Elites in East and Southeast China played for a long period of time a considerable role in the national political chessboard. However, they were never powerful enough to replace the north as the political center of the nation. The Revolution of 1911 ended in a compromise between the North and the South. No doubt, the revolutionaries played a leading role in smashing the autocratic monarchy, but the constitutionalists represented by Zhang Jian and Tang Shouqian also constituted a driving force in the political awakening of the Chinese people. A review of the friendship between Zhang Jian and Ta...
