The period from the extermination of the Qing Dynasty to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China was the period of the Republic of China, a historical period marked by great turbulence and changes.
With the triumph of the Xin Hai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen founded the Republic of China, but the fruit of revolution was soon seized by Yuan Shikai and other northern warlords. Later, the governments of the Northern warlords (1912—1928) carried out dictatorial rule internally and relied on imperialist powers externally. Meanwhile, the various warlords fought continually with each other, with the people suffering in poverty and misery.
In 1921 the Communist Party of China was established in Shanghai. It organized its own military forces, led the Chinese people to go through the Land Revolution War ( 1927—1937 ) , the Anti-Japanese War ( 1937—1945 ) and the Liberation War ( 1945—1949 ) . It defeated the Japanese invaders, overthrew the KMT government headed by Jiang Jieshi , and liberated all the Chinese territory except Taiwan Province and a few islands .
In this period, there was a very drastic change culturally. The May 4th. New Culture Movement using the slogan of “New Youth” initiated by Chen Duxiu in 1915 dealt severe blows on the traditional feudal culture. Democracy and Science, also the watchwords of the movement, struck root in the hearts of the people. Writing in the vernacular, or the modern spoken Chinese, gained a great popularity. Education, science and publication, particularly with respect to social sciences , literature and arts , all had remarkable achievement .
