On the eve of the Wuchang Uprising in the Xinhai year (1911), various social contradictions in Chinese society reached an unprecedented level of intensity. Spontaneous resistance struggles by the masses erupted one after another, echoing the continuous armed uprisings led by bourgeois revolutionaries. On September 14, 1911, driven by the Central China Branch of the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance), the Literary Society and the Progressive Association set aside their factional differences, united against the Qing Dynasty, and established a unified command for the uprising. On September 24, the two revolutionary groups held a second joint meeting, deciding to launch the uprising on October 6 (the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month), with Jiang Yiwu appointed as the temporary commander-in-chief.
The activities of the revolutionaries drew the attention of the Hubei authorities, who took certain measures such as imposing a citywide curfew, conducting extensive searches, confiscating soldiers' ammunition, and separating rifles from bullets. Seeing that the Qing forces were already prepared, and with key leaders of the Tongmenghui like Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, and Tan Renfeng delayed in arriving in Wuhan, the revolutionaries were forced to postpone the uprising.
On October 9, while Sun Wu and others were assembling bombs, an accidental explosion occurred; the Russian police, hearing the sound, rushed over and seized the revolutionary party's membership roster, uprising proclamations, flags, official seals, and other items, which they then handed over to the governor's office. The Viceroy of Huguang immediately ordered the closure of all four city gates and launched a search to arrest the revolutionaries.
In the face of this sudden change, Jiang Yiwu, Liu Fuji, Peng Chufan, Yang Hongsheng, and others held an emergency meeting and decided to launch the uprising immediately. Jiang Yiwu, acting as the provisional commander-in-chief, drafted orders and dispatched them to the revolutionaries in various battalions and regiments, agreeing that the uprising would begin at midnight, signaled by the cannon fire from the South Lake Artillery Unit.
However, the Governor-General of Huguang had already gotten wind of the situation in advance and dispatched military police to raid various revolutionary organizations in Wuchang, arresting Liu Fuji, Peng Chufan, Yang Hongsheng, and others, while Jiang Yiwu fled Wuhan. The Governor-General ordered the execution of Liu, Peng, and Yang, and proceeded to hunt down revolutionaries according to the seized roster. Because the order for the uprising was not delivered in time to the Nanyang Artillery Unit, the planned revolt on the night of October 9 fell through.
With no leader to coordinate, the revolutionaries within the New Army contacted each other on their own, deciding to use gunfire as a signal and launch the uprising the following evening as originally planned. On the night of October 10th, revolutionaries from the Eighth Engineering Battalion of the New Army fired the first shots of the uprising, seizing the Chu Wang Tai arsenal near Zhonghe Gate along with its rifles and ammunition. They gradually gathered over 200 men and elected Zuo Company officer Wu Zhaolin as their temporary commander-in-chief.
As soon as the gunshot rang out, revolutionary party members both inside and outside the city, along with those from various battalions and their troops, the artillery battalion, the engineering corps, and the student soldiers from the surveying school, rose up in succession and quickly converged on Chu Wang Tai. By this time, the number of insurgents had reached nearly 3,000, and Wu Zhaolin, Xiong Bingkun, Cai Jimin, and others decided to launch an attack that night on the Governor's Office and the adjacent headquarters of the Eighth Town Command.
At 10:30 PM, the rebel forces launched a three-pronged attack on the rear courtyard of the Governor's Office, the headquarters of the Eighth Division, and the flanks and front gate of the Governor's Office. Meanwhile, the Eighth Artillery Battalion, which had already entered the city, occupied firing positions and began bombarding the Governor's Office. The first assault was temporarily repelled, but later, additional rebel soldiers joined the battle, and with the artillery units fully positioned on Snake Hill, the situation began to improve.
The second attack launched after midnight was exceptionally fierce. The rebel forces broke through the defense line and approached near the governor's office.
The three rebel forces coordinated with each other and, supported by artillery fire, charged into the governor's office in one swift move, setting the main hall ablaze. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the defenders of the governor's office and the headquarters either surrendered or scattered. By dawn on October 11, all government offices and city gates within Wuchang were under the control of the insurgent army. On the morning of October 11, Qing troops who had been hesitating gradually gathered at the Chu Wang Terrace to follow the orders of the revolutionaries.
The Eighteen-Star Flag was planted on the city walls of Wuchang, marking the victory of the Wuchang Uprising.
Following this, revolutionary party members in Hanyang and Hankou also responded to the call and successively recovered these areas, bringing all three towns of Wuhan under revolutionary control. The revolutionaries then issued a declaration, changing the country's name to the Republic of China, and established the Hubei Military Government of the Republic of China, calling on all provinces to rise up in support. Influenced by Hubei's example, 13 provinces across the country declared independence one after another.
On January 1, 1912, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established; on February 12, 1912, the Qing emperor abdicated, and the Qing dynasty was overthrown.