or used foreign firms’ names for smuggling.

Xu Weinan advocated organizing domestic product markets but maintained a clear-headed view: “Some say we should simply stop buying foreign goods. But that’s impossible. For example, a foreign tin basin costs thirty cents—light and convenient—while a domestic brass one costs two or three dollars. People naturally choose the cheaper, lighter option. We must find ways to replace foreign goods, not merely boycott them.” The positive approach was to raise national industry’s quality and competitiveness—precisely what Chinese industrialists pursued after the May Thirtieth tide.

Conclusion

In the early Republican period, Suzhou experienced the painful transition from absolute monarchy to democratic republic amidst warlord conflicts. It survived foreign imperialism while developing modern national consciousness, and initiated the difficult shift from traditional handicrafts to modern industry. This era’s Suzhou was both a microcosm of national politics and a showcase of unique local responses. From the political passion of intellectual youth like Ye Shengtao and Gu Jiegang, to the social responsibility of gentry like Zhang Zhongren, from patriotic movements of workers and students to industrial salvation efforts by the business community, Suzhou composed a vivid local chapter in China’s modern historical narrative during these fifteen formative years.