QiFeng/Wen
Now when people talk about the national flag of the Republic of China, the impression is that the sky is full of red flags, so that more than ten years ago, I saw the five-color flag (imitation) on display as a parade item for the first time in the Red House (New Culture Movement Memorial Hall) of Peking University, and I thought it was very novel. At that time, I would not have imagined that I would have the opportunity to see the five-color flag often, of course, not the real flag, but the pattern on the copper dollar.
Photo: Exhibits in the Red Chamber of Peking University (net map)
This copper dollar is called "Commemorative Coin for the Founding of the Republic of China", which, as the name suggests, is closely related to the establishment of the Republic of China. On October 10, 1911, the revolutionaries launched the Wuchang Uprising, established the Military Governor's Office of the Republic of China, and acted as the central government; on January 1, 1912, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the President; on February 12, 1912, the Qing Emperor abdicated and the Republic of China unified the north and south.
Since the republic has replaced the imperial system, it is impossible to continue to use old coins such as copper dollars and silver dollars engraved with dragon patterns and year numbers, coupled with the indiscriminate minting of copper dollars in various parts of the Qing Dynasty before, bad money is rampant, and prices are high, so that the Provisional Government must issue new coins, one of which is the founding commemorative coin.
Pictured: Two Guangxu Yuanbao from different provinces (Qifeng Collection)
In March 1912, Sun Yat-sen issued a provisional presidential decree in accordance with the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, which determined that the new copper dollar should be named "commemorative coin" and the common pattern was "five grain model", indicating "taking the righteousness of the people in the prosperous years and exhorting the rules of agricultural affairs". Here, the Provisional Government did not prescribe a pattern on the other side of the copper dollar, probably because the Hubei military government, which had been established earlier, had submitted an initial design for the new coin to Nanjing and approved it.
The stereotype of this design is the so-called "double flag coin", one side is engraved with denomination, Jiahe, and the other side is the "Eighteen Star Flag" and "Five Color Flag" that are crossed together. When casting in various provinces, there are many differences in details such as English, Jiahe style, and double flag size.
Photo: Two founding commemorative coins from different provinces (Qifeng Collection)
The Eighteen-Star Flag, also known as the "Iron-Blooded Eighteen-Star Flag", the 18 stars on the flag represent the 18 provinces in the interior where the Han people live, and have a strong "full" atmosphere. The Communist Progressives launched the Wuchang Uprising and established a military government, using the Eighteen-Star Flag. The five-color flag represents Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan in red, yellow, blue, white and black respectively, which means "republic of the five ethnic groups". Revolutionaries in Jiangsu and Zhejiang mostly use five-color flags.
These two flags do not appear on all the newly minted copper dollars, such as the copper dollar minted in Sichuan, one side is written "Sichuan copper coin", the other side is eighteen stars surrounded by a seal "Han" character; on the copper dollar minted in Hunan, one side is written "Hunan copper yuan", and the other side is eighteen stars.
Picture: Copper yuan cast in Sichuan (QiFeng Collection)
Picture: Copper yuan cast in Hunan (Qifeng Collection)
I suspect that Sun Yat-sen probably wouldn't have liked these founding commemorative coins, because he was thinking of the Blue Sky and White Sun Flag. Friends who have watched Huang Feihong's series of movies "Boys Should Strengthen Themselves" may remember that this flag was designed by the martyr Lu Haodong himself, and Sun Yat-sen saw that he cried unceasingly. The same is true of history, where Sun Yat-sen has insisted on using the Blue Sky and White Sun Flag in the uprising he led since the sacrifice of Lu Haodong. When Sun Yat-sen returned to China in December 1911, the five-color flag had been widely used and became the de facto national flag, which he publicly disagreed with.
Pictured: The Blue Sky White Sun Flag in "Boys Should Be Self-Reliant"
In his reply to the provincial congresses (acting as the provisional senate), Sun Yat-sen pointed out: "First, in the old practice of the Qing Dynasty, the navy used the five-color flag as the banner of one or two great officials. The national flag of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is now deposed, and the use of its official flag is inevitably lost. Second, its intention is to be the five major nationalities, but its distribution of alternate colors is not accurate, such as huang instead of manchus. Third, even if the five ethnic groups are equal, but there are still classes in the upper and lower ranks. ”
In Sun Yat-sen's view, a qualified national flag should meet three conditions, "the history of one flag, the meaning of two flags, and the beauty of three flags", the blue sky and white sun flag was "used by Han Republicans for more than ten years by southern rebels", and its "image is magnificent, China is a great power in the Far East." The sunrise in the east is the most of the stars" "and the blue sky and the white sun show the light and illuminate the righteousness of freedom and equality, and the red banner is also three colors." In short, Lu Haodong's design of the blue sky and white sun with the red flag, after becoming the red flag of the blue sky and white sun, has the advantage that the eighteen-star flag and the five-color flag are unattainable.
Pictured: Since the Hubei military government was once the de facto central government, the Eighteen Star Flag it used was once regarded as the national flag
On the issue of the national flag, Sun Yat-sen did not let up until he gave way to Yuan Shikai. In April 1912, after the Provisional Senate went north, it was finally agreed that the five-color flag would be the national flag, the eighteen-star flag would be the army flag, and the blue sky and white sun flag would be the naval flag. It should be noted that in order to weaken the meaning of the eighteen-star flag as "full", and to safeguard national equality and territorial integrity, the provisional Senate resolution added 1 star to make it a nineteen-star flag.
As a result, the two flags on the founding commemorative coin were now clearly defined as the national flag and the army flag - there was no naval flag. The provinces continued to mint this copper dollar for many years, from being ten and twenty, to being fifty, when hundred, and even when two hundred, and embarked on the same old road as the late Qing Dynasty.100 copper dollars. After about 1919, all sectors of society demanded that the Beiyang government stop minting copper dollars.
Figure: Sichuan Dangbai Copper Yuan, Sichuan Dang fifty Copper Yuan, Hunan Dang Ten Copper Yuan (Qifeng Zang)
The comprehensive rectification of the currency system was not really realized until 1933, that is, the National Government's "abolition of two reforms". At this time, the founding commemorative coin, together with the five-color flag and the eighteen-star flag, has entered history together, and the red flag that symbolizes the revolutionary spirit is finally in place as the national flag.