衢雲

Many of us have the romantic idea that Hsing Chung Club (興中會), the predecessor of Tongmeng Group (同盟會) and later Chinese Nationalist Party, was first set up by Sun Yat-Sen.

In fact, the first one who put these all up was Yeung Kui-Wan (楊衢雲).

It was 1895. Yeung was the first president of the Hsing Chung Club - Sun was the secretary.

The relation between the two men was intriguing. In the following four or five years, Sun gradually became more powerful within the Club, and Yeung was edged out. At last, Yeung resigned as president in 1899 - obviously succeeded by Sun.

And Yeung continued to pursue his ideal and started at least one other (unsuccessful, of course) uprising. In the evening of 10 January 1901, he was shot in the head and chest, while tutoring students at his home, by an assassin sent by the Qing government.

Yeung was buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley; his tombstone remained unnamed and inscribed with only the serial number 6348, in order to avoid being recognized and desecrated by ... whoever.