Xu Zonghan

Xu Zonghan (; 1877 - 8 March 1944) was a Chinese doctor during the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew China's Qing Dynasty in 1911. She was a companion of the revolutionary general, Huang Xing.

Biography

Early revolutionary career Xu Zonghan was born in 1876 in Zhuhai, Guangzhou into a family of compradors and tea merchants. She lived with her father in Shanghai from a young age, attending private schools. At 18, she married a man named Li Jinyi, a native of Haifeng County. In 1907, her husband died, leaving her a widow. Due to her close relationship with Zhang Zhujun, a former Christian physician, she was influenced by her and converted to Christianity between 1901 and 1902. She sold her entire dowry to help Zhang Zhujun establish the Tifu and Nanfu hospitals in Guangzhou, as well as the Yuxian Girls' School.

In 1907, during the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Xu Zonghan travelled to Southeast Asia at the invitation of her second sister, Xu Peiyao, who was teaching in Penang. While in Penang, she joined the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) and subsequently assisted Wu Shirong, Huang Jinqing, Chen Xinzheng, and others in promoting revolution among overseas Chinese . In the autumn of 1908, she returned to China. While passing through Hong Kong, she visited Feng Ziyou at the China Daily newspaper office and established contact with the Tongmenghui there. She was then instructed to return to Guangzhou to organize a new branch of the Tongmenghui with artists Gao Jianfu and Pan Dawei. In September of the first year of the Xuantong reign (October 1909), the Tongmenghui established a Southern Branch in Hong Kong, preparing to launch the New Army Uprising in Guangzhou. Xu Zonghan participated in the preparations for the uprising and made more than a hundred blue sky, white sun and red earth flags with Sun Mei, Yang Dechu, Chen Shuzi (wife of Hu Hanmin), Li Ziping (wife of Feng Ziyou) and others. She was also ordered to secretly transport bombs into Guangzhou with Chen Shuzi and Li Ziping. She also went to Datang on the south bank of the Pearl River to contact the secret society. In December 1909, Xu Zonghan was ordered to re-establish an office in Yi'anli, with his nephew Li Yingsheng and others. On the 14th day of the first lunar month in the second year of the Xuantong reign (February 12, 1910), the Guangzhou New Army uprising broke out. Xu Zonghan seized the opportunity to set fire to the Yi'anli office, attempting to disrupt the "Qing officials' eyes and ears." However, the fire was extinguished by local police, and the flag of the Tongmenghui, the Blue Sky with a White Sun, sewn into a quilt, was seized by the police. After the "plot was exposed," Xu Zonghan and Zhuang Hanqiao fled to Hong Kong together. Xu Zonghan bandaged his injured finger and provided meticulous care for him. On April 29, 1911, Xu Zonghan escorted Huang Xing from Guangzhou to Hong Kong on the night ferry Hadean. They arrived in Hong Kong on April 30, 1911. Xu Zonghan arranged for Huang Xing to be admitted to Alice Hospital for treatment. Because the hospital required a relative's signature before surgery, Xu Zonghan signed on behalf of his wife. After Huang Xing recovered from his injuries and was discharged from the hospital, they married. The film received mixed reviews.