Coins of the Republic of China

Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the 1911 Revolution broke out. On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen took the oath of office in Nanjing City and declared the establishment of the Republic of China -- a provisional government of the republic. The period from the formation of the Provisional Government until 1949 was called the Republic of China period when the country experienced three shifts in government: Sun Yat-sen's Provisional Government (January-March, 1912) in Nanjing, the Northern Warlords ruling government (1912-1928) in Beijing and the Kuomintang Government in Nanjing (1928-1949). Shifts in power were frequent during the rule of the Northern Warlords -- from Yuan Shikai to Duan Qirui, and later to Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin.

Paper currency of the Republic of China

The Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921 and later twice cooperated with the Kuomintang. The first cooperation, from 1924 to 1927, was when the two parties launched the joint Northern Expeditionary War. The second cooperation, from 1937 to 1945, involved the main task of driving out Japanese invaders. During the two times of cooperation, the parties broke up on two occasions, declaring war on each other: one was the First National Revolutionary War from 1927 to 1937, and the other, the Liberation War from 1946 to 1949.

During the period of the Republic of China, continuous political conflicts and wars resulted in a slow economic and cultural development, including an incomplete legal system. At the same time, many revolutionary leaders and patriotic idealists emerged, such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Lu Xun.

In 1949, the Kuomintang Government was defeated and moved to Taiwan, marking the end of the Republic of China period. On October 1, 1949, the founding of the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, with Beijing as the capital.