Liew Kit Siong. Struggle for Democracy: Sung Chiao-Jen and the 1911 Chinese Revolution

University of California Press, 1971. — 260 p.The 1911 revolution was a momentous event in Chinese history. It overthrew the 2,000-year-old monarchical system, and tried to establish a democratic republic in its place. The failure of this first attempt to Westernise China, combined with the other frustrations of the young intellectuals who engineered the revolution, contributed in large measure to China’s disenchantment with democracy, and to her subsequent intense commitment to Communism. This book, set against the background of events, is a study of the handful of young revolutionaries who nurtured and united radical feeling in China so as to bring about the revolution; in particular, it is a study of Sung Chiao-jen, revolutionary leader, idealist, and intellectual, who was assassinated at the age of thirty at Shanghai in 1913. The beliefs and aspirations, the struggle for democracy, the disillusionments of Sung Chiao-jen and his fellow revolutionary leaders, provide the necessary background of understanding for judgments about China’s last sixty years. It is a story that every one interested in China will want to read.