Shan (Goodness) and Revolution

摘要

In local societies of Sichuan, charities lead by local leaders were prevalent in the late Qing Period, right before the 1911 Revolution. The idea behind these charities was that the world was facing a fatal crisis for too many misdeeds committed by human beings, and the only way to rectify them and save the world was to accumulate good deeds. Some local elites who played leading roles during the 1911 Revolution in the Sichuan local societies were trying to establish what they believe was the desirable order in these local societies. In other words, we can confirm cases in which traditional thought prompted local elites to initiate revolution.