The Overthrow of a Dynasty 改朝換代

	The beginning of a new era  新時代的開端
	by Ruth Devlin
	The beginning of the 20th century saw the Qing Dynasty (清朝) in a shambles. It was weak and corrupt, and conservatives in the government resisted reform. Wars with foreign powers and the Taiping Rebellion (太平天國之亂) had left it weak.   Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), a Chinese patriot, saw all this and longed for change. His revolutionary writings, including the Three Principles of the People, laid out his hopes for a new and better country. Unfortunately, his attempts to organize a revolution proved ineffectual. But then came the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起義). After 1895, the Qing government began training a new modern army in several locations. However, the army officers and soldiers were heavily influenced by Sun’s ideas, and many had joined revolutionary organizations. Some had been constructing bombs to use in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, and one of them accidentally exploded. When police investigated, they discovered name lists of revolutionary organizations with many New Army members. Facing arrest, the army rebelled in Wuchang.  The Qing Dynasty failed to respond for two crucial weeks, enabling the rebels to declare a provisional government. Over the next 50 days, 15 of the 24 provinces declared themselves independent of the Qing Dynasty. On Jan. 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen became the president of the new republic. China’s new era had begun.

shambles

rebellion --> organization attempt to overthrow a government

ineffectual

provisional

【Grammar on the go】

Wars with foreign powers and the Taipeing Rebellion had left it weak.

left

1.名詞，左邊

Please turn left.

2.動詞，離開

Henry left the office an hour ago.

3. 今天的課文：to make, to cause a result

The beautiful music left me speechless.

The string of bad business decisions left Daniel broke.

【Chat room】

patriot愛國者

patriotic愛國的

patriotic song愛國歌曲

patriarch 一個大家族中男性的家長、族長、元老

matriarch 女性的家長、族長

【Key word】

shambles 混亂、凌亂的局面 (單數形)

After the party, the whole house was in total shambles and we spent the whole day cleaning it.

派對後房子一片狼藉，我們花了一整天的時間去清理。

The nation’s economy was in shambles after the earthquake.

地震後國家的經濟陷入一片混亂。

ineffectual 沒有效果的、不起作用的、徒勞無益的

effectual

The after-school program was proved ineffectual.

這個課後輔導的計劃，後來證明效果不彰

The government was severely criticized for its slow and ineffectual response to the disaster.

政府因為對這場災難緩慢又無效的反應而飽受批評

provisional暫時的、臨時的

a provisional government 臨時政府

We signed a provisional contract before the formal contract was settled.

在正式合約底定之前，我們先簽訂了臨時合約。

The hotel offered provisional lodging for the accident victims.

旅館提供了臨時住宿給這些意外的受難者。