Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912)
Sun Yat-sen inaugurates the Republic of China's Nanjing provisional government
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The oath was reportedly administered at about ten o'clock at night. While Sun took it in Nanjing, a six-year-old emperor's government still held Beijing.
1 January 1912: a late-evening oath at Nanjing
Sun Yat-sen took the oath of office as provisional president at Nanjing on 1 January 1912 — reportedly at about 10 p.m. — and proclaimed the Republic of China and its provisional government. The Nanjing assembly of provincial representatives had elected him unanimously three days earlier, on 29 December 1911.
In his inaugural declaration Sun described the new administration as provisional and committed it to national unity and to government founded on the people's will. Li Yuanhong, the Hubei revolutionary leader, was chosen provisional vice-president.
Two governments in one country
The inauguration created a functioning revolutionary government at Nanjing, and it claimed national authority. The Qing court and Yuan Shikai's government still operated in Beijing.
Yuan retained the principal northern army and went on negotiating with both the revolutionaries and the court. The Qing had not abdicated — that came on 12 February.
Year 1 of the Republic
The new government also reset political time: 1912 became Year 1 of the Republic.
What the date marks is the proclamation and opening of the Nanjing provisional government — not the day Qing authority ceased everywhere, nor the achievement of a unified national government.
Sources
- U.S. Office of the Historian: Revolution, Abdication and Establishment of a Provisional Republican Government
- 1911 Revolution Museum: Historical Exhibition — Foundation of the Republic
- Sun Yat-sen's Declaration as Provisional President, 1 January 1912
- Library of Congress: Transition from the Lunar Calendar to the Western Calendar Under Chinese Law
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The date and inauguration are secure. “The Republic of China was established” should nevertheless be understood as the proclamation and opening of the Nanjing provisional government—not as the date when Qing authority everywhere ceased or a unified national government was achieved.
Checked against
- U.S. Office of the Historian: Revolution, Abdication and Establishment of a Provisional Republican Government
- 1911 Revolution Museum: Historical Exhibition—Foundation of the Republic
- Sun Yat-sen's Declaration as Provisional President, 1 January 1912
- Library of Congress: Transition from the Lunar Calendar to the Western Calendar Under Chinese Law
- The Double-Ten Uprising to Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing
- From Qin to Cathay: Names for China and the Chinese on the Silk Road