The Agrarian Disturbances in the Days of the Chinese Revolution of 1911

The Chinese nationalism which arose after the Russo-Japanese War took the form of constitutional and anti-opium movements. The movements were led by former returned students from Japan and the West and by university students in China. These movements caused agrarian disturbance against reforms. The census-taking and establishment of schools as a foundation for constitutional government caused extraordinary taxation and encouraged corruption of the officials. Farmers lost a source of cash income because of the prohibition of opium cultivation. Moreover the flood of Yangtze River in 1910-11 damaged the farm-villages. The rising price of rice caused rice riots in many places. These dissatifications of farmers just before the Revolution of 1911 contributed to their support of the revolutionalists against the constitutionalists