A military uprising on Oct. 10, 1911, in Wuchang, China, marked the start of the Xinhai Revolution. On Monday, both the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing and the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) in Taipei celebrated the 100th anniversary of the revolution, regarding themselves as the legitimate inheritor of the revolutionary tradition.
China had become a quasi-colony of Western powers following the two Opium Wars (Anglo-Chinese Wars) in the mid-19th century. Sun Yat-sen led the revolutionary movement under the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy and the people's livelihood.
In 1905, Sun and his comrades established in Tokyo the United League (Tongmeng Hui), the predecessor of the Nationalist Party. The Xinhai Revolution ended more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. On Jan. 1, 1912, Sun became provisional president of the Republic of China. But one month later, Yuan Shikai took the post. In February that year, the Qing dynasty's last emperor, Puyi, abdicated.