Past Exhibitions

Commentary x Humour = Cartoons before and after the 1911 Revolution

17.6 - 10.10.2016
1/F, Exhibition Gallery,
Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum

Jointly presented by
Leisure & Cultural Services Department
The Memorial Museum of 1911 Revolution

Organised by
Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum

A large number of original cartoons sprang up in China during the early 20th century. Cartoons of this era were mostly satire of current affairs, which helped develop civic wisdom. Using simple lines and artistic touches, the cartoons artists condensed Chinese politics and the global landscape of the time into tiny panels and articulated their ideas with great eloquence. Cartoons offered an effective vehicle to highlight the crux of a matter through exaggerated drawings, and conveyed the message within to ordinary people, who were usually not highly intellectual. They helped disseminate information and functioned as revolutionary propaganda, and writing awakened people's awareness of the current situation.

A highlighted programme to commemorate Dr Sun Yat-sen's 150th birthday, this exhibition focuses on the situation in China in the late Qing period and the revolutionary road to the establishment of Republican China through images of cartoons published before and after the 1911 Revolution and other relevant artefacts. The cartoons also reflect the changing social milieu of the period.

Interesting tidbit
Newspapers and Journals Published Before and After the 1911 Revolution
The Great Powers Divide Up China
Yu Youren
Shishi Bao
Japanese concession areas in China
Russo-Japanese War
The corrupt Qing government
Rebuilding the navy
Imperial examinations during the Qing dynasty

The Rise of the Revolutionists
The various uprisings in 1907
Anti-American Boycott Movement
The uprisings in 1908
The uprising of the New Army of Yantang, Guangzhou
Chinese Revolutionary Alliance
Huanghuagang Uprising
Zhang Mingqi
Huang Xiaopei
The Imperial Cabinet
Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao
Official supervision and merchant management
Sharing privileges on an equal basis
Suppression in Sichuan