A Turbulent Chinese History, On Rare Display At Hoover Institution

A vast and illuminating collection of artifacts from a recent, raucous period in Chinese history was unveiled to the public Tuesday by the Hoover Institution.

“A Century of Change: China 1911 – 2011” opened at the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion, drawing from the Institution’s rich East Asian holdings. The exhibit displays illustrations, documents, and artifacts from nineteenth century imperial China, the revolution in 1911, the warlord era, the Sino-Japanese War, the Civil War, and the formation of the People’s Republic of China.

The Hoover Institution’s Chinese collection goes back to Herbert Hoover’s position in 1899 as the manager of a mine in Tianjin, China. He and his wife, Lou Henry, returned to the U.S. and correctly predicted that there would be a calamitous uprising against the imperial regime. Hoover helped Stanford University historian Payson Treat buy books about China and later donated 600 books to the library.

As background the exhibit shows photographs and maps from the nineteenth century and a 1909 portrait of the Qing imperial family. The emperor, Guangxu, was open to change as reformers and revolutionaries sought to revive China after its losses in the Opium Wars and a war with Japan in 1895.

The revolutionaries were able to score military victories and topple China’s dynasty. After 2,100 years of imperial rule, China became a republic on October 10, 1911. Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who had studied medicine in Hawaii, promulgated the revolution and was called the “Father of the Republic”. His 1897 book, “Kidnapped in London” is on display.

The exhibit includes illustrations of scenes from the revolution as well as photographs and cables from the early days of the republic. There is a 35-minute documentary film on the life and legacy of Sun Yat Sen.

Sun Yat Sen died in 1925 and Chiang Kai Shek, a stalwart in Sun Yat Sen’s Kuomintang (KMT) party wrote a eulogy in his diary that is on display. While Sun promoted unity between Communists and Nationalists and support from the Soviet Union, Chiang Kai Shek purged Communists from the government in 1927 and succeeded in unifying China.

However, the unity was short-lived as Communists under Mao Tse Tung organized their “Long March” and declared a “Chinese Soviet Republic” in 1931. On display are samples of its paper currency in the form of dollar bills with Lenin’s portrait.

At the same time Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria and, as World War II continued, much of China was under Japanese control. At the end of the war the Soviet army entered Manchuria and forced the surrender of 700,000 Japanese troops. When the Soviets left there was civil war between the forces of Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek. By 1949 the Communists were victorious and set up the People’s Republic of China.

The exhibit doesn’t show much from the Communist era but points out that Sun Yat Sen is revered by the Communists as the “forerunner of the revolution”. There is a 1981 poster called “The Battle for the Republic of China.”

The exhibit is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 4:00pm, and is free of charge. It closes March 17, 2012.