Huang Xing

Also known as Huang Zhen · Zi Keqiang · Zi Jinwu

Huang Xing, first named Zhen, courtesy names Jinwu and later Keqiang, came from Shanhua in Hunan and went to study at the Kobun Institute in Tokyo in 1902. Back in Changsha he organised the Huaxinghui with Song Jiaoren, Chen Tianhua and others, and when their planned rising was exposed in 1904 he fled to Japan. In 1905 he joined Sun Yat-sen in founding the Tongmenghui in Tokyo and went on to direct armed risings along the Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan borders. In April 1911 he led the assault on the viceroy's office in Canton, losing two fingers in the defeat. After the Wuchang uprising he was made commander-in-chief at Wuhan and directed the defence of Hanyang until it fell. He was minister of the army in the Nanjing provisional government in 1912, led the Jiangsu forces against Yuan Shikai in 1913, and then went into exile in Japan and America. He died in Shanghai in October 1916 and was given a state burial on Mount Yuelu the next year.