J182, Noted Figures in the Period of the 1911 Revolution《辛亥革命时期著名人物》

Stamp Title: Noted Figures in the Period of the 1911 Revolution
Scott No: 2358, 2359, 2360
Serial number: J182
Values in set: 3
(3-1), Xu Xilin, 20 fen, 40*30 mm
(3-2), Qiu Jin, 20 fen, 40*30 mm
(3-3), Song Jiaoren, 20 fen, 40-30 mm
Denomination: 60 fen
Date of issue: October 10, 1991
Designer: Wang Shupeng
Size of stamps: 40*30 mm
Perforation: 11*11.5
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Failure of reform from the top and the fiasco of the Boxer Uprising convinced many Chinese that the only real solution lay in outright revolution, in sweeping away the old order and erecting a new one patterned preferably after the example of Japan. The revolutionary leader was Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian in pinyin, 1866- 1925), a republican and anti-Qing activist who became increasingly popular among the overseas Chinese and Chinese students abroad, especially in Japan. In 1905 Sun founded the Tongmeng Hui (United League) in Tokyo with Huang Xing (1874-1916), a popular leader of the Chinese revolutionary movement in Japan, as his deputy. This movement, generously supported by overseas Chinese funds, also gained political support with regional military officers and some of the reformers who had fled China after the Hundred Days’ Reform. Sun’s political philosophy was conceptualized in 1897, first enunciated in Tokyo in 1905, and modified through the early 1920s. It centered on the Three Principles of the People (san min zhuyi): “nationalism, democracy, and people’s livelihood.” The principle of nationalism called for overthrowing the Manchus and ending foreign hegemony over China. The second principle, democracy, was used to describe Sun’s goal of a popularly elected republican form of government. People’s livelihood, often referred to as socialism, was aimed at helping the common people through regulation of the ownership of the means of production and land.

The republican revolution broke out on October 10, 1911, in Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province, among discontented modernized army units whose anti-Qing plot had been uncovered. It had been preceded by numerous abortive uprisings and organized protests inside China. The revolt quickly spread to neighboring cities, and Tongmeng Hui members throughout the country rose in immediate support of the Wuchang revolutionary forces. By late November, fifteen of the twenty-four provinces had declared their independence of the Qing empire. A month later, Sun Yat-sen returned to China from the United States, where he had been raising funds among overseas Chinese and American sympathizers. On January 1, 1912, Sun was inaugurated in Nanjing as the provisional president of the new Chinese republic. But power in Beijing already had passed to the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, Yuan Shikai, the strongest regional military leader at the time. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, Sun agreed to Yuan’s demand that China be united under a Beijing government headed by Yuan. On February 12, 1912, the last Manchu emperor, the child Puyi, abdicated. On March 10, in Beijing, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as provisional president of the Republic of China.

J182 辛亥革命时期著名人物
这套纪念邮票是纪念辛亥革命80周年于1991年10月10日发行的，画面依次是为辛亥革命献出生命的著名人物徐锡麟、秋瑾、宋教仁。

发行日期：1991.10.10。影写版。P11*11.5。 40mm*30mm。40(5*8)。 [G]。
设计：王书朋。印刷：北京邮票厂。

徐锡麟（1873—1907），浙江省绍兴人。1901年被聘为绍兴府学堂讲师。1903年赴日本，接受革命排满主张。1904年在上海加入光复会。1905年在家乡数县联络会党，结交奇才和有为之士，发展光复会会员，积累革命排满的实力。1906年经人举荐，出任安徽陆军小学会办，旋升任巡警处会办兼巡警学堂监督。1907年春与秋瑾密商组织光复军起义。约定由秋瑾7月6日在浙江发难，徐在皖响应。但浙江起义延期而徐锡麟不知，仍按原计划起事，击杀安徽巡抚恩铭并与清军激战，终因寡不敌众，兵败被俘，次日英勇就义。

秋瑾（1875—1907），浙江省绍兴人。出身于仕宦世家，读书通大义，善骑马击剑，自号鉴湖女侠。1902年随夫移居北京。适值庚子国难不久，她目睹民族苦难深重，清朝政府腐败无能，遂激起反 帝、排满、救民于水火的爱国热情。1904年她东渡 日本留学。在日期间积极参加留日学生的革命活动。1905年回绍兴，加入光复会。同年7月返回日本，8月同盟会成立，她率先加入，成为出色的革命活动家和宣传家。1906年回国在上海办学、办报、联络会党。1907年应徐锡麟之聘，参加浙江秘密组织光复会，后因会党走露风声，推迟起义。徐锡麟兵败被杀后，秋瑾于1907年7月13日被捕，15日在绍兴从容 就义。

宋教仁（1882—1913），湖南省桃源县人。1904年与黄兴、陈天华等在长沙创建华兴会，被推为副会长。华兴会拟于当年11月16日起义，事泄后逃亡日本。先后于法政大学、早稻田大学主修政治、法律。1905年8月与孙中山、黄兴等建立中国同盟会，任司法检事长。1909年到东北联络义军，得知日本企图侵占我吉林省所属延吉等四县，遂著《间岛问题》一书，以充分、确凿的史实证明延吉自古以来就是中国领土，决不允他人染指。1911年1月回上海任《民主报》主笔。7月在上海成立同盟会中部总会，策划在长江流域各地设立分会，并准备发动起义。武昌起义后，宋教仁赴武汉协助湖北军政府办理外交，制订各项法令和文告。1912年1月临时政府成立，担任法制院总裁。南北议和告成后，任农林总长。不久辞职回上海。同年8月，同盟会联合其它几个小党派组成国民党，任代理理事长。1913年初该党在国会选举中获多数席位，宋教仁提出“责任内阁”和政党政治的主张，以限制袁世凯专权。同时赴南方各地发表竞选演说，遭袁世凯忌恨，同年3月20日被袁指使特务行刺于上海车站，22日身亡。

这3枚邮票的画面均采用油画的棕色调。强烈地表现出80年前辛亥革命的时代感和事件悲剧性质，使画面显得更深沉、更严肃。人物的背景色彩由浓转淡，由实转虚，一方面象征着烈士的革命精神的延伸和光大， 另一方面使画面的内涵显得博大。