Editing Wuchang Uprising (section)

== Aftermath ==
{{main|Xinhai Revolution}}
[[File:WuchangUprising.jpg|thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]]'s statue at the First Uprising Plaza of [[Wuhan]] in front of the former Hubei military government building]]

The Wuchang Uprising took many revolutionary leaders by surprise; Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren were unable to reach Wuchang in time.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=204}} Sun Yat-sen was traveling in the United States speaking to [[overseas Chinese]] to appeal for financial support when the uprising took place.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=207}} Although Sun received a telegram from Huang Xing, he was unable to decipher it, and found out about the uprising the next morning in the newspaper.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=207}} After the successful uprising in Wuchang, the revolutionaries sent telegraphs to other provinces and asked them to follow in their suit, upon which eighteen provinces in [[Southern China|Southern]] and [[Central China]] agreed to secede from the Qing government by the end of December, 1911.{{sfn|Esherick|Wei|2013|page=184}}

As part of the resolution of the uprising, the Qing government agreed to a general amnesty for political prisoners.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Zhiyi |title=Poetry, History, Memory: Wang Jingwei and China in Dark Times |date=2023 |publisher=[[The University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-05650-7 |location=Ann Arbor}}</ref>{{Rp|page=44}} [[Wang Jingwei]] was among those released.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=44}}

In the same month, Sun returned to China to participate in the [[1911 Republic of China provisional presidential elections|provisional presidential election]] and was elected.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=208}} Representatives from the seceding provinces met on 1 January 1912, and declared the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Chinese Republic]] as Sun was sworn in as the first president.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=209}} The new republic then negotiated with [[Yuan Shikai]] to pressure the Qing government to surrender, offering the presidency in the process. On 12 February 1912, [[Empress Dowager Longyu]], on behalf of [[Aisin Gioro Puyi]], the Xuantong emperor, announced the abdication of the Qing throne, marking the end of the dynasty.{{sfn|Bergère|Lloyd|1998|page=219}}